July 21 party trainings for the 1st District

06/29/2007

Hi Everyone,

Another reminder about the July 21 DFL party trainings being offered by the state party staff and officers. These will take place at the Country Inn & Suites Conference Center, 1900 Premier Dr. in Mankato (by the intersection of Hwy 14 and Hwy 22). There's no charge and all DFLers are welcome to join us for all or part of the day.

If you haven't already rsvp'd to the state party or to Sarah Duevel, please send an email to to help us keep track of approximately how many to expect. We need a good representation from ALL of our counties and senate districts so that everyone get's the same kind of training opportunities. You don't need to be a party officer to attend.

Lori Sellner
Chair, CD 1 DFL

Here's the schedule for the day:

9-9:30am - Registration

9:30-11:15 - Coordinated Campaign: Targeting, Triage & Control (Brian Melendez)

11:30-noon - Congressman Tim Walz

noon-1pm - Lunch (Italian buffet available at $13.50 - rsvp by July 10; OR lunch available offsite and MANY nearby restaurants
maps will be provided for offsite restaurants of all price ranges)

BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
1-2pm - Campaign Finance: Staying out of trouble with the board (M. Bonk)

Communications 101: The Basics (Schwinghammer and Stiles)

Fundraising 101: Party Unit Basic Fundraising (O'Leary)

Keys to the VAN (Tinscher, Duevel)

Strategic Planning & Problem Solving (Cassutt)

2:15-3:15pm - Campaign Finance: Staying out of trouble with the board (M. Bonk)

Communications 101: The Basics (Schwinghammer and Stiles)

Fundraising 101: Party Unit Basic Fundraising (O'Leary)

Party-building tools & resources: How to use the VAN and other technology to enhance your party-unit
activities (Weinlick & Duevel)

Three Rs to Outreach of Underrepresented Communities: Recruit, Retain & Respect (Zimbro & Thomas)

3:30-4:30pm - Communications 201: Campaign Communications - Coordinating our efforts for 2008
(Schwinghammer & Stiles)

Fundraising 201: Advanced (O'Leary)

Party-building tools & resources: How to use the VAN and other technology to enhance your party-unit
activities (Weinlick & Duevel)

Three Rs to Outreach of Underrepresented Communities: Recruit, Retain & Respect (Zimbro & Thomas)

4:45-5:15 - Wrap-up & Listening Session

Here are some descriptions for the above break-out sessions that you can choose from:

Campaign Finance: Staying Out of Trouble with the Board. For most jurisdictions, the 2008 ballot will include three federal races but only one state race, complicating the way that your party unit can raise and spend money from the way that you did it in 2006. Comptroller Mary Bonk helps you navigate the maze of federal and state campaign-finance laws.

Communications 101: The Basics. Communications Director Kelly Schwinghammer and Associate Director John Stiles present the basics in communications, including writing effective letters to the editor, opinion-editorials, responding to events and activities in your area, and spreading a positive message for the Party.

Communications 201: Campaign Communications - Coordinating Our Efforts for 2008. Communications Director Kelly Schwinghammer and Associate Director John Stiles present strategies for coordinating our media and communications work during the 2008 cycle. Topics include building a network for writing and placing letters to the editor and opinion-editorials, using opportunities for coverage and responding to opposition events and activities statewide, and using the Party as a resource for communications.

Coordinated Campaign 101: Targeting, Triage, and Control. State Chair Brian Melendez will cover the relationship between the State DFL Party, the DFL Coordinated Campaign, and the UDF Board: what the Coordinated Campaign and the United Democratic Fund are, why they exist, who the members are, and how they work. He will also cover the kind of tough resource-allocation decisions that the Coordinated Campaign requires, including how endorsed candidates get targeted for additional resources, and who makes those decisions. (Hint. It's isn't the State Party.)

Fundraising 101: Basic Party-Unit Fundraising. Executive Director Andy O'Leary provides an overview of basic fundraising principles to help party units get their fundraising programs moving, as well as tips on best practices for common fundraising techniques. Topics include ways to fundraise, building lists, and setting event budgets and goals.

Fundraising 201: Advanced. Executive Director Andy O'Leary talks about advanced fundraising principles for party units with established fundraising programs. Topics include additional fundraising techniques not covered in the Basic class, fundraising best practices, and writing a finance plan.

Keys to the VAN. Voter File Manager Jaime Tincher and CD1 Field Director Sarah Duevel provide an overview of the Party's voter file, the Voter Activation Network, commonly referred to as "the VAN." This is not a hands-on technical training session and you don't need to be a "computer person." Rather, the discussion will include how the VAN works, what the various components mean, and how your party units can use it to accomplish party-building and electoral goals! (Sarah Duevel is available for and will be scheduling small-group hands-on technical training sessions for the VAN.) *For unit chairs and their designees only.

Party-Building Tools and Resources: How to Use the VAN and Other Technology to Enhance Your Party-Unit Activities. Party Affairs Director David Weinlick, in partnership with your district field director, share ways to use the resources that the Party provides for local units, including volunteer-management tools, websites, electronic mailing lists, and online calendars. Learn how to make organizing easier and more effective using the Voter Activation Network to build your events and manage your volunteers. Know what the Party can do to support you at the local level, and how your work helps benefit DFLers across the state.

Strategic Planning and Problem-Solving. State Associate Chair Donna Cassutt leads a discussion about creating focused, action-oriented, effective party units to attract and retain members in order to ensure success. With your strong party unit, how do you prioritize what you'd like to accomplish? The problem-solving part talks about how to deal with this transition time of merging Party and campaign work, and how to determine what will put party units in the strongest, most effective position as a part of this whole.

Three Rs of Outreach to Underrepresented Communities: Recruit, Retain and Respect. State Affirmative Action Officer Megan Thomas and Outreach Director RoseAnn Zimbro team up for a basic training on how to create an affirmative-action plan for your district, how to approach a community you're seeking participation from, and what you should do with all of the new activists once they're in the door.