Preparing For CCL 2022 December Conference and Lobby Weeks

On Dec. 3-4, 2022, Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers will meet online for our annual fall conference. Liaisons and chapters are working together to schedule and plan corresponding lobby meetings online (or in district in-person).  This page walks through important details regarding how the appointment setting process is being handled, available trainings, and additional recommendations as volunteers prepare with their chapters.

Most Important Training and Resources

Led by CCL's Vice President for Government Affairs Ben Pendergrass and Senior Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Tyler.  Click any of the links below to RSVP and sign up for a day-of reminder or add to your own calendar by clicking on “add to calendar” at the bottom of  the event information. Note that political dynamics are unpredictable and can lead to changes between the trainings and your lobby meeting:

• Lobby Training #1: Legislative Plan Two Times on Monday October 10th (1 pm ET) and (8 pm ET)
• Lobby Training #2: Primary & Supporting Asks (Thurs. November 10th, 8 pm ET)

If you’re new to CCL or you have never taken the Climate Advocate Training workshop, we strongly encourage you to sign up and attend a live session on the second Sunday of any month at 2pm ET. If that doesn’t fit your schedule, you can listen to a recording. This workshop is required to lobby with CCL. Note, if you are a youth or working with youth you can also invite them to the specialized Youth Lobby Training on Sun. Nov. 6h at 3 pm ET. Register here.

Registering for the Conference

Registration for our December 2022 Conference will open on October 17th at cclusa.org/fallconference. 🎉  The conference will be on Zoom Events, a new product offering from Zoom that’s similar to the Zoom meeting and webinar experience, but with a lobby, schedule of sessions, speaker bios, and interactivity with other virtual conference attendees.

Once there you can see the full line-up of sessions and after you register your confirmation email will include a calendar event invite with the Zoom links to click to join the day(s) of the conference. To find out more about Zoom Events, check out this helpful Zoom Support Article: Getting Started With Zoom Events as an Attendee.

For this event, you must have at least a free Zoom account and you must register to receive a unique invitation link by email (your link will be specific to you and your Zoom login, do not share it with others).

For any questions regarding the conference, email conference.inbox@citizensclimate.org.

Planning For December 2022 Lobby Meetings (Nov. 28 - Dec. 9)

In the United States CCL congressional liaisons and group leaders will determine whether lobbying will be on Zoom or in-person in-district and will be in charge of putting together the lobby teams. Our goal remains to meet with all or nearly all members of Congress during the two week period between November 28th - December 9th.

Note: If you member of Congress is retiring after this session, you are welcome to schedule the meeting earlier and additional guidance from Jenn Tyler, CCL's Sr. Director of Government Affairs, can be found here. 

If you wish to be part of a lobbying team (either in-district or online), contact your Group Leader or your CCL Regional and/or State Coordinator. CCL HQ cannot guarantee that any particular Congressional meeting will get scheduled or who will be on that team. 

If you have any questions about lobbying, please contact CCL’s Director of Congressional Liaisons and Lobby Days, Amy Bennett, amy@citizensclimate.org. 

Additional Training Opportunities

In addition to the scheduled trainings given by D.C. staff above there are additional CCL trainings (live and self-paced) to help you get ready to lobby.

Building Your Lobbying Foundation

• Lobbying 101: The Transformative Power of Citizen Advocacy (Interactive & Self-Paced)
• Understanding Congress Basics (Core Volunteer Training, October 11th, 8 pm ET)
• December Conference Lobby Days Q&A (Core Volunteer Training, November 15th, 8 pm ET)

Working With Congress Trainings

• Lobbying 201: Planning and Practicing Effective Lobbying (October 18th, 8 pm ET)
• Lobbying 301 Handling Challenging Situations (Interactive & Self-Paced) If you are a seasoned lobbyist, this is for upping your game.
• Lobbying 401: Review of Leading a Lobby Team (November 3rd, 8 pm ET) If you are leading a meeting for the first time, this training is for you. 

How to Schedule and Plan Lobby Meetings

Follow the instructions below to schedule your lobby meetings, assemble your lobby teams and then rehearse your lobby meetings. Generally lobby teams meet and rehearse on Zoom a week or two in advance of a lobby meeting (see information below).

How Are Appointments For Meetings Set

The CCL Congressional Liaison is the designated point of contact with the Congressional office.  

1. All appointments for meetings will be set by CCL congressional liaisons (or someone they designate). If you are not a liaison, please do not try to set an appointment (you can learn about becoming a liaison here).
2. If there is no liaison to set the appointment for your Senator or Representative, work with chapters in the district/state and your CCL Regional or State Coordinator to designate an appointment setter and email their contact info to amy@citizensclimate.org. Amy will distribute details on how to set appointments to appointment setters. If you’re not sure if there is a liaison or you need help, contact your Regional or State Coordinator.
3. We recommend that appointment setters/liaisons work with local CCL leaders (especially where there is more than one group in a district/state) to assemble the lobby team and create a meeting plan. 
4. While setting the appointment, appointment setters should be sure to ask the Congressional office how they would like to meet - by phone, Zoom, or another preferred platform and possibly explore options for an in-person meeting. For additional security considerations and support for preparing for your online meeting, see the "More Support" section in the Practicing Video Conference Security training page. 

Lobby Meeting Planning

1. Use CCL's Meeting Plan Template as a guide to solicit, discuss and prioritize everyone’s ideas for the lobby meeting. Key items to discuss include the appreciation, primary goal, supporting asks, and open-ended questions for discussion. You can find planning guidance on the Planning Your Lobby Meeting training page.
2. If there is a primary liaison, but the liaison is not at your meeting, designate someone to send your ideas to the liaison.  
3. Please include a volunteer in each meeting who will solely be the point person in helping your team with managing the technology platform you will use.

Assembling Your Lobby Team

1. Working with your liaison, determine who will be on the lobby team like you usually would for an in-district meeting. If appropriate, include a local business leader or other trusted messenger on the team.
   Note: CCL Headquarters will not create lobby teams nor send out lobby meeting schedules. While CCL HQ will track appointment times, your schedule will come directly from working with your local liaison and chapter leaders.
2. We recommend that the lobby team meet several times on Zoom to plan and rehearse the meeting. Some teams have found it helpful to have someone role-play being the member of Congress as part of your practice session. If your team includes a local community leader of some prominence, you may need to personally prepare them for the meeting. Include them in your practice meetings if at all possible.  
3. We trust that your meeting team knows your member of Congress best, and can determine what you think is your best option for strengthening the relationship with your member of Congress and their staff. You’ll want to make sure you have worked through any technical challenges related to conference calls or Zoom, as well as practiced how you will deliver the content of your meeting. Make sure everyone on your meeting team has the time to participate in this planning and practice. Amy will provide additional guidance for liaisons.

Intro & Agenda
(0:00)

CCL's December Lobby Days
(2:20)

CCL's December Conference
(14:56)
 

• Alison Kubicsko
• Amy Bennett

• Download or view the Google Slides
• Download the video

Intro & Agenda
(0:00)

CCL's December Lobby Days
(2:20)

CCL's December Conference
(14:56)

• Alison Kubicsko
• Amy Bennett

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