Advocacy in Action: Virtual Town Hall

Virtual Meeting Logistics & Tips

Thank you for participating in the 2022 Virtual Advocacy Conference!

Whether you are a first-time advocate or a seasoned advocate who has participated in prior years, this set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) is designed to answer questions you may have for this year’s Virtual Advocacy Conference.

Key Dates

Advocacy Training	PPMD will host an online training session on Thursday, March 3rd from 6pm - 8pm ET.
Registration Deadline	Please register by Friday, March 4th to ensure time to schedule meetings. Click here to register for the Virtual Advocacy Conference.
Virtual Fly-In	Meetings with congressional offices will be scheduled for Tuesday, March 8th between 9am and 5pm ET.

Helpful Resources for Advocates

Talking Points on Legislative Asks (download)
BENEFIT Act - 1 Pager (download)
Senate Leave Behind (download)
House Leave Behind (download)
Soapbox Help Desk: 202-362-5910

Congressional Office Meeting Tips

What if I only meet with staff and not my Member?

Don’t be upset if you only meet with staffers. Congressional staff are generally young, but are tasked with many important responsibilities, one of which is meeting with constituents when the Member is unavailable. In many cases, the staffer will know a great deal about the issues. In some other cases – particularly if you are meeting with a new staffer or a recently elected Member – they may rely on you for guidance. If this is the case, don’t be angry that “they don’t know anything” and instead use this opportunity to cultivate a deeper relationship with that office.

What if I’m asked a question that I don’t know how to answer?

Relax. Staff and Members know that you are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, patients and friends who are personally affected by Duchenne. So if a question comes your way that you don’t know how to answer, simply say you don’t know and that PPMD will follow up to get them an answer as soon as possible. Look at it this way, this would be another great opportunity to keep open the door of communications with the office and come back with a follow up. Be sure to make note of the question so that we may follow up.

What if the staffer seems unresponsive or hostile to our request?

The chance of having a “hostile” meeting with a staff member working for your Member of Congress is unlikely. Staffers know that they are there to serve constituents and most take that job very seriously. If you have a meeting in which the staffer is unresponsive or non-committal, always thank them for their time and ask if there is anything they need from you and offer to follow up in a couple of weeks.

Ultimately, NEVER GET DISCOURAGED as regular contact with the staff and Member by courteous and informed constituents has swayed staff and Members to take actions in support of individuals with Duchenne and our PPMD agenda.

What should I leave behind?

Congressional offices will receive their background materials via email the morning of March 8. They may or may not have the materials in front of them when you meet them. Feel free to refer to the fact that the documents should be in their inboxes, but don’t pressure them to follow long on the documents while you speak. All hill materials will also be available on PPMD’s website for ease of access for both advocates and hill staffers.

I strongly support or oppose my local Member politically. What should I do?

Remember that your sole mission as a PPMD Advocate is to advance an agenda that seeks federal support of Duchenne programs and to impact legislation that matters to our community. As such, you will want to make sure that you don’t hinder PPMD’s overall efforts by criticizing a Member, especially on unrelated issues. We also recognize that you may have interaction with the office or staffer on other issues and ask that you don’t “piggyback” on the advocacy conference by asking for support on non-related matters. If a staffer recognizes you from your other activities, you can certainly acknowledge that greeting or speak generally about the other issue if they bring it up. Nevertheless, don’t proactively bring up issues unrelated to the Duchenne request during the meeting.

How do I follow up with offices after meeting?

PPMD will send you follow up materials (essentially the information that is in the packet you are leaving behind). It is important to thank them after the meeting. After your meetings are complete, Soapbox will add the email address of the staffer you met with (or the scheduler if the meeting was with the Member of Congress) to your schedule on the mobile tool so you can follow up with an email.

Virtual Meeting Logistics

How are meetings with our Senate and House members scheduled?

Meetings will be scheduled for you by PPMD. We use a company called Soapbox Consulting who handle all the scheduling. Meetings are scheduled ahead of time between you and the appropriate health policy staffers who work for your two Senators and one Representative. Your schedule will indicate if the Senator and/or House Member plans to attend the meeting or if it will be with staff. Please provide Soapbox with your home address when you register so they may correctly identify your representatives.

Meetings are scheduled between the hours of 9am – 5pm ET, but Soapbox will not schedule meetings prior to 9am your local time if you are not on the East Coast. Please leave your schedule open as much of the day as possible as meetings are subject to congressional schedules and subject to last minute changes; we recommend remaining available until at least 6PM ET in case meetings are delayed. Meetings will be scheduled either via phone call or video conference. If you do not the ability to use video conference, not to worry, you are able to call into the meeting toll free.

How many meetings will I have?

You are guaranteed 3 meetings. 2 with your Senate offices and 1 with your House member.

You are normally grouped with other Advocates from your state so your schedule will most likely include meetings with their house members as well, meaning, your schedule will most likely contain more than the guaranteed 3 meetings. Don’t worry If this is your first time advocating, you will be supported by PPMD staff and other seasoned Advocates.

How and when will I receive my schedule?

Soapbox will email each advocate his or her preliminary schedule the day of our training on March 3rd. That email will contain a website (sboxmobile.com) for each attendee to plug-in a unique schedule code. Advocates will see their schedules in real-time, the roster for their meetings, the links to their meetings, the bios for their Members of Congress, feedback questions, the email addresses of others in their group, and documents describing the “asks” that will also be sent to the Hill. Schedules will be updated as meetings are scheduled and change, so please also double check your schedule the morning of March 8th.

Please do not contact any legislative office directly regarding your appointments. We are coordinating a large number of meetings and want to keep confusion to a minimum. PPMD and Soapbox are happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have regarding the event. Because congressional appointments can and do change up until the last minute, final schedules will not be available until the day before or the day of the event.

Who will be part of my meeting team?

Individual schedules are organized according to state.

For small states: everyone from a small state will attend both Senate meetings and the House meetings for all represented districts as one group.

For larger states: everyone from a large state may attend both Senate meetings, but we will designate up to two group leaders to do the talking in the meeting. This will be discussed amongst the state groups during the training. Advocates from large states will meet with their Representative in subgroups by state geography.

How does the virtual format work?

Meetings will be conducted over Zoom. Each meeting has its own Zoom room created, so please check your schedule for the appropriate link. We highly recommend that advocates join the meetings using their video so staffers get a chance to see them and get more of an in-person meeting feel. This is also helpful for visual cues from your fellow advocates when transitioning speakers. Staffers and members of Congress may or may not join via video. It is fantastic if they do, but don’t be discouraged if they only join by phone.

How long do meetings last?

Just as was the case with in-person meetings, both Members and staff are short on time, so rarely will a meeting last longer than 15 minutes. That’s why you want to be succinct, to the point and make sure that people in your group are not overly repetitive.

As schedules for Members and staffers tend to be chaotic especially during this time of year, don’t be upset if a meeting starts late. Your schedule should have time built in for late meetings. If worse comes to worst and you find yourself needing to leave to make your next meeting, simply mention that to the staffer, who should understand. If you are part of a larger group, maybe you could divide up and one or two of you could go to the next meeting and the rest could join you once they wrap-up the session that ran late.

What should I wear?

PPMD will be sending red t-shirts for you to wear on screen. If you do not receive the t-shirt ahead of the meetings for whatever reason, please attempt to wear red. Otherwise, dress is normally business casual on the hill. The benefit of the virtual format is that you don’t have to worry about comfortable walking shoes! Please do consider the background where you set up your computer and ensure it is neural and appropriate. If you have questions about t-shirts please contact kimberly@parentprojectmd.org.

What do I say in my meeting?

The training is scheduled virtually for Thursday, March 3rd between 6:00-8:00pm ET will cover everything you need to know about how to meet with a congressional office and what we are asking for this year. It is highly recommended that you attend the training live as state groups will break out from 7:00-8:00 pm ET to test the technology and confirm group roles.

However, the training session will be recorded so that you may watch it if you are unavailable at that time and you may review it in the week leading up to the meetings.

We will discuss this during the training, but you should personalize the “ask” to your story and follow this general format:

Tell them about Duchenne: Keep in mind that very few offices will have a clear understanding of Duchenne, so you may need to give them a basic overview of how Duchenne has affected you and your family.
Make Your Request: We will provide you with a PDF folder that you can email to the office. We also give you talking points so you can make the request in your meeting. But overall, don’t feel pressure to be an expert in policy and legislation, your most important goal is to tell your personal story.
Be Courteous: Always be polite and respectful of the office of the Member with whom you are meeting. It’s good to thank the staff and/or Member for his or her time. Ask for a business card and promise to follow-up in a week or two.

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PPMD’s Advocacy Conference

Virtual Meeting Logistics & Tips

Virtual Meeting Logistics & Tips

Key Dates

Advocacy Training

Registration Deadline

Virtual Fly-In

Helpful Resources for Advocates

Congressional Office Meeting Tips

Virtual Meeting Logistics

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