State Director Greg Clements kicked off the Tennessee 2019 Summer Strategy Session Friday, June 21, in Franklin with 30 patriots, including 11 first-timers and eight state/regional leaders as well as Regional Director Rodney Huckleberry, with an overview of passed states, national news and a review of state leadership positions and priories.
This took us to dinner and a game of Fighting Tyranny in which all were re-educated in the virtues of the real thing. (I never thought H.D. Thoreau was really that smart although he did, still, burn down Concord Forest!)
Saturday got down to planning and discussing SMART goals for greater efficiency in Communication, Legislative Strategy, Organizing Events, On-Boarding, and Recruiting. We also conducted training in the Legalities of COS & Message and Email Management.
The Communications Task Force proposed creating a newsletter for greater dissemination and response through the COS hierarchy, from volunteers to National Leaders, as well as legislatures and public presentations. With more staff and experience, we want this newsletter to become an established organ for positive change in Tennessee and COS recruiting. Some internal changes within the state and national hierarchy communication are also needed.
Ramona DeSalvo represented the Legislative Task Force in emphasizing that more LLs are needed to inform legislators, prevent rescission and hold convention commissioners faithful to COS goals. Intelligence gathering is particularly understaffed, especially monitoring bills currently before the Tennessee Assembly. The 2020 legislative strategy includes identifying and supporting bills consistent with self-governance, arousing public participation and informing legislators, especially first-timers, of COS.
Improving events gets down to having an effective routine with props, tactics and strategy: be polite, don’t argue a lost argument, put out the information and get petition signatures on site. No one is going to follow through later. The events task force is still working on proposing which events throughout the state we should focus on.
On-boarding and training are in continuous improvement mode. The Nashville North Region is experimenting with a different way to vet and pre-board folks that appears to be improving the percentage of folks that go from checking the box to actually getting active.
In terms of training, Lyle Hill (State Grassroots Coordinator), is looking to have some dedicated trainers, so that he is not the only one in the state that can on-board folks. We also believe that training needs to be automated to the extent possible due to the volunteer nature of COS and work schedules.
Greg covered the recruiting report, in which the focus is on quality more than quantity. This requires more vigorous interviewing and vetting for positions beyond volunteers or prayer warriors.
The more active positions require people who can follow instructions and present well. There is also nothing wrong with directing an applicant to a different position which may be a better fit for their personality or time-availability.
The on-boarding checklist is a process, not a conveyor belt. All that said, we do need to grow the grassroots army, and the goal for the remainder of this year is to get 20 more Active volunteers in place for the January 2020 legislative session.
Ramona DeSalvo covered the legalities of being a 501(c3) versus a 501(c4) organization in terms of lobbying, campaigning ,and education, and she highlighted the risks of not understanding the difference.
Regional Director Rodney Huckleberry covered Messages and Email Management and went over established procedures for new comers and experienced leaders alike. Fortunately, we have a review protocol within the Email system that clears broadcast messages before dissemination.
Also, the following Patriots were recognized for their outstanding contributions over the past year(s).
Anne Aycock - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Yvonne Rogers - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Hill Rogers - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Kenric Johnson - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
John Taylor - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Cathy Bickerstaff - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Luke Carty - Certificate of Achievement
Elder Rick Jernigan - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Pastor Paul Becker - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Walter Bowen - Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Dwayne Bledsoe – Patriot Pin Award & Certificate
Finally, we are not self governing if we’re not engaged beyond complaining about the news. Let’s be the news!
