A great definition of inbox

Don't remember where I heard or read this, but I love it ....

BFTP: The Shy Person's Guide to Lobbying

A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post February 6, 2007. Subsitute the name of your local professional organization for MEMO in the text below.

Since our district's legislative committee's first meeting with legislators is next week, I thought it good to review some of my own advice...

The Shy Person’s Guide to Lobbying
Doug Johnson, MEMO Legislative Chair, 2007

How can you tell a Minnesota extrovert? He looks at your shoes when he talks to you.

If you believe the stereotypes, MEMO (Minnesota Educational Media Organization) members are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to legislative lobbying. Both as Minnesotans and as librarians we have a reputation for shyness, modesty, and introversion. Despite our brilliant intellects, charming personalities, high moral standards, and devastating good looks, we far too seldom participate in the legislative process.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to influence legislators is through active lobbying. Lobbying is communicating with legislators and the executive branch to encourage these folks to take action on specific legislation or regulations. Each and every MEMO member should be actively advocating for the bills that will benefit those people who use their libraries and technology resources. Even those of us who are shy.

Here is a short primer on how even Shrinking Violets and Shrinking Vincents can gain the confidence needed to be effective lobbyists:

1.    Recognize that lobbying is your job and find opportunities to speak to your legislators face-to-face.
Obtaining funding and directing policy by being an active part of the legislative process is an important professional duty. No MEMO member should simply assume that MEMO “leaders” or our hired lobbyist can effectively be his/her voice to our legislators. This is work is too important to be left to other people. I mean this.

MEMO and MLA (Minnesota Library Association) annually host Library Legislative Day. This event is held at the Capitol in St. Paul and has proven to be an expedient means of speaking to many legislators in a short time frame. Check the MLA and MEMO websites for registration information. Being surrounded by other MEMO and MLA members is, well, comforting.

For those working stiffs who find it difficult to get a day off and travel to St. Paul, watch for regional legislative events. Our state multitype library organizations often host these get togethers. Be there, be counted, be heard.

2.    Learn something about the legislative process – or at least who your representatives are.
There is a genuine wealth of information at <www.leg.state.mn.us>. At this site, you can find out who your House member and Senator are and their contact information – phone, e-mail, and mailing address. You can also track the status of bills that are important to MEMO members on this site.

Truth be told, most of us are mystified by the legislative process, even after being politically engaged for many years. A very good overview of our state legislature and how laws become enacted can be found at <www.leg.state.mn.us/youth/legislature.asp> OK, so it written for kids, but at least I understand it!  And if you have a question, please let a member of the MEMO legislative committee know it.

3.    Understand the MLA/MEMO platform and know the talking points.
Each year MEMO and MLA join write a joint legislative platform that includes planks of interest to all types of libraries.  The document itself is usually only a page or two long and can be found on the MEMO website’s Legislative section.

The second set of documents that are important to read are the “talking points” that go with each platform plank. These short statements give reasons for and research behind the issues addressed by each plank. Check these regularly for updates.

Having a basic understanding of the platform and the reasons behind the planks in it is vital for effective lobbying efforts. While you do not need to be an expert, you do need to be familiar with the issues. If a legislator or staffer asks a question that you can’t answer, it’s just fine to say, “I don’t know that, but I will find out and get back to you.”

4.    Be effective when visiting with your legislator.
One guide suggests that when talking to legislators to remember the ABC’s - Accuracy, Brevity, and Courtesy. Stick to the platform. Be clear about what you want the legislator to do. (Vote for HF 101, for example.) Always frame the request by demonstrating the benefit to those you serve, not the benefit to you. Listen as well as talk. Answer questions. Leave copies of the platform with your legislator. Oh, work with the legislators who represent your district.

5.    Be a rational, pleasant human being.
If you are a school library media specialist or technology person, I can simply say, “Be yourself.” But just in case you are new to Minnesota or the profession, here are a few do’s and don’ts… Thank your legislator for past support when possible. Avoid party politics. As the Humane Society reminds us, “Animals have friends on both sides of the aisle.” Do tell personal anecdotes related to the issue for which you are lobbying. Don’t threaten retaliation, especially in the voting booth. It’s fine to disagree – but don’t be disagreeable. Make your case firmly.

Send a thank you after you visit. Your mom would be proud.

6.    Write, call and e-mail – effectively.
Face to face conversations with your legislators are excellent ways to put your message across, but writing, calling and e-mailing on specific bills are also important. Here are a few “rules” for such correspondence:

• Be clear about what you want, listing the bill, and the action you want your legislator to take.
• Tell a story or give an example to make the issue relevant to your legislator and to his own part of the state.
• Ask for a direct response with his or her position on the issue or bill.

Personal letters are better than form letters or petitions. Use your official letterhead. Letters are usually more effective than e-mails. Calls on an issue can be helpful since legislators sometime simply count the number of calls pro and con on certain matters. Watch your e-mail for requests for calls for action from MEMO and MLA. Then do it!

7.    Work on developing a relationship with your representatives.
The people I know who have the most success in influencing legislators are ones who have a long-standing relationships. Few things are achieved in a single legislative session. Cultivate a friendly, trust-worthy reputation that will serve you and your patrons well into the future. Become your representative’s reliable source of information on school library and technology issues.

So, eat your Powdermilk Biscuits or whatever it takes, but overcome your reticence and make your voice heard.  

Image source

Great additions by Stephen Abram:

a. Lobbying is an all year thing and not just an event related item like Law Day or when thngs go bad. You never know when you’re going to be given a chance to influence the future – elevator encoutners, holiday parties, family events, BBQ’s, - opportunities are everywhere.

b. Understand the other point of view. Stand in their shoes for a while. Politicans of every stripe, yes even the tea partiers deserve to be understood. You’ll be more effective when you understand where people are coming from and avoid demonizing folks. You never get anywhere when respect is lost.

c. And to Doug’s point about shyness, I rarely meet a shy person who isn’t also a good listener. The main competency that predicts lobbying success – listening. If you’re shy, you’re halfway there.

Be sure to read Mary Meshikomer's comment below as well too.

Self-awareness or surveillance?

As a part of an ongoing print management plan, we are installing print tracking software on all the computers in the district. Here's the e-mail I sent out explaining the project:

Hi folks,

Your technicians will be installing a program called PaperCut* on your classroom/office computer and the computers in student labs over the next few weeks. The first time you print a file, you will be asked to log in with your email username and password. You should only need to log in once and then the program will remember this log in information.

We will be using PaperCut to help raise awareness of our staff members about the amount of printing they are doing and the cost of that printing - both economically to the district and environmentally to the world. We are not rationing or trying to control the amount of printing being done, but just trying to let users track how much printing they actually do.

A small window on your screen will show a running total cost of the print jobs you have created.


The approximate costs will be calculated using these values: printing to the building photocopier $.01; printing to a B&W laser printer $.03; and printing to a color printer $.10 per copy.

By clicking on the Details ... link, you will be taken to a webpage (again, log in with your e-mail username and password) with additional information about your printing account. It will look like this:



The district will have the ability to view and analyze data collected by this program so as to establish a baseline usage report, needed if we choose to embark on a paper reduction plan.

Please contact me if you have any questions, concerns or problems with this program.

Thanks,

Doug

You never quite know what the response will be to such a program. Will it be (actual responses):

LOVE IT!! Good work!

and

Nice.  You come up with the best ideas, Doug! 

and

This is a wonderful idea!!!!!  I wish we would also put something in place to note how many times paper gets thrown into the waste baskets instead of recycling bins.  Could you also note that in your helping us all become more aware? Thanks!!!!

or

Seems rather "Big Brother" to me.

and

Interesting app, Doug, but I sure hope teachers aren't going to be held to a standard that will impede how hard they are already working and providing for their students.  I hope this isn't a subtle way to introduce using too much paper as an evaluation tool.  I believe you are not heading in that direction but I must share I am somewhat offended by this need to better understand (question) my paper use.  But then again I am also somewhat offended that elementary teachers have to have allowances on their paper consumption but high school does not.  OK, so now your thinking I should be writing to Dear Abby, thanks Doug for letting me air my thoughts,

My response to the last comment:

This app, from my perspective, is only one to help raise awareness of resource use - not an evaluation mechanism. I hope teachers realize that every dollar spent on printing is a dollar that cannot be spent on other resources like smaller class sizes, higher teacher salaries, etc. I like to think all our teachers are very responsible regarding both the school budget and our environment and will do what they can to minimize the amount of printing they do.

I know that I had absolutely NO idea of what my personal printing was costing the district before I had this tool. Now I think twice or three times before hitting the print button. I have heard no talk at all about rationing printing in the district.

I hope teachers know me well enough to to know that I will do everything I can to support them and make them more effective.

Here's what what this exchange has had me thinking so much about: I love my job BECAUSE of its inherent unpredictability rather than despite it. There is always something interesting going on in the district - both positive and, frankly, disturbing.

Just this week, I had my first chance to watch a special education teacher work with a student using an iPad. I love the creative ways teachers are using the IWBs with kids - real engagement. It's fun seeing the excitement of a class of third graders logging into GoogleDocs for the first time.  I was proud of the librarian, as I watched the sixth graders present to their peers with the help of a side-show program, when I saw that speaking skills were judged as important as technical skills and they got a chance to use a checklist to help assess each other's work.

During these same visits to our classrooms, I am distressed that teachers are using the video projector to show a movie to kill a Friday afternoon; that kids are too often using drill and kill programs (that would be at home on an Apple II) in the lab; and that some teachers just plain don't use technology at all - including the voice amplification systems in their classrooms. As with any larger district, we have teachers and librarians  building reading skills by encouraging their students to read independently working right along side those teachers who use intrinsic motivation-killing reading programmed instruction. And don't get me started on watching teachers teach test-taking skills rather than things of genuine whole-life value - bending to the test-mania driven by political trends that are less about educating kids and more about discrediting public education. It breaks my heart to hear a classroom teacher say she no longer does engaging activities using technology since online testing has made it impossible for her to schedule lab time. Huge sigh...

Like most humans, I often wish I had a magic wand to simply wave and make all schools the image of what I would envision a perfect school might be. Since no one has come forward in the 30+ years I've been teaching to offer me one, I suspect I will just have to continue nudging, inventing, trying, cajoling, strategizing, and suggesting when I where I can, cherishing even the small victories.

Such a path to change is if nothing else, fascinating.

Thus endeth my Saturday morning rumination.

* I do not endorse any commercial product but I do mention by name products I have actual experience with.