DFA Training Academy in Kansas City

Agenda:

Saturday June 14th through Sunday June 15th

9am-6pm each day

You have the power, now learn the skills! The Democracy for America Training Academy is coming to Kansas City, MO for two days of exciting campaign training.

How many votes will it take to win in November? How do you find the perfect message and get it out to voters in your district? How will you raise enough money to pay for it all?

The DFA Training Academy will help you answer these questions and more.

At the DFA Training Academy, top campaign consultants with decades of experience give you the skills to run a winning campaign. Topics include: field planning, voter contact, fundraising, communications, volunteer recruitment and more.

Attendees will also get to hear directly from some of the most exciting 2008 candidates in their area and get a copy of the DFA Training Manual packed with over 180 pages of winning campaign info.

Refreshments will be provided throughout the day and a social event will be organized Saturday evening so you can mingle and network with other activists in your area.

The training will run from 9am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Click here to see a video of a previous training:

Lodging Info:

We have a block of rooms being held at Kansas City's only 'green' hotel:

Q Hotel and Spa
560 Westport Road
Kansas City, MO 64111
Ph: 816.931.0001
Fax: 816.931.8891

We have secured a group rate of $89 per night if you reserve by May 30th. Say you are with the 'Democracy for America' group. Breakfast and shuttle service to the training site will be provided.

If you plan on attending this training and have specific questions, call our Training Department hotline at DFA at 802-651-3200 Ext. 191.

For more info on the DFA Training Academy visit: www.democracyforamerica.com/training

To send someone to attend a training please see: Support DFA Training with a Sponsorship

Weekend Training Agenda
Kansas City, Missouri June 14th & 15th 9am-6pm each day

Saturday Morning
Introduction & Overview
Field Planning and Targeting
Volunteer Recruitment

Lunch

Saturday Afternoon
Fundraising Strategies
Voter Contact Tactics
Campaign & Event Planning
Developing Your Message

Sunday Morning
Getting Out The Vote (GOTV)
Fundraising Tactics
Working with the Media

Lunch

Sunday Afternoon (Elective Sessions choose 4)
Working with a Voter File (VAN)
Neighborhood Precinct Organizing
Volunteer Management and Development
Running Phonebanks and Canvasses
Fundraising: Call Time
Drawing Contrasts in Campaigns

Training Presenters

Matt Blizek - Field
A veteran of training in the political and corporate worlds, Matt Blizek began organizing in student and local politics and was elected vice president of the University of Iowa Student Body. Since then he has done field and fundraising work for numerous campaigns including the DNC, MoveOn.org, Russ Feingold, and Jon Tester. Matt joined Democracy for America in 2007.

Chris Montana – Field
Chris first became involved in politics through the College Democrats of Minnesota in 2003 later serving as state president in 2004 and again in 2005. Working on races from city council to mayor and serving on the state party's Executive committee for two years, Chris gained his undying love of field organizing and joined Wellstone Action! as a field trainer to spread that love. In April of 2006 Chris left Wellstone Action! to serve on then State Representative Keith Ellison's congressional campaign as Field Director winning hotly contested primary and general elections. After serving in Congressman Ellison's DC office Chris returned to school at the University of DC and currently resides in Washington, DC.

Bryan Hageny - Planning and Volunteers
Bryan grew up in the fiercely contested swing state of Wisconsin, and is proud of its progressive tradition. While attending the University of Wisconsin he worked for Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Tammy Baldwin. Following graduation he served in a number of political and activist roles. To this end Bryan worked as an Assistant Director of a large canvassing office in Boston, then as an Organizer of Power Shift 2007 (the first ever student global warming conference at the University of Maryland), and most recently as a Community Organizer in Pennsylvania. Bryan was recently hired as DFA's Deputy Training Director.

Andrea Hildebran - Communications
Principal of Progressive Persuasion Consulting, is a writer and activist with 17 years experience in legal, legislative and grassroots advocacy, non-profit management, as well as ballot measure and candidate campaigns. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, launching and serving within Kentucky’s campaign against an anti-gay Constitutional amendment banning marriage and civil unions. Prior to moving to Kentucky, Andrea was a fundraiser for Houston’s No on City Prop 2 campaign, and for Vermonters for Civil Unions. She was the Public Education Director for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) in Boston, and the Producer of One in Ten, a commercial talk radio show for the LGBT community. She chaired both OutSomerville, a political action committee for LGBT people in Somerville, MA, and Boston National Voices, a multi-racial coalition formed to facilitate cross-community responses to hate incidents in the Boston area.

Andrea lives in St. Petersburg, FL and works as a consultant with progressive non-profits and on issue campaigns.

Jay Parmley - Finance & Fundraising
Jay Parmley currently works for the Democratic National Committee having served as the Mississippi Democratic Party's Coordinated Campaign Director and the Interim Executive Director of the South Carolina Democratic Party. From 2001-2005, Parmley was the fulltime elected Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party. He is a past president of the Young Democrats of America serving from 1999-2001. Parmley was appointed by DNC Chairman Governor Howard Dean as an At-Large member of the Democratic National Committee in 2005 and is a member of the DNC Budget and Finance Committee.

More trainers to be announced soon...