Preparing For Lobby Day

On Tuesday, June 11th, 2019, hundreds of Citizens’ Climate Lobby supporters will come together on Capitol Hill to help Congress solve climate change after attending CCL’s 2019 International Conference in Washington, DC.  

For Lobby Day veterans and if you only have time for two

Note: We understand the busy lives our volunteers lead. All resources listed below are optional and provided for your convenience in one location to minimize needing to search throughout CCL Community. By no means does CCL expect conference attendees to read through them all.

• Planning Your Meeting With Congress Training to help liaisons and/or local groups prepare their meeting plans  to help liaisons and/or local groups prepare their meeting plans
• Study Guide for 2019 Conference how we listen and communicate is as important as what we have to say, thus the guide is divided into two categories: Communication Skills and Content Knowledge. 

Prepare yourself for new lobby day attendees

• Ahead of June you’re invited to explore Community’s Working With Congress Topic page for more detailed training guides on any questions you might have (for example if you’d like learn how to take notes, review the training on how to take great notes in your lobby meeting). Many of these trainings will also be provided via live webinars, for more information see the details of the training schedule below.
• Lobby day schedules, congressional biographies and meeting plans will be emailed to all attendees on June 6th, the week ahead of arriving to DC for the conference.
• After receiving your assignments, the designated meeting lead will email your team to invite you to plan your team’s pre-lobby meeting(s) to get to know each other, assign roles for meeting participants, and help the team practice the primary ask delivery and select the best fit for supporting asks. For details on where and when your team will meet, scroll down to “Meeting With Your Team.”
• For additional insights on what possible print-outs and materials are available to bring, see all resources associated with Working with Congress on the Resources page.

CCL Lobby Training Schedule

CCL offers training opportunities to help prepare you to become an effective citizen lobbyist and team member ahead of your arrival in DC. All of these trainings are available in the form of step-by-step guides and archived videos/podcasts in our topic “Working With Congress,” but if you would like to see the schedule and sign-up for upcoming live training sessions click on the specific links below and RSVP:

• The Transformative Power of Citizen Advocacy, Thursday, May 2nd (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)
• Practice Effective Lobbying, Tuesday, May 7th (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)
• Understanding Congress & The Legislative Process, Tuesday, May 14th (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)
• Planning Your Meeting with Congress, Thursday, May 16th (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)
• Handling Difficult Lobbying Scenarios, Thursday, May 23rd (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)
• How to Lead a Lobby Team, Thursday, May 30th (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)
• Conference & Lobby Day Logistics Q&A, Thursday,  June 6th (8 pm ET / 5 pm PT)

Email Brett Cease at brett@citizensclimate.org with any questions you have about CCL’s Training Opportunities.

Meeting With Your Team

On Thursday, June 6th, as soon as you are notified of your assigned lobby meetings we recommend that your teams set up a chance to meet and begin planning as soon as possible. Your team lead will coordinate scheduling your team’s time to practice, but here’s a few additional recommendations to help you prepare:

• Save time ahead of conference. If possible, we suggest reserving time ahead of your travels to be available to meet online (many of our CCL leaders use Zoom.us, a web conference tool with free personal lines). This will allow your team an initial get-to-know-you meeting to familiarize yourself with each other and begin assigning roles/research ahead of the conference.
• Meeting locations ahead of the conference. If your team is arriving to DC early, feel free to use CCL’s specific Omni Shoreham rooms on Saturday to plan further discussions.
• Specific Meeting Planning Times during the Conference. During the 2019 International Conference on Sunday and Monday, June 9th & 10th,  we recommend your team designates a place to meet during the following break-times depending on the hour your Tuesday lobby meeting starts. If your team can’t all get together during the conference we suggest you plan on setting a meeting time on Tuesday morning to meet as well.

Suggested Lobby Meeting Planning Times

Lobby Meeting Start Time                              Suggested Planning Time (arrange with team lead)
10:00 - 10:59 a.m. meetings                                                        Sunday Dinner First Hour
11:00 - 11:59 a.m. meetings                                                        Sunday Dinner Second Hour
 1:00 -  1:59 p.m. meetings                                                           Monday Breakfast
 2:00 -  2:59 p.m. meetings                                                          Monday Lunch
 3:00 -  3:59 p.m. meetings                                                          Monday Dinner First Hour
 4:00 -  4:59 p.m. meetings                                                          Monday Dinner Second Hour
TBD, 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and all others Monday                       After Dinner 8:15 p.m.

If you have any questions about your team’s meeting plans, wait until after everyone is mailed their assignments on June 6th so that you know the appropriate meeting lead to contact. Once you’ve contacted your team leads ask Amy Bennett at amy@citizensclimate.org if you have any remaining questions.

Questions about the Conference and Climate Advocate Training?

For questions about the conference program, including whether you should attend the Climate Advocate Training or what session(s) to attend if you’ve already taken it online refer to the "Program & Agenda FAQ" section on the Conference Registration page here.

Intro & Agenda
(from beginning)

Pre-conference materials
(1:46)

Schedule Details
(5:40)

Conference Logistics
(14:19)

Getting Around the Hill
(23:00)

Submitting Meeting Notes
(25:21)

Final Review Details
(32:22)

Adeline DeYoung

Taylor Krause

Download PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation.

Intro & Agenda
(from beginning)

Pre-conference materials
(1:46)

Schedule Details
(5:40)

Conference Logistics
(14:19)

Getting Around the Hill
(23:00)

Submitting Meeting Notes
(25:21)

Final Review Details
(32:22)

Adeline DeYoung

Taylor Krause

Download this episode (right click and save).

Find the episode on CCL’s iTunes channel.