Our convention was last Saturday, and I have some thoughts to share based on my experience. I hope they're helpful to others...
Lessons Learned
#1 Go, in person if possible, to your BPOU office TODAY. Identify yourself, tell them you’re a delegate and excited about the party and the convention. Chat them up. Your goals here:
1- Find out what is important at the local level- are there House District races, a Congressional seat? Try to find out what people who are ‘regulars’ at GOP events have on their minds, and use that to position yourself and to do research on the candidates.
2- Sell yourself to anyone you can, starting now- CAMPAIGN to be a delegate
3- Obtain a copy of the Convention rules so you can STUDY IT before you get there.
#2 Before the convention. Read and UNDERSTAND every rule. Read it like it’s been written to totally block your attempts to get what you want, and think about what motions would be needed to change it. If you can coordinate a plan with others, great, but try to think on your own because it’s hard to coordinate when you get there. Do you have RP friends who didn’t get to be delegates? See if you can still nominate them even though they weren’t BPOU delegates.
#3 At the convention. Do whatever you can to seat Ron Paul Alternates. We missed an opportunity for this at our convention- they seated alternates by precinct but we might have gotten some more RP alternates seated in open seats by House Districts. After seating alternates-by-precincts, they gave some kind of attendance report and there was a motion that it be the last report…and that meant closing the ‘open’ seats without filling them. We should have made a motion right then to fill those seats with Alternates. (It seemed like a bad motion, but went fast- I should have at least asked for a point of information to understand that)
#3 At the convention. Do not rely on anyone else to do anything. Do not check with someone else or you’ll miss your chance. If you think a motion needs to be made, make it. If you think for or against something, say it. If you have a question, ask for a Point of Information. Get your butt out of your seat. The worst that happens is that your motion is voted down or you maybe try to do something that’s not allowed, in which case, hey you’re new and learning, and you get points for trying.
* If you are flying under the radar, try to focus on platform issues and LOCAL issues. At least in our BPOU, presidential preference did not come up once except for the local leader acting like McCain is a ‘done deal’
#4 At the convention. Do whatever you can to be seen (preferably positively). Even if it is to get up and say “Point of information…I’m new to this process and I’d just like to clarify…(some question about the rules)” Make sure you state your name clearly. One woman at ours said her name 3 times and spelled it and said she wanted to be a delegate. That name was memorable to people when it came time to vote. In the time after you register, go introduce yourself to people, talk to them, ask questions.
#5 Regarding nominations. Be ready to be flexible. It depends a lot on the process you are using and the RULES. We had no opportunity to speak on why we wanted to be delegates (but I had my speech prepared). Try to be organized enough to nominate each other, but don’t just have 2 people nominate your whole slate. Spread it around. For one thing, they may be better able to block you from reading all your nominees if you’re doing several (at least in ours, you had to go to the ‘back of the line’ to nominate again.)
Lessons Learned
- Find out what is important to the other delegates at your BPOU convention
- Study the rules
- SELL YOURSELF
- Be Focused
- Be Strategic
#1 Go, in person if possible, to your BPOU office TODAY. Identify yourself, tell them you’re a delegate and excited about the party and the convention. Chat them up. Your goals here:
1- Find out what is important at the local level- are there House District races, a Congressional seat? Try to find out what people who are ‘regulars’ at GOP events have on their minds, and use that to position yourself and to do research on the candidates.
2- Sell yourself to anyone you can, starting now- CAMPAIGN to be a delegate
3- Obtain a copy of the Convention rules so you can STUDY IT before you get there.
#2 Before the convention. Read and UNDERSTAND every rule. Read it like it’s been written to totally block your attempts to get what you want, and think about what motions would be needed to change it. If you can coordinate a plan with others, great, but try to think on your own because it’s hard to coordinate when you get there. Do you have RP friends who didn’t get to be delegates? See if you can still nominate them even though they weren’t BPOU delegates.
#3 At the convention. Do whatever you can to seat Ron Paul Alternates. We missed an opportunity for this at our convention- they seated alternates by precinct but we might have gotten some more RP alternates seated in open seats by House Districts. After seating alternates-by-precincts, they gave some kind of attendance report and there was a motion that it be the last report…and that meant closing the ‘open’ seats without filling them. We should have made a motion right then to fill those seats with Alternates. (It seemed like a bad motion, but went fast- I should have at least asked for a point of information to understand that)
#3 At the convention. Do not rely on anyone else to do anything. Do not check with someone else or you’ll miss your chance. If you think a motion needs to be made, make it. If you think for or against something, say it. If you have a question, ask for a Point of Information. Get your butt out of your seat. The worst that happens is that your motion is voted down or you maybe try to do something that’s not allowed, in which case, hey you’re new and learning, and you get points for trying.
* If you are flying under the radar, try to focus on platform issues and LOCAL issues. At least in our BPOU, presidential preference did not come up once except for the local leader acting like McCain is a ‘done deal’
#4 At the convention. Do whatever you can to be seen (preferably positively). Even if it is to get up and say “Point of information…I’m new to this process and I’d just like to clarify…(some question about the rules)” Make sure you state your name clearly. One woman at ours said her name 3 times and spelled it and said she wanted to be a delegate. That name was memorable to people when it came time to vote. In the time after you register, go introduce yourself to people, talk to them, ask questions.
#5 Regarding nominations. Be ready to be flexible. It depends a lot on the process you are using and the RULES. We had no opportunity to speak on why we wanted to be delegates (but I had my speech prepared). Try to be organized enough to nominate each other, but don’t just have 2 people nominate your whole slate. Spread it around. For one thing, they may be better able to block you from reading all your nominees if you’re doing several (at least in ours, you had to go to the ‘back of the line’ to nominate again.)
