Host Resources
Responsibilities of Hosts
We have designed the evening to be as easy as possible for every host; however, there are a few key areas where you are an integral part of the evening. We recommend that you print this guide and have it with you during the evening.
Please read through this carefully and develop an understanding of the schedule for the evening. If you have a party with more than 20 guests, we also encourage you to consider asking someone to help be a co-host with you during the evening. It will help the evening go much more smoothly!
Evening Schedule
Because the schedule of the evening is very tight and there are multiple house parties happening simultaneously, it is very important for you to stay on schedule.
6:45 – 7:10 Arrival & Introductions
7:10 – 7:30 Grassroots Mobilization Video (Core Concepts)
7:30 – 7:45 Conference Call Set-up and Group Discussions
7:45 – 8:10 Conference Call (with National Guest Trainer)
8:10 – 8:55 Small Group Interactive
8:55 – 9:00 Conclusion Video
Detailed Evening Schedule
Below is a detailed breakdown of the schedule for the evening that also includes what your specific responsibility will be at each point of the evening.
6:45 - 7:10 Arrival and Introductions
As guests begin arriving for your house party, you should take a few minutes and get to know each other. You can have this be informal or you can have folks sit down and do introductions in a circle. There are three things you need to do before the video starts at 7:10 and they are:
1. Count your guests - Take note of how many people are in attendance. After the training, we will provide you with a link to submit this information so we can accurately track total attendance.
2. Get the information of any guest who did not sign up online - please ask your guest whether or not they registered online, and take down the name and e-mail addresses of those who didn't so we can link them to post-training resources.
3. Pass Out the Guest Packets – Use the beginning of the evening to pass out the Guest Packets to each of the participants at your house party. Each guest at your party should get their own packet.
You can also go over the agenda for the evening and talk about the goals for the evening as everyone continues to arrive.
7:10 - 7:30 Grassroots Mobilization Training Video
At exactly 7:10, you should begin playing the video for your house party. Make sure that all of your guests can see and hear the video. There are two chapters to the video. Make sure that you are watching the portion entitled “Core Concepts” (it begins with a Center for Progressive Leadership Action Network logo on the front).
7:30 – 7:45 Conference Call Set-up and Questions
Once the video is over, you should position the phone you are going to use for the conference call in a convenient location where all the guests can hear it. Then, join the conference call immediately.
Conference Call #: 1-866-295-5950
Code: 2367047#
Dial the conference call number. You will hear an automated voice that asks you for the code for the conference call. Enter the code above.
Once you have entered the conference call, there may be a few minutes before it starts. You can use this time to ask your guests if they have any questions to submit to the guest trainer using a computer with internet connection. Send us any questions from your house party right away at so that they can be answered by the national guest trainer during the conference call. Please include your name and house party location in the email.
E-mail address for questions: grassrootsquestions@cplaction.org
If time allows, you can use the following discussion questions as a starting point for generating a conversation with your participants.
- What are the progressive organizations in our community that have effectively used tools of grassroots mobilization? What can we learn from them for our own campaigns?
- Do you think that your campaign or organization currently uses effective peer-to-peer outreach? What more can we do to make sure our volunteer recruitment and voter outreach are personal and people-driven?
You can also ask your guests to take out their “Sample Volunteer Recruitment Scenarios” and begin to look them over. The conference call will begin at exactly 7:45. Please have your guests quiet down and listen to the call.
7:45 – 8:10 Conference Call with National Guest Trainer
The call will feature a guest trainer who is an expert on grassroots organizing, as well as Center for Progressive Leadership Action Network staff. During the call, the trainer will touch on several important issues and answer some of the questions submitted by the house parties. You can encourage your guests to take notes if this will help them retain the information better.
8:10 – 8:55 Small Group Interactive
At the end of the conference call, a Center for Progressive Leadership Action Network staffer will give instructions for starting the next portion of the training. You play a critical role in facilitating this portion of the evening.
Host Role During Small Group Exercise
1. Break your guests up into groups of 3-4 people (it’s very important that they are groups of 3-4).
2. Tell them to work individually for the first ten minutes. Tell them to use the ten minutes to:
- Read the Sample Scenarios.
- Decide which scenario to use or adapt to their own situation.
- Use the 5 Cs section of the handout to craft a pitch
- Use the full ten minutes to prepare their pitch, including writing down the key points they want to make and thinking through how to hit all 5 Cs.
Remind participants to take tips from the video and call and incorporate these into their pitch. As host, you are responsible for tracking time. Let them know when the 10 minutes are up and ask them to start work with their groups.
3. For the group work, all the instructions for the activity are in their handouts. You can remind them of the process:
- They will take turns playing the roles of activist, potential volunteer, and timekeeper.
- During each round, one person will practice giving a two-minute pitch to a potential volunteer and will receive feedback from the group.
- The timekeeper should make sure that each practice pitch is limited to two minutes and that all feedback is delivered in three minutes—they might want to use a watch with a second hand or the stopwatch feature of a cell phone.
- Guests should use the handouts provided to take notes on one another’s performances and should give feedback immediately after each role-play
- Guest should have real conversations. People who are pretending to be potential volunteers should feel free to ask questions and make it seem like a real situation.
- Remember to be respectful and courteous during activities like this. If you are giving criticism, remember to provide constructive suggestions on how people can improve.
During this period, your role is to serve as a facilitator and keep your guests on track. Observe the groups and make sure that all participants are getting an opportunity to practice their pitches. It is very easy for this portion of the evening to become an unstructured conversation or political debate, and while dialogue is great, we want to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to practice the tools they have learned during the evening.
If you finish before 8:55, encourage your guests to refer to the Discussion Questions provided and begin discussing how they can bring the tools they have learned during the training back into their communities.
8:55 – 9:00 Conclusion Video
At 8:55, you should have each of the groups wrap-up its role playing. Bring them back to an area where they can watch the video and play the 2nd portion of our DVD or the video you downloaded. The conclusion reiterates some of the training’s key points and provides further information about the Center for Progressive Leadership Action Network.
At 9pm, the official training is over! However, we encourage you to have some informal time to allow your guests to get know each other and talk. Networking and building a state-wide progressive network is what this is all about!
…and finally, don’t forget to take pictures!
|
