II. Building a Chapter

A. Planning and Executing Your First Meetings

Talk to your friends and other like minded individuals. Even if you begin with only 2 or 3 people, don't be discouraged. Pick a meeting spot and begin advertising your meeting at least two weeks before it actually occurs. Hang flyers in targeted areas, call local papers and radio stations to get listed in their events calendars, and don't forget to tell ASA so we can publicize your meeting on our email lists. You can't do too much outreach.

SAMPLE AGENDA

**It is most important to do two things during this first meeting: collect contact information and set the next meeting time and place.**

1. Pick a facilitator or two and a note taker. It is the responsibility of the facilitator to keep a media moving along on time, that the meeting sticks to the agenda, and that everyone who wants to speak gets an opportunity. It important the facilitator not "police" the meeting but guide it.


2. Read meeting ground rules and get a consensus from the group that they will be respected. The group may decide to add rules as well. It will be up to the facilitator to gently remind people of the ground rules if they are broken to keep the meeting running smoothly.

Successful Meeting Tip #2

Before the meeting post the following meeting ground rules where people can see them:

1. Do not interupt
2. Raise your hand to speak
3. Assume best intentions
4. Do not repeat others
5. Be respectful when disagreeing


3. Introduce the agenda, and ask for any additions. It is a good rule of thumb to have "announcements" as the last agenda item. This gives members the opportunity to talk about other items with out filling up meeting time to do so. Then go through each item and give a rough estimate of how long you want to spend on each item. It will then be the facilitator's duty to remind the group if they are going over time. If an item is taking more time than allotted the facilitator should ask the group if they want to agree to add more time to the item or move on.


4. Do a go-around of introductions, including name, affiliation, and interest in the issue (be sure to specify that each intro should be limited to 2 minutes or this could take up your entire meeting). Pass around a sign-up sheet and collect numbers, email addresses, etc.

Successful Meeting Tip #3

During the meeting sit in a circle and begin by stating why you wanted to start an ASA group, and what the ASA campaign is currently working on. Then go in a circle and ask each person to say why they are interested, and what they think they'd like to do. Try to make everyone feel like they are being listened to and that their ideas are being considered.



5. Read ASA's mission and goals to the group to make sure that everyone is on the same page from day one!


6. Review ASA campaigns, how they apply to your group and what other challenges your community faces. Check with ASA staff before your meeting to get a list of most recent campaigns. Pass around Pledge of Resistance cards & collect signed ones later in the meeting to send to the ASA office.


7. Review upcoming events and actions that both ASA national are planning and local events such as city council meetings, court hearings, etc.


8. Brainstorm a list of tasks and steps that you need to accomplish for the items discussed in item #7 and get volunteers to take on items. Some examples of such tasks might be:
   • Media: do you need a press release? Do you need media talking points for participants?
   • Outreach: Contacting other like minded groups to join you in your efforts, making flyers to ensure greater turn out, etc.
   • Art and visuals: Do you need signs, banners, t-shirts, or other visuals for the event?
   • Materials: Do you need something to hand out at the event to educate target audience?


9. Is everyone on e-mail? Do need a list-serve to stay in touch? Should you have a phone tree?


10. Dispatch: Review who is going to do each thing, including send out the notes and a list of contacts, and pass the hat for costs. Don't forget to set the next meeting date and place! Close your meeting, thank the facilitators and participants.


11. Announcements: This is a time to allow those who want to share items that maybe outside the realm of the agenda


12. Socialize afterwards!

Beyond the First Meeting

Before your second meeting you should phone everyone in the group to remind them of the next meeting and try to get people to personally commit to attending. At the second meeting, decide on some action items to get started. You may want to host a benefit or other type of event to get your feet wet. This also empowers your membership to go on to bigger things. Look through the campaign strategy and the event options in this booklet and discuss them with your group; settle on one, develop an action plan, and follow through on it.

If your group is working well together a good way to keep people committed and engaged it may be a good idea to create committees or working groups to tackle major items. You can have break outs at these meetings for these groups to meet and report back to the main group. Some examples of working groups you may choose include:

• Media working group


• Outreach working group: everyone should do this, but a group can schedule tabling and leafleting opportunities. Setting up a table is a great way to get free into events!


• Art in action working group: People who can put the time into making props, puppets, planning street theatre, music, etc.


• Alliance-building working group: Unlike outreach, this involves going to other existing groups, offering our support, and soliciting theirs. These are the ambassadors - a very important and often-neglected role.


• Fundraising working group: Planning fun events that can support your work.


• Education working group: May plan forums, curriculum, develop leaflets, etc.

The working groups depend on the interests and abilities of your membership. Make sure one person is the primary contact for each workgroup and that person's contact info is included in the notes and available to all chapter members and the national office.

Remember to network with the national ASA office so we know what local groups have formed and can facillitate communication between groups. Please make copies of your participant lists and send them to us so that we can add the names to our national list. Copy the "Pledge of Resistance" and collect signatures, and also send copies of that to the national office.

B. Chapter Structure

Using Roving Facilitators

There are several ways to share leadership within a group, but one effective method is using roving facilitators. At each meeting, two people should volunteer or be chosen to faciliate the next meeting. (It's often fun working with others as faciliators, and in case one person cannot make it to the following meeting, the other will be there to facilitate.) These people will be responsible for:

• Helping to promote the meeting.
• Creating an agenda for the meeting.
• Moderating the meeting to ensure it runs smoothly.

The facilitators should rotate in order to give several people the chance to be involved. Encourage new activists to co-facilitate with someone who's been involved for a long time. Challenge facilitators to come up with creative activities or presentations for the meetings. Have fun with this!

Setting Meeting Rules

At the beginning of each ASA meeting, the facilitators should set ground rules for the meetings. Here are some basic rules that help meetings run smoothly:

• Do not interrupt others while they speak.
• Raise your hand to speak.
• Assume best intentions.
• Be respectful when disagreeing.
• Do not repeat others

In addition to these rules, faciliators should ask the rest of the group to provide ground rules for the meeting.

Monthly Agenda Outline

This rough outline should be used every month. While we ask that ASA chapters and affiliates cover certain issues monthly, there is a lot of room for local input and creativity.

1. Introductions.


2. Present the agenda and ground rules, and ask for additions.


3. Give a national update (this will be provided to you monthly through an email from the ASA office).


4. Discuss local medical marijuana issues.


5. Prepare for an upcoming event or action, or do a political activity, like writing to an elected representative about a pending bill (find ideas in the Organizing Skills section of this handbook).


6. Pick two facilitators and set a time, date and place for the next meeting.


7. Socialize!

C. Outreach and Recruitment

Outreach is one of the most important aspects of organizing so don't let it fall through the cracks. While one or two committed people can be effective, building your group will develop further strengths and ensure longevity. Below, we will review several methods of outreach.

Using email lists for outreach and organizing

We will be reviewing the different ways you can set up and use email lists to communicate with your members, supporters, volunteers, and the media.

Using your regular email software The simplest way to create and use email lists is to use your regular email software. This is a good choice for individual activists and for organizations in which the staff has little technical expertise and if your list has only a couple hundred subscribers.

For example, if you want to send out press releases, set up a personalized address book labeled "Media" that includes the email addresses of all the interested reporters you know. To send a press release to your "Media" list, put your own email address in the "To" field, and type "Media" in the "Bcc" field of the message header. That way, all of the reporters will receive the message, but only your email address will be disclosed. ALWAYS use the "Bcc" (blind carbon copy) field if you are creating an email list in your address book so that the email addresses are hidden to your recipients.

Activist E-mail Account and List Providers There are organizations that offer free mailing lists to activists like Rise Up and TAO. These organizations are far more trustworthy and sympathetic to activists than capitalist E-mail services but they have limited resources.

Types of email lists

Announcement-only email lists: This configuration provides one-way communication from the list owner to the list subscribers. This configuration is good for distributing electronic newsletters, action alerts, etc. . When you configure a list for announcements only, you need a password in order to post messages, so you can determine who can post messages to the list.

Moderated email lists: A moderated email list allows for controlled two-way communication. Any subscriber can post a message to the list, but the list owner decides whether or not to post it. This gives the list owner nearly as much control over the content as the owner of an announcement-only list. The main disadvantage is that you'll have to read every reply you get from list subscribers in order to decide whether or not to post them.

Unmoderated email lists: In an unmoderated list any subscriber can post a message to the list for everyone to see. This configuration gives subscribers the most freedom to communicate and requires very low maintenance, but it also gives the list owner the least amount of control over the content.

Open subscription process (anyone can participate): An open subscription list allows anyone who is interested to subscribe without approval from the list owner.

Membership-only lists (subscription approval, password-protected Web sites): When you set up a list to require subscription approval, all subscription requests are forwarded to the list owner who will choose whether or not to approve them.

[Excerpted from "The Virtual Activist" with modifications by Shawn Ewald]

Guidelines for Tabling

Why Table? Setting up a literature & merchandise table provides outreach opportunities for your group, provides activity for members looking for something to do, and makes money. All of these benefits are essential for building your group, and keeping it strong.

Where to set up a table - All of the following events and locations are useful and beneficial to some degree. They are listed in decreasing order of likely success: A. Big political events, demonstrations, and marches; B. Events of your own; C. Small events; D. Specific locations in your community. It is best to start with no more than one event or tabling effort per month and build up your momentum.

Supplies you will need - In order to successfully table and accommodate your volunteers, you should obtain the following (lightweight, durable materials are the best)

• Portable Tables (if none are available, a tarp laid out on flat ground will work)
• Folding Chairs
• Milk Crates (for transport; can double as chairs)
• Rubber Bands (wind is always a nuisance)
• A Cash Box and $20 in Small Bills for change (round your prices off to the dollar; it's much easier) The cash box should also contain pens, pencils, tape, scratch paper, etc. As the day goes on, if you are accumulating a considerable amount of money in the cash box, take out all cash except what you need to make change and put it in a safe place. Keep careful records of financial transactions while tabling - with separate columns for donations, memberships, sales, and sales tax, separately.
• Clip Boards (for pledges of resistance and contact sheets)
• Literature Racks (not essential, but highly useful, especially if space is limited)
• Tarps and Rope (in wet climates)
• A durable hand truck with straps for transport is essential.

Presentation - Be sure that the name of your group appears on a sign or banner prominently displayed and visible from a distance. Make the table display as attractive as possible. A tablecloth perhaps, a variety of colorful books, shirts, eye-catching signs, posters, etc., will draw people over. Straighten literature periodically. For outdoor events, have with you a plastic sheet of some kind for a quick cover if it rains, and a bunch of clean rocks (or rubber bands) you can use to keep pamphlets from blowing away. Take an up-to-date price list of all merchandise. All items should be marked with the price, whenever possible.

Outreach - The most important reason to table is to outreach and ORGANIZE! As people approach the table, stand up and engage them in friendly conversation. Talk about the issues, and let them know how they can help organize or participate. Have cards with your next meeting date and location available. Always provide a sign-up sheet that offers further contact.

[Excerpted from "Guidelines for Tabling" & from Steve Ongerth, East Bay IWW with modifications by Shawn Ewald]

Public Petitioning

A great way to do public outreach is through petition gathering. Petitioning is a simple and effective alternative to tabling, especially for individuals or small groups. Here are some quick tips for successful petitioning:

• Choose a high traffic area to petition such as concerts, political events, college campuses or busy areas in your community.
• Print out several copies of a petition. You can use a petition found on the ASA website or one of your own.
• Rubber-band the petitions to pieces of cardboard. These hand-made clipboards are often easier to handle than store-bought clipboards.
• Make sure to have several extra pens on hand in case a pen is lost or runs out of ink.
• Greet people with a catchy line, such as "Help protect medical marijuana patients!"
• Be friendly and outgoing.
• Have fun!

Approaching Other Groups

Doing outreach to like-minded groups is essential to getting a new group off the ground or to expanding an existing group. When approaching other groups, always think about how you would like to be approached. Do research into their beliefs, goals and campaigns and try to see how your group's work fits into those. Attend one of their meetings and introduce yourself. Ask if they would be willing to co-sponsor an event. For ideas on groups to approach, refer to the allied and potential allied organization list in the Resources section of this handbook.

Media Outreach

Think about utilizing local media not just as a tool for public education but also for a outreach about your specific group. Write letters to the editor in response to medical marijuana stories, and make sure to affiliate yourself with your group. Ask friendly journalists to write about your group before a meeting or event to publicize the event beyond your circle of activists. Send out press releases about your group's activities to get the community excited about what you are doing.

For further ideas, please refer to the ASA Media Manual or Media Resources for Grassroots Organizers.

D. Volunteer Development

Chapter members and volunteers are the life-blood of ASA. It is important to remember that people come to ASA at different levels, and each type of member may have different needs. For example, new members can often feel overwhelmed and lost at meetings, while veteran members may feel bored or disconnected. Here are some tips on how to develop and retain effective volunteers:

Cultivating New Members

• Always begin meetings with introductions. Introduce the campaign and a have a go-around for chapter introductions.
• Create an open environment geared towards education. Encourage questions and offer explanations.
• Give new members responsibility. People often will not continue activity with an organization unless they feel they are needed. Ask members to prepare a news summary for a meeting, create flyers, do phone banking, etc.
• Call new members to invite them to the next meeting. Since they have not yet made ASA part of their routine, they may forget.

Keeping Members Interested

• Focus meetings on action. While meetings can be educational and fun, always plan or execute some type of action. This will help members feel that they are involved in a campaign and not just hanging out with like-minded individuals.

Community Awards

A great way to recognize members publicly is to give out awards. Give awards to outstanding volunteers, accomplished leaders, etc. Name awards after past leaders or give awards creative names.

• Ask for input from all members. A few vocal individuals can easily dominate a meeting. Make sure that all members know that their input is welcome is needed. Designate a facilitator to ensure that nobody dominates and that all voices are heard.
• Recognize members for their efforts, publicly and privately. While you know how talented and committed your members are, they need to here this. Give credit when someone has excelled on a project or committed energy towards ASA.
• Encourage members to socialize. People come to activist organizations for the politics, but they stay because its fun. Host social events after meetings or on the weekends. Go to movies or sporting events. Be creative and have fun!

Developing Leaders

• Find out about members' skills, interests, and connections. You will never know until you ask. Someone might have media experience. Another member could like to talk on the phone. Maybe a member has a connection to a local politician. Find out and make use of these skills.
• Create distinct positions and responsibilities. This will help foster accountability. Some ideas are coordinators for media, fundraising, event planning, and recruitment.