by Matthew Zablud
28. July 2010 08:55
You just completed a successful fly-in. Your top industry advocates flew into DC from around the country, met with their Congressman and Senators, and are feeling excited by their interactions with the law making process. You're on top of the world and ready for a much needed vacation. But what if we told you that your advocates have only made it to the first date?
Anne Darconte (Director of Outreach for the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association), a grassroots practitioner with extensive industry experience, likes to tell a story (that happened while she was working for a former employer) where she attended a regional meeting of industry advocates who had been to a DC fly-in some months before. Despite the fly-in being widely regarded as a huge success, none of the participants had since arranged a site visit for their legislators, sought a follow-up meeting, nor even sent an email to their Legislator's staff. The contact began and ended at the DC fly-in.
Anne asked the meeting attendees to raise their hands if they were married. Most did. She then asked, now raise your hand if you proposed to your spouse on the first date. There were nervous chuckles, and of course no-one raised their hand. She said, of course you didn't. You wooed your spouse over many dates, you introduced them to your parents and met their parents, you showed them how important they were to you and established the foundation for a long term relationship.
The analogy may sound a little cute, but Anne is 100% right about the importance of building that ongoing relationship with elected representatives. Sometimes a Congressman may be familiar with a fly-in participant, but more often than not, they are meeting their constituent for the first time. This is therefore the first step in building a relationship. Advocates must be educated and assisted to maintain that contact, to find reasons to engage their legislators and to report back their progress. The fly-in can't truly be considered a success until you know if that relationship is starting to blossom. After all, how many of us really remember all of our first dates that never made it to a second night out?
