Advocacy Help Desk

This week we're joined by 2021 Public Affairs Council Advocacy Award Winner Becca Steele, Director of Emerging Technologies Policy at Toyota. A veteran of Capitol Hill, Becca not only walks us through her journey to her current position, but also the work she's doing to help build a grassroots community at Toyota. Building on the company's ethos of kaizen, or constant improvement, Becca's leveraging a three pronged approach to make sure she's hitting employees at the right time with the right message to build trust, authenticity and action. Through constant improvement, targeted messaging and gamification, Toyota's building a culture of grassroots that helps them address advocacy challenges today and into the future.

You’re already thinking about what in person fly-ins and events look like when the pandemic ends. “Could I livestream this to get more advocates involved if they can't make it in person?” Sure...BUT it's a bigger challenge than you think!

On this episode AHD Producer Blake and Co-Host Andy Polk brainstorm the many challenges and things you need to consider to put on a “hybrid” event or fly-in. We cover equipment, internet speeds, software, to audio strategy (KEY!), as well as user issues and experience.

https://vimeo.com/492284976

We've been told that our podcast is a bit like listening to friends have a chat about advocacy challenges. Today, we're banking on that concept, as we're joined by Michael Cavo, head of Federal Government Relations & Advocacy at GlaxoSmithKline. In a spotlight on how corporations have adapted over the past 12 months, we step through a host of topics, from relationship building with decision makers to messaging constituents, operational concerns during COVID to PAC conversations in the current political climate and more. It's a great episode for any advocacy professional to get a 360 degree view of how lawmaking, guidance and influence can be honed during these challenging times.

This week we're joined by two of the foremost experts in their fields, return guest Kristin Brackemeyer, head of PAC and Nick DeSarno, cohost of AHD and head of digital & advocacy both at the Public Affairs Council. In this episode we dive into a number of topics, from how various groups are approaching political contributions to candidates, promoting civics thru your advocacy program, building capacity to quickly mobilize, CSR and more. We touch on the Advocacy Conference and dive into the upcoming PAC Conference. It's a great episode and one you won't want to miss with two professionals who answer the questions of the industry on a daily basis.

This week we're joined by Katie McBreen, VP, Communications & Strategy with the Consumer Brands Association. Billing themselves as a 100 year old startup, Consumer Brands recently underwent an entire brand overhaul spearheaded by Katie, rebranding themselves from the Grocery Manufacturers Association. In this episode, we dive into the branding of advocacy efforts and associations, being able to convey an easily understandable message and what that means for trade associations both large and small. It's 30ish minutes of gold, from how she describes what the association does to the conversations and questions she asked their membership during the process and, finally, how she messages out their new purpose and results to legislators, members and the public at large. If you're working on your messaging or even how to best convey your goals, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Nathan Gonzales, Editor and Publisher of Inside Elections joins us this week as we dive into the results of Election 2020 and how they may bear out for Advocacy professionals. In an in-depth discussion, we talk through everything from the makeup of the 117th Congress to the outgoing President's potential effect on legislation, new members that may have an impact on the issues that may come up early in 2021 and everything in between. It's a great episode that sets the stage for how advocacy professionals should prepare for a new Congress. Walking the halls early in session isn't an option, so how do you meet the new members and forge relationships in the time of Covid. At the same time, how can advocacy professionals best approach the new Congress to have their issues heard and bills passed. In an episode where we touch of too much to even cover in this introduction, there's plenty here for everyone to learn more about the election, the 117th Congress and how, as a PAC and advocacy professional, you can get ahead in 2021.

This week, we're joined by Kristin St. John, XYZ of ABC at the National Association of Community Health Centers. Health center funding is typically a safe bet. Legislators from both sides of the aisle are always keen to ensure their constituents know that they're fighting for their health care. BUT, that doesn't mean that it's a sure thing early in the year. Instead, faced with the prospect of being used as a bargaining chip year-in-and-year-out, NACHC has a unique challenge working to keep their advocates engaged when there's a good possibility funding might not be secured until mid-to-late December. So, how does the NACHC team keep people involved? From peer-to-peer advocacy, call lists to spotify playlists, Kristin walks us through how she and her team spread out their tactics throughout the year, adding variety to their overarching sense of purpose and greater good. It's a great episode highlighting how being authentic can pay off in the long run, while changing up your asks adds a simple variety that can engage and change things up just enough to avoid the dreaded advocate fatigue.

This week we're joined by Christopher Masak, Senior Associate Director at Alzheimer's Association as we dive into the basics of advocacy messaging and building relationships with both advocates & elected officials. Specifically - say your bill just passed. You won. Now what? Chris walks us through how Alzheimer's embraces the victory, thanking advocates and officials alike and then starting the hard work of ensuring implementation also goes their way. Add in a great discussion on how smaller associations can have a BIG impact and really drive home their messaging with the Think, Feel, Do framework, and it's a great episode for advocacy groups of all sizes.

This week we're joined by Dorian Wanzer, Advocacy Manager, Global Government Relations at International Paper to take an in-depth look at her organization's GOTV program. From getting the CEO involved to staying out of partisan politics, we walk thru how important getting-out-the-vote is, where to get started, best practices, pitfalls to avoid and more. With state and federal elections every year, GOTV isn't just something to dabble in, but another opportunity to reach out to your membership and another way to build member value, build engagement and more.

Jeff Evans, the Associate Director of Public Policy from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) joins us as we dive into the fundamental role associations play in America's economy. Specifically, there's a misconception that associations are nothing more than lobbyists, created with the sole purpose of throwing bags of money at legislators. What that fails to take into account is the tireless work associations do on behalf of their members while at the same time driving the economy with events, restaurant & bar bookings, leadership training, skill building, coaching and more.