DFA Training Academy in Orlando

Agenda:

Saturday May 17 through Sunday May 18

9am-6pm each day

You have the power, now learn the skills! The Democracy for America Training Academy is coming to Orlando 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.

Click below to see a short video about the DFA Campaign Academy:

Hotel Info:
We have secured a group discount at a hotel in downtown Orlando for the weekend.

Sheraton Orlando Downtown
60.S. Ivanhoe Blvd.
Orlando, FL. 32804

Individual reservations can be made by calling 1-800-325-3535.

Ask for the DFA Block for the $99 per night group rate.

The discounted rate is only available until May 12th so call today!

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

If you are a candidate running for office and plan on attending, please email us at training(at)democracyforamerica.com and let us know.

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

Weekend Training Agenda
Orlando, FL May 17th & 18th

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
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.

Bryan Hageny
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
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.

Selene Hofer-Shall
Selene joined the Dean for America Operations Team in 2003, helping to compile the largest FEC reports in Presidential Campaign History. Selene was one of the 12 original staffers of Democracy for America, working as the Operations Director and Assistant to the Finance Director. In 2006, she become Finance Director for Peter Welch in his successful race to become Vermont’s At-Large Congressman, raising over 2.2 million and breaking all previous fundraising records for the district. Following the 2006 election, Selene worked in San Antonio, TX as the Finance Director for Ciro Rodriguez in the TX-23 Special Election, raising over $600,000 in less than three weeks to successfully oust a 7-term Republican incumbent. Selene currently works as a freelance Finance consultant.

Jay Parmley
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 presenters and training sessions to be announced soon…

Complete your RSVP by using DFA's online contribution system to pay your registration fee.

$60 for general attendees (prepaid online)

$70 pay at door

$30 for students

$30 for attendees on a low income