Help me make my Barack Obama event successful

March 28, 2008 2:54 AM

So, I have twenty-some unknown Barack Obama supporters coming to my house on Sunday, and I don't know what to do.

So, I had this great idea. I wanted to host an event where local Barack Obama supporters could come together to meet each other and discuss various political topics. Easy enough, I just went to Obama's web site and posted a "meet & greet" event open to all. Great idea, right?

Now, I have twenty-some random strangers planning to come to my house this Sunday evening, and I have no idea what to do! Please help me!

The session will run from 5:30 - 7:30 PM Sunday evening. I want to make this event as enjoyable and productive as possible for everyone. However, I've never hosted such an event (or any event for that matter), and I'm not sure what to expect. I'm afraid that a bunch of people will show up, stand around in silence for 15 minutes, and then leave.

What are some things that I can do to make the event most enjoyable for all? What can I prepare? Should I have literature available? Should I have snacks? Are there ice-breakers tactics that I can use to loosen people up? Any tips or tricks would be helpful...

posted by brandnew to human relations (24 answers total)

I don't really understand how you had a great idea to begin with and now have no idea. What was it you wanted in the first place? What did you tell these people they were going to? Is the aim to recruit activists for canvassing? Are you a party activist yourself? Or is this just a bit of friendly social fan chat? If the former, you need to get organised, if the latter then some refreshments and a video of the great man speaking will probably see you through. If you really have no idea what you want these people in your house for, cancel.
posted by Phanx at 3:30 AM on March 28, 2008

Attending one of these meetings held by a more experienced organiser prior to your own get-together might give you some ideas. (Although it is likely too late for that at this point.)

Obama ftw!
posted by WalterMitty at 3:32 AM on March 28, 2008

Phanx, well, canceling is not an option - I've got to start somewhere. Sure, maybe it will turn out horrible, but I'm confident that it won't. The goal is to build a grassroots network of supporters in the area.
posted by brandnew at 3:52 AM on March 28, 2008

I'm afraid that a bunch of people will show up, stand around in silence for 15 minutes, and then leave.

A generous supply of drinks to start with usually solves this problem.

I think the best, and most comfortable way to approach this, is basically from a non-political point of view. I mean, you already know what you all have in common, so take the opportunity to learn more about each other. Be prepared with questions to get people talking - what do people do for a living? Where are they from? What do they do for fun? Did anyone go to my college? Just to get people talking, you know, provide a background to the issues. Eventually, I imagine things will naturally turn to points of discussion like: When did they first become interested in politics? When were they first inspired by Omama? Have they worked on campaigns before? What are they planning to do for this one?
posted by Jimbob at 3:53 AM on March 28, 2008

Oh, incase I didn't make it clear, by approaching this from a non-political point of view, I mean that dousing these guests with pamphlets and videos is probably not the way to start. Make friends first, you already know they're on your side, I'm sure they know all the talking points.
posted by Jimbob at 3:54 AM on March 28, 2008

Maybe come up with some discussion points to get conversation going. You can even get all literal about that, if you want, and make some cards, each with a topic on one side, that people can draw to get discussion going. If you want to develop your network, discuss how to talk to people: people who are kind of on your side, who aren't on your side, who might be on your side but don't care to get out and vote. Talk about fundraising. Talk about the issues, particularly to educate each other in more depth on his positions so you are all better equipped to answer other people.

Food and beverages + people with common purpose + discussion points = they won't stand around in silence.
posted by bassjump at 4:03 AM on March 28, 2008

In my experience, Democrats who go to political meetings love to talk about politics! The people who are coming will have an above-average interest in this sort of thing. They are usually capable of doing so without alcohol, but beer will definitely help everyone want to come back. Jimbob has some great icebreakers.

Are you in a state that has an upcoming primary? If so you may want to have a sign-in list to volunteer for canvassing for Barack. If not, come up with some other worthwhile volunteering activity you can suggest to people near the end.

Just remember that not everyone who said they were coming will come.
posted by grouse at 4:16 AM on March 28, 2008

Take a deep breath - you'll be fine.

Snacks and drinks. Don't go overboard - you're not trying to impress anyone. Just simple stuff - a cheese platter with crackers, veggies and dip, chips and salsa. If you don't know how to estimate how much food you'll need, ask someone who does. When in doubt, get a little extra.

If you're a starving student (and even if not) it's not unthinkable to put a basket on the table where people can donate money if they want to help with the food costs.
posted by zippy at 4:28 AM on March 28, 2008

Don't cancel! Campaign staff veteran here, and I've coached a bunch of people through these types of events.

Food and drink: keep em coming. Light appetizers, beer/wine, soda, water, etc.

Literature: have this by the food. You can just print out some of the campaign fact sheets from the website, or if there is an upcoming primary in your state, you can go down to the campaign office and get some more official and glossy-looking stuff.

Greeting: when people come in, greet them at the door and ask them a few things about themselves. Have them fill out a sign-in sheet (name, phone, email, maybe boxes to check for interest in future activities - fundraising, canvassing, etc). Steer them towards the food/drinks, and introduce them to whoever else is there. This is important: try to rig up a loop of Obama speeches/ads/videos on the TV, partly for inspiration, party so that shy people have something to watch.

Activity: get a short list of people to call from the campaign (metamail me if you would like to know how to do this, I've got a bunch of friends working for the campaign). When you've got a critical mass of people, give each person 5 names and a script (again, feel free to ask me about this) and ask everyone to call the five people on their sheet. Don't make this a big deal, just be super-matter-of-fact about it.

This will hopefully have broken the ice, and then you can all chat about how great Barack is and how you can help him.

It looks like you're also wanting some sort of goal for this little thing - maybe it could be that you end up with three people committed to drive to an upcoming primary state (if one is close) to canvass? Anyway, what you actually do during the event, after the initial ice-breaking will depend on what you want to get out of it, and whether or not there is an upcoming primary near you. Either way, I'd say you should be really happy if you end the event with two or three people who are eager and willing to do more.

Oh, and almost forgot: the rule of halves is the organizer's rule of thumb: at any given event, you will have half as many people show up as committed. So if you have 15 RSVPs, you should expect 7 or 8 people to show up. You can improve your turnout somewhat by emailing people to remind them over the weekend.

Have fun!
posted by lunasol at 5:18 AM on March 28, 2008 [12 favorites]

May be good also if you did something like ask everyone to write on an index card or similar why the got interested in Obama in the first place, and you could then stick them on the wall or somewhere suitable. Could be a conversation focus.
posted by StephenF at 6:18 AM on March 28, 2008

In my experience you should take this chance to start to organize. Get a list together of people who would be willing to drive people to the polls. Start making contact with elderly housing in the area and make them aware that rides will be available. Get a small group to volunteer to go to the local college and get out the vote. If you concentrate on one aspect of election day you'll be more effective. Don't forget to lock up your valuables. Not because they're Democrats, but because they are strangers.
posted by Gungho at 6:21 AM on March 28, 2008

contact the Obama campaign. they will have plenty of ideas.

write emails to potential supporters.

phone bank, everyone brings a cell and you call numbers provided by the campaign.

assemble Obama signs.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:36 AM on March 28, 2008

I was just at a somewhat more formal version of the same thing last night here in New York. It seemed like pretty much a typical cocktail party except that a couple of people spoke for a few minutes and of course you could always fall back on politics as a conversation topic. I can report that the favorite topic last night was "Why hasn't Hillary dropped out already?"

You might think about having some information or at least suggestions for how people can continue to help out. Last night there was a woman who spoke who ran "Women for Obama" in New York, and she had a signup sheet or something that people just about stampeded to when she was done talking.
posted by lackutrol at 7:36 AM on March 28, 2008

In my pick-up D&D sessions, I usually start out with a simple premise for conflict and roll with it. ("You're in a tavern when a dwarf comes in, shouting 'I can lick any man in the place!'" Mayhem ensues.)

For a pick-up political meeting, I'd throw out a challenge to the folks who showed up: "What's the most important thing we could be doing right now to support Obama?" Discussion ensues.

The most important thing is to get the supporters out of passive mode ("What do you want us to do?") to active mode ("Hey! Let's do this!").
posted by SPrintF at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2008

Just my nickel, but if I was attending one of these functions (and I would, except I'm an ex-pat in Canada), I'd want to focus on how to help Obama secure the nomination, not commiserate about why Hillary hasn't dropped out yet or something similarly unproductive (because that's going to happen one way or another).

Your profile doesn't saw where you're located, but if you're anywhere near one of the upcoming primary states, talk about what you can do in regards to that. If you haven't, Obama website has a ton of resources, including making phone calls to folks in upcoming contest states, writing letters to potential supporters, etc. Look at your own state's superdelegates and see if any of them have endorse Obama. If they haven't, write to them saying they should.
posted by Nelsormensch at 8:47 AM on March 28, 2008

Former political activist here.

Guest #1 walks in the door. You greet them. "Hi, I'm [name], welcome to my house, [small talk]. So what do you do?"

Guest #2 walks in the door. Same small talk, and then introduce #2 to guest #1. "Hey, did you know that Guest #1 is a carpenter? He worked on [local building]." More small talk until guest #3 arrives, whereupon you excuse yourself from 1 and 2. Rinse and repeat until everyone arrives.

"So, I'd really like to welcome you all. I'm really interested in starting/fanning grassroots support for Obama in [neighborhood]. I'm interested in hearing your ideas about how we can get this going."

Pass out pens & paper. "Please write down what you think the greatest asset this community has to offer the campaign. Write down the biggest obstacle this campaign faces in our community." Collect, and then discuss, and then formulate a plan of action. Leave them with something to do before the next gathering.
posted by desjardins at 8:54 AM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

Tell them Hillary needs their $$$ more than Barack does. :)

OK, seriously - to be honest there is probably a phone banking tool on the Obama site, or a way to arrange for call sheets, so you could do both - have a social event and then take time to make calls for your candidate. Good luck!
posted by citron at 9:04 AM on March 28, 2008

Didn't have a chance to thoroughly read through everyone's comments. But wanted to give my 2 cents...

I work at a record company and my boss had a similar event at his house. He had a musician on our label perform a few acoustic songs and charged a hefty admission to the event- presumably a price one would be willing to pay to attend a private performance of a great musician. All of the money was donated directly to Obama's campaign. You might not have the connections he did. But do try to reach out to local musicians, performers, comedians, artists, etc. You'd be surprised how many creative types would be willing to offer their services for a cause they believe in.

And a little entertainment (plus some food and drinks) can really get people excited and open up conversations.
posted by dm_nyc at 9:19 AM on March 28, 2008

We had an Obama fundraiser at our house just before the state primary. Many of the people were already our friends so it was easy. Some good conversation starters were things like "What are your hopes for an Obama presidency?" "What are some good ways to talk to friends and neighbors about Obama?" and "That Hillary--what a piece of work, huh?" Just kidding on that last one.

It was really a lot of fun and we would be following up on building friendships with some of the cool strangers we met if we were not moving in a few months.
posted by LarryC at 9:57 AM on March 28, 2008

Seems like 3 basic areas: planning event to raise money, walking precincts/registering voters or phone bank. Provide beer, chips, salsa and figure out what you all want to do. Easiest might be phone bank, or have every one do a few calls and then agree to organize their own phone mini phone bank. Keep in touch, see who makes the most calls, etc.
posted by tula at 9:58 AM on March 28, 2008

I think I'm seconding the others when I say to focus on social-ness first, politics second.

The Yes We Can video is a classic if not everyone's seen it.

Make sure everyone knows about the Dinner with Barack prize for a few lucky donors, and encourage them to contribute. $10 is plenty--he's getting his support from lots of "normal" donors, not an elite cadre of rich people.

Phonebanking is a neat option (bring your cell phones, dial *67 before each call if you're concerned about your privacy). Info right here on his site. (Give Patricia Gold a run for her money!) If you do phonebanking, do not read verbatim from the script. It puts people to sleep, and has you talking to them for two minutes straight. "Hi, this is Matt. I'm a volunteer for the Obama campaign. How are you tonight?" Try to engage them. (And don't force people to do it -- some people, like me, are terrified of phones, triply so if it means cold-calling strangers.)

But yes, focus on social stuff. Snacks and drinks are important. At just the right moment, announce that, "People keep accusing Obama of being a Muslim plant. But we all know that he's as American as apple pie." And then pull a warm apple pie out of your oven and serve. With ice cream. With 20 people, you might want 2 or 3.

Nametags are good. Get some "My name is..." stickers and a couple Sharpies, and keep them by the door. Encourage people to write additional "hints" or facts -- "Kerry '04 Volunteer" or "Republican for Obama." Don't forget one for yourself. ("Brandnew -- Host")
posted by fogster at 12:53 PM on March 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

At a meet-and-greet, all you need to do is supply some food and drink. The party will make itself.

The nametag idea is a good one, too.
posted by svolix at 1:26 PM on March 28, 2008

I LOVE the apple pie idea!
posted by lunasol at 6:57 PM on March 28, 2008

nthing appetizers and drinks.

My mom went to the caucuses in WA and while she was there, every voter was given an opportunity to stand up and say why they were voting for whichever candidate. I'm guessing that everyone there will feel pretty strongly about Obama and will have a lot to say. If things start to get dull, you could stand up and make a toast, thank everyone for coming, how important this is, etc, then invite others to say something about Obama or toast to his victory or whatever.
posted by easy_being_green at 11:54 AM on March 29, 2008