give the perspective that an individual member of an organization can.
‘‘I have lots of groups and individuals come in to talk. If you are going in to talk with a
member of Congress about an issue, be specific about what you want them to do. Get
that out in the first five minutes of the conversation. That’s the best thing you can do. I
have had folks come in and spend the whole meeting time talking about the history of
the organization, how they came into being. Often we already know that information.
We’re looking for what you want to talk about. Get that out in the first five minutes so the
majority of the conversation can be about what concerns you.
‘‘We have had people come in, they start off with small talk, they give me the history,
how many members they have and they’ll leave the office and I won’t even know why
they came in to talk or what they were concerned about. That’s not really an effective
way to use the limited time you are going to have with members of Congress."
2020 Pennsylvania Avenue NW #929
Washington DC 20006
GrassRootsGuy@JoelBlackwell.com
Washington (202) 277-5209 / Sacramento (916) 273-9180
