[nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
Chris Nusbaum
cnusbaumnfb at gmail.com
Sun Jan 3 00:59:23 UTC 2016
Mikayla:
I can completely relate to your frustration. Often legislators and their
staffs appear supportive of our cause when our issues are right under their
noses, such as during Washington Seminar. After those large-scale events,
however, our bills simply get buried under other legislation which appears
more pressing to Congressional staff. It is important, then, to remain
vigilant in our follow-up efforts, making sure we keep our issues at the
forefront of our legislators' minds. Here are some tricks I've learned and
used over the years, which may help you find greater success in following up
with Congressional staffers:
1. Call them. Electronic communication is great, and we students love to use
it. However, I've found that nothing gets the job done like a personal phone
call to legislative staff. Calling prevents your message from being deleted
or ignored by staff when sifting through the thousands of emails they get
from constituents every day. Also, calling allows you to begin a personal
dialogue with a staffer who may have further questions or who may request
further clarification. As you make these calls, remember that you need not
have all the answers. It's perfectly fine to direct questions to our
governmental affairs team at the national office or to your state affiliate
leadership. As rank-and-file members, however, our job is to be the first
point of contact with our legislators, educating them about the broader
issues, then pointing them to the pros who can help them work out the
details while still keeping the focus on our message.
2. Request a meeting. Many times we have heard veteran Washington Seminar
attendees extol the virtues of the in-person meeting. As you astutely
observed in your message, Congressional staff (and sometimes the Congressmen
themselves) appear very supportive of our cause during Washington Seminar
appointments, when they have a group of knowledgeable and articulate blind
people in front of them who are passionately expressing our positions.
Despite the proven effectiveness of these meetings, I think we often forget
to take advantage of this strategy when we're doing follow-up. All
Representatives have various offices across the state they serve, and I
would encourage you to call your local office and ask to schedule a meeting.
>From my experience, it seems as though Congressional staff in local offices
keep in close contact with their colleagues in Washington, so you may be
more likely to get a response from DC after you've met with a local staff
person. Also, many Federationists have found it useful to take advantage of
the Congressional recesses, when reps are back in their home districts and
are more open to personal meetings with constituents.
3. Use social media early and often. As NABS's resident social media guy,
you probably already guessed that this would be one of my suggestions. All
biases aside, social media has shown itself to be the most effective
electronic medium with which to promote a cause. Members of Congress have
often explained their action on a particular issue by citing the number of
tweets or Facebook posts they have received from constituents about it. So,
fill up those timelines with messages about our legislative priorities, and
encourage your friends (both inside and outside the Federation) to do the
same. Also, be sure to use relevant hashtags when posting about our issues.
If a staffer sees a series of tweets which contain #AIMHEA or #TIMEAct, for
example, he/she is likely to click on the hashtag and see that a lot of
other people are also tweeting about the same issue. In this age of social
media, the more prominent an issue is on a legislator's news feeds, the more
prominent it will be in his/her mind.
4. Make connections. Is their a state legislator who is particularly
supportive of our work? Have you met with a government official in the past
who has been supportive of the Federation? Do you know anyone personally who
may hold some influence with your member of Congress? If so, hold onto these
contacts and use them when you're trying to get a response out of a
Congressional office. For example, I personally know a state delegate who is
a friend of our local Congressman. This delegate has long been a supporter
of the NFB, so when I couldn't get a response from my Congressman, I asked
her if she could help. Within two days of my conversation with her, I got a
call from the very staffer I had been trying to reach for months with no
success. When I asked the staffer whether she had received any of my
previous emails or phone calls, she said she hadn't. She only contacted me
when she got a call from the state delegate. Connections are powerful
things, so use them to our advantage when you can.
5. Finally, keep track of your Congressman's event schedule. If he/she is
doing a radio interview in which listeners are invited to call in and ask
questions, call in and ask him/her about one of our bills. If he/she is
doing a town hall meeting, attend it and/or alert local Federationists so
they can join you. If your legislator is appearing at a public event, like a
fair or parade, talk with them about our bills and establish contact with
them. In short, get them whenever and wherever they avail themselves. A good
way to keep track of these schedules is to follow your reps on social media
or sign up for their email newsletters.
I hope these suggestions help you in your follow-up efforts. I know this
advocacy business can sometimes be discouraging, but I also know that the
Federation has been doing it effectively for the past 75 years, and that we
will keep doing it in the future. Please don't hesitate to reach out to your
fellow Federationists if you need any advice or support. We're all here to
help each other work toward our common goal. Thanks for all you do--keep up
the great work!
Chris Nusbaum
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mikayla Gephart
via nabs-l
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2015 3:06 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Mikayla Gephart
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
Hi all,
Since we are on the topic, I have a question for all of you. When you write
to a legislative assistant, it seems like they never respond. Is that how
you all feel? They all seemed so supportive at Washington Seminar last year,
but when I follow up, they never even respond. I would not even mind a one
sentence response from them.
Sent from my iPad
> On Dec 28, 2015, at 2:54 PM, Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> One of the nifty things, in my opinion, about writing your senators in
this capacity, is that we all have plenty of relatability to the subject
matter being discussed. Therefore, it ought to be, if not easy, then
entertaining, to script a relatable, and passionate letter. If you want
anyone to look over your message before you send it to your congressional
representatives, feel free to send it my way; I would be more than happy to
read it over, and, if necessary, offer suggestions!
> Respectfully,
> Michael Ausbun
> Interim Legislative Director, Nevada
> Board Member, National Association of Blind Students First
> Vice-President, National Federation of the Blind of Nevada
>
> ________________________________________
> From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Derek Manners
> via nabs-l [nabs-l at nfbnet.org]
> Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 10:16 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Cc: Derek Manners
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>
> Also, I interjected personal stories about myself or people I know who
would be directly affected by the law.
>
> Best regards
> Derek Manners
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Dec 27, 2015, at 11:27 PM, justin williams via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Keep the facts straight, but do them in your own words; it should
>> sound and be authentic.
>> Justin
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
>> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
>> Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 11:59 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>>
>> When you wrote to your congresspeople, did you just simply copy the
>> information from the fact sheets? Or did you paraphrase the
>> information in your own words?
>> Vejas
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 20:43:49 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>>
>> Hello Vejas,
>>
>> If I recall correctly, I believe the fact sheets for Washington
>> Seminar are usually posted sometime in mid-January. There are
>> usually several announcements posted to email lists and Twitter
>> accounts when the fact sheets become available. The fact sheets
>> contain information you can use when contacting members of Congress.
>>
>> When I contacted my Congressional Representative using the contact
>> form located on his website, I received a response from someone in
>> his office indicating appreciation for my support for the legislative
>> issues I mentioned in my correspondence with them. However, there
>> are generally address filters attached to these forms that only allow
>> correspondence from constituents, or people living in the Congressional
district, to go through.
>>
>> When I contacted members of Congress using the email addresses
>> provided to me by my state affiliate legislative coordinator, I
>> generally did not receive a response to my email. However, I always
>> used subject lines that indicated support for a specific piece of
>> legislation by mentioning the bill number in the subject line. So
>> even when someone did not read or respond to my email, they still knew
why I was writing them.
>>
>> If you prefer receiving feedback when contacting a member of
>> Congress, perhaps you could call their office instead. The person
>> you talk to on the phone may not know much about the specific issue
>> you are calling about, but they can reassure you that the member of
>> Congress will take note of your support on any legislative issue.
>>
>> One thing I thought of after posting my previous response to your
>> email is the use of Twitter. Recently, I have seen an increase of
>> the use of Twitter in thanking members of Congress who support the
>> legislative issues of the NFB. Additionally, I have also seen some
>> state affiliates use Twitter to thank members of Congress for meeting
with them during Washington Seminar.
>> So this is something else you could do to help support the
>> legislative efforts of Washington Seminar if you are not able to be
>> there in person. I am honestly not quite sure how effective using
>> Twitter might actually be in promoting legislative issues, but I
>> would imagine every little action in gaining support for the legislative
issues of the NFB would be helpful.
>>
>> I hope this helps answers your questions. However, I would be more
>> than happy to answer any additional questions you might have
>> regarding Washington Seminar.
>>
>> Warm regards,
>> Elizabeth
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
>> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
>> Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2015 8:50 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>>
>> Thank you all so much for your answers.
>> I would be very interested in getting in touch with my members of
Congress.
>> I just have a few more questions:
>> What are the main issues that we are trying to get across? I know
>> that there is the one bill that people with disabilities should have
>> equal minimum wage. Is this the only issue we are bringing to our
>> congresspeople, or is there something else?
>> My next question is: do you find that most Congresspeople fairly good
>> at answering their e-mails? I know from attending the NFB Law Program
>> as a teen that even when you talk to your congresspeople in person,
>> they may just completely forget about the bill or ignore it and don't
>> follow through, so I would imagine that follow-up with e-mail contact
would be more difficult.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Vejas
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sat, 26 Dec 2015 13:28:23 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>>
>> Hello Vejas,
>>
>> I have never heard of any national or state conventions where you
>> could participate by phone before. I know the national convention
>> along with some state affiliates will stream the convention online so
>> other people can listen. But I have never seen people who are not at
>> a convention be able to participate and interact with specific events
>> and activities at a convention. However, I do know some state
>> affiliates as well as state student divisions hold meetings via
>> conference call, so perhaps this might be what you are talking about
>> when talking about people being able to participate via phone.
>>
>> I think the only way a person can participate in meetings with
>> members of Congress during Washington Seminar is by attending Washington
Seminar.
>> However, there are still ways you can have an impact on the
>> legislative efforts that go on at Washington Seminar despite the fact
>> you are not able to attend Washington Seminar.
>>
>> In years past when I have not been able to attend Washington Seminar,
>> I would write an email to my members of Congress shortly before other
>> members of the NFB would be meeting with them during Washington Seminar.
>> In general,
>> there is usually a coordinator in each state affiliate who is in
>> charge of contacting members of Congress to set up the appointments
>> for Washington Seminar. I am sure if you contact the coordinator for
>> Washington Seminar in your state they should be able to provide you
>> with the names and contact information for the people they will be
>> meeting with during Washington Seminar.
>>
>> Contacting members of Congress before and after Washington Seminar is
>> just as important as meeting with members of Congress during Washington
Seminar.
>> Sometimes it can take a lot of follow up to get a member of Congress
>> on board with our legislative efforts. Following up with members of
>> Congress after Washington Seminar can be a rather tedious but
>> rewarding job if it is something you are interested in doing.
>>
>> Anyway, I hope this helps answer your questions about Washington Seminar.
>> Attending Washington Seminar can sometimes be challenging for students.
>> Hopefully you will be able to attend Washington Seminar next year
>> since you are not able to attend this year.
>>
>> Warm regards,
>> Elizabeth
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
>> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
>> Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2015 12:26 PM
>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>>
>> Hi All,
>> I was very interested in going to the Washington Seminar in January,
>> but I now can't, due to reasons I do not wish to disclose on a public
forum.
>> My question is this: I know that for the NFB conventions, if you
>> couldn't make it to meetings, you could still do it by phone.
>> Does anyone know if you could still have state appointments and
>> meetings with your affiliate by phone and still participate?
>> Thanks,
>> Vejas
>>
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