Preparing For CCL's Online-Only June Conference & Lobby Day

On June 7-9, 2020, Citizens’ Climate Lobby supporters will join online from around the world for CCL's 2020 International Conference & Lobby Day to help Congress address climate change.  

Update: In the face of COVID-19, it no longer seems possible nor prudent to plan for our usual in-person conference and lobby day in June. Instead, we will hold a virtual event, so that our climate change work can continue online. We’re still working out the details and will share them soon and update this training page accordingly. Keep an eye on our event page for updates.

If you only have time for two

• Planning Your Meeting With Congress Training - to help liaisons and/or local groups prepare their meeting plans.
• Study Guide for Lobby Day - 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. 

Preparing if you're a first-time lobby day attendee

• 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 to learn how to take notes, review the training on how to take great notes in your lobby meeting). Some 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 Thursday, May 28th, ahead of arriving in D.C.
• 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, help the team practice the primary ask delivery and select the best fit for any supporting asks. For details on where and when your team can 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 Lobbying 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 D.C. 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 any of the specific links below:

• The Economics Of Carbon Fee & Dividend Policies training page, or sign up for the live training - Tues. May 5th - 8 pm ET
• Transformative Power of Citizen Advocacy training page, or sign up for the live training - Thurs. May 7th - 8 pm ET
• Practicing Effective Lobbying training page, or sign up for the live training - Tues. May 12th - 8 pm ET
• Reframing to Move People from Resistance to Support video, or sign up for the live training - Thurs. May 14th - 8 pm ET
• Understanding Congress Basics training page, or sign up for the live training - Tues. May 19th - 8 pm ET
• Handling Difficult Lobbying Scenarios training page, or sign up for the live training - Thurs. May 21st - 8 pm ET
• How To Lead A Lobby Team Training training page, or sign up for the live training - Thurs. May 28th - 8 pm ET
• CCL Conference & Lobby Day Logistics Q&A training page, or sign up for the live training - Thurs. June 4th - 8 pm ET

Meeting With Your Team

On Thursday, June 4th, 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 are 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 in D.C. early, feel free to make plans on Sunday or Monday morning for further discussions.
• Specific Meeting Planning Times during the Conference. During the conference, we recommend your team designates a place to meet during the following break-times depending on the hour your Tuesday lobby meeting starts. 
• Tuesday Lobby Day. Sometimes teams can find time for a final run-through by checking their schedules for open times for all team members. We encourage people to arrive at their meetings 15 minutes early where possible.

Suggested Lobby Meeting Planning Times

If you have any questions about your team’s meeting plans, wait until after everyone is mailed their assignments on June 4th 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.

Is there an app with the conference schedule?

If you have a smartphone, you can download the mobile app. You can even set your notifications to alert you when updates are made.

• In your app store, search for “Grenadine Event Guide”
• Once downloaded, open the app and enter in the event code: CCLDC2020
• From the menu on the bottom, you can access the schedule, speakers, and other event information.
• As we get closer to the conference, we’ll be putting handouts and other information into the app for easy access.

Additional Questions about the Conference? 

For additional questions about the conference program, see the FAQs section on the CCL 2020 International Conference & Lobby Day page here.

• From Jan. 22 Zoom Call

• Jim Tolbert
• Madeleine Para

View the Google Slides presentation. 

Download the video.

• Meeting Minutes Form
• Initial Meeting Plan & Meeting Roles
• Follow-up Meeting Plan
• Primary Ask (Leave-Behind)
• Making Primary and Supporting Asks Sheet
• Congressional Bios