Picnic Preparation

Now that I had a small group of people interested in YWILPF, I began planning an event for us all to meet and discuss the future of YWILPF Boston.

Things to remember when planning an event:

-Schedule sensitivity (children, religious events)
-Budget (stick to it)
-Accessibility (public transportation)
-Invitations / advertisement
-Agenda – organization, fluidity

Schedule sensitivity, Accessibility

When planning an event, it is necessary to remember who are inviting and what needs they
have. Make sure you're event is sensitive to different types of schedules (parents, working
hours, students, religious holidays / celebrations, etc).

For my event, I scheduled the picnic on a Sunday afternoon (after weekend religious
services), in a park (plenty of room for children), in Copley Square (easily accessible from
public transportation).

Also, take into account the weather: where will you relocate if there is bad weather? I
arranged for the picnic to be moved into the Community Church of Boston if there was
inclement weather.

Budget

I'm Italian, so food is absolutely necessary for any social gathering; I created five dishes of
all vegetarian food and had soda and water for drinks. The number of RSVPs should govern
your budget.

**My mistake, I didn't give myself a strict budget to follow and ended up spending way
too much money.

Invitations

I created invitations for the picnic and sent them to the people who had signed up at the
Beats for Peace festival; in addition, I sent the invitations to friends whom I thought my be
interested. If you are sending the invitation to an activist, ask them to forward the
invitation to other activists.

I also created a Facebook event on the YWILPF Boston group and invited many Bostonians
to the event.

Invitation advice:

State the location and time clearly on the invitation (including a rain date).
Ask invitees to RSVP to an email address or phone number.

Agenda

The agenda is the most important object at any meeting or event (besides the food). Some
questions to consider:

1. How are you going to speak? (circle, on the same level as everyone else)

2. How are you going to convey information (easel, computer, ppt)

3. What, if any, tools are you going to utilize during the event? (welcome packets, name
labels)

4. How much do you want to include in the agenda? (manageable amount, fluid)


How are you going to speak?

Before you begin drafting your agenda, decide how you want to communicate with
your audience: the way you communicate will define how (and if) people listen and
digest your information.

Speak loudly and clearly, especially if you are going to be outside. Be passionate,
assertive, confident, and open.

Sit in a circle so that you can all see each other – eye contact is key in maintaining
focus; I would also suggest sitting on the same level so that there is a clear sense of
equality.

How are you going to convey information?

Initially, I thought the best way to share the agenda and information was by setting up
a powerpoint presentation with a projector and everything else. However, I thought
about it some more and came to these conclusions:

1. A powerpoint is difficult to have outside (computer, outlet, projector, screen)
2. Powerpoint presentations can really alienate an audience and make them
passive, hindering discussion
3. It's easy to fall into the trap of reading off a powerpoint, furthering the feelings
of isolation and halting conversation

I choose instead to use an easel with an oversized pad of paper. I used sharpies to write
the agenda and take notes on the pad of paper (just be sure that the ink doesn't bleed
through). Easels can be a great way to share information:

1. They're very personal and accessible to the audience because you are writing
(literally) in front of others

2. There is something very comfortable about a tangible document

What, if any, tools / documents are you going to utilize during the event?

The WILPF office has “Welcome Packets” to send to all new members that includes
information on the history of WILPF, how to join, and the most recent Peace and
Freedom (scholarly journal); I also added a brochure that I made about YWILPF.

**My mistake: I should have added a label to the bottom of the YWILPF
brochure that lists the contact information for YWILPF Boston (your name,
email address, this blog, phone number)

Name labels: these are optional, but are important if you have a larger group of people.

First Recruiting Event!

On June 26th I attended my first YWILPF Boston recruiting event in Roxbury at the “Beats for Peace Festival”; I had a table set up with WILPF and YWILPF brochures, a WILPF poster, and WILPF pins and scarves. I recruited fifteen young people to sign up to receive information about YWILPF, so I would most definitely consider it a success.

Recruiting Event

Pre-event preparation:

Preparation for any event is crucial to your success.

1.Advertise your event!

a. Email - I sent out an email to the WILPF Boston listserv informing them of the event
and inviting them to come and support YWILPF.

Even if you don't expect anyone that you ask to come to the event, at least they know
that you are making efforts to advertise your cause and that you are open to attending
events for recruitment purposes.

b. Facebook – I created a Facebook event on the YWILPF US page and invited my
friends from around the Boston area.

Again, even if you don't expect your friends to come, at least they know that you are
being active in the organization and are making efforts to recruit new members.

**My mistake: I should have created a YWILPF Boston page to advertise the event
because some members of YWILPF who live in other parts of the country were
annoyed that I used our national Facebook page to advertise a local event.

c. Co-Sponsorship – Co-sponsorship doesn't always necessitate a financial contribution
to the event. Contact the organizers and offer to co-sponsor the event (this often
means you get the name of your organization on all flyers that advertise the event). In
exchange, the organizers may ask you to help put up flyers for the event or help with
some menial task, or they may not require you to do anything.

2.Gather materials

a. Brochures – Brochures can be a great way to give people a detailed look at your
organization or what you are trying to accomplish. In the weeks prior to the festival, I
had created a brochure for YWILPF recruitment, this brochure was a great
introduction to YWILPF for my recruits.

**My mistake: I should have added a sticker to the brochure that had the contact
information (my name and office number – you can put your personal number if you
wish - email, and office address) so that they had definite contact information for me.

b. Materials to put on the table – We live in a visual world, images and visuals are
important. I rummaged through the WILPF storage closet and picked out some pins
and a poster that say “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they
need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber”, two brightly-colored
WILPF scarves that have the WILPF emblem of a dove and olive branch with
“WILPF” written underneath, and two leftover t-shirts that advertise past WILPF
campaigns.

Give these items (pins, t-shirts, scarves) out for free or sell them (spreading your
message can be literal!)

3. Sign-up sheet

a. A sign-up sheet is the easiest yet one of the most important documents you use
during any recruitment event. Keep the sheet simple but ask for information that you
NEED.

b. Information boxes - The four boxes I included were: name, email, phone number,
and town / city. Often, people do not want to give out their address because it takes
too long to write or because they don't want to have their home bombarded with
“garbage” mail. If and when people are asked to give their address, they usually ask “why do you need my address?”, this question is not hard to answer, but it can easily
lead to them refusing to record any of their information on the sheet.

c. Space - Make sure to allow enough space in the boxes (I used .43” height in the rows)

d. Strength in Numbers - I would highly suggest that before putting the sign up sheet in
plain view you add a few names (not more than three; use your friends names /
information) and their information to the sign up sheet. Few people want to be the
first to do something, plus it also gives the new signer the idea that “if they signed up,
it can't be bad.”

e. Clipboards - Definitely have the sign up sheet on a clipboard so that it's easy to fill
out.

4. Attire

a. What you wear makes a difference to how people approach (or avoid) you. Your
attire depends on the atmosphere of the event, but you can certainly make an
educated guess about what you should wear. Some questions to consider are: who are
you trying to talk to at the event? Are the attendees professionals or are they
community members?

b. As a general rule, I would suggest dressing casual semi-formal (in that order) wearing
something with which your audience (the other people at the event) can identify.

c. A nice pair of pants or skirt (not a short short skirt) and nice shirt are fine. Avoid
business suits, they will most likely alienate you from the attendees (unless it's an
all-professionals business event).

5. Hand Sanitizer

a. Most likely, you are going to be shaking a lot of people's hands at the event. I have
germophobia and OCD, so hand sanitizer is a staple in my life (it occupies a very
prominent spot in my bag), I highly suggest you bring sanitizer. Plus, if there are
porter potties you are safe!

Earning the best response from attendees:

Obviously, how you conduct and introduce yourself will define how successful you are.

1. Setting up the table

a. No clutter – Don't clutter your table, make it look organized but not too
painstakingly perfect.

b. Make informational brochures and the sign-up sheet easily accessible for people
(near the front of the table facing the audience).

2. Where you stand

a. One of the most common mistakes made by tablers is standing behind the table, DO
NOT STAND BEHIND YOUR TABLE!! Standing behind the table makes a physical
boundary between you and the people you are trying to reach and makes it more
difficult to hear conversation.

b. Stand next to your table, maybe even a little bit apart from your table so that you can
draw people over to the table.

3. Idle Hands

a. Do not have empty hands at any point, always keep a copy of your brochure(s) in
your (left) hand so that you don't have to fumble around. Your right should be free to
shake their hand.

4. Introduction

a. How to introduce yourself – Once you are stationed behind your table, brochures in
hand, scope out the passersby, try to make eye contact with an individual. Once you
make eye contact and they come closer, walk out (1 or 2 steps) towards them and
stick out your hand to introduce yourself. Most people will be so taken aback that you
have shook a complete strangers hand that they will automatically hear what you
have to say.

b. BE CONCISE AND CLEAR. If necessary, practice your 30-45 second spiel before
hand so that you are not fumbling for words or aren't clear. You will lose your
audience if you are not concise and clear. Make sure to annunciate the name of your
organization very clearly; if they don't understand the name of the organization, you
have a problem.

c. If they have any questions, answer them at the end of your spiel.

d. Once you are done talking, ask them if they would like to receive more information
and offer them the clipboard with the sign-up sheet.

e. If they add their information to the sign-up sheet, be sure to read it aloud in front of
them so that you are able to read their handwriting, then shake their hand again and
say “thanks name for your time, it was nice meeting you.” If they decline the sign-up
sheet, then shake their hand and say the same.

Follow-up:

Please see the previous blog post about when and how to do follow-up, it is mostly the same system for recruitees. I have copied and pasted that section here just in case you glanced over it:

Sending a follow-up email or call, whether they are with other activists, potential recruits, etc., will go a long way in your work as an activist. Follow-ups remind the person(s) you met with that you exist and are serious about your intent; I would suggest sending the follow-up a day or two after the meeting so that you have time to reflect on the meeting and offer up any lingering thoughts.

Anecdote:

I brought two t-shirts with me, one of which said “Schools not Bombs” and the other had a cartoon about corporate personhood. One of the first people I had come to the table were two kids about 8-10years old; they were attracted to my end of the table by the t-shirts and pins. The little boy pointed to the t-shirts and asked if he could have one, I said “of course, which one would you like?”, he picked out the corporate personhood shirt and a pin to accompany the shirt. The little girl saw that her friend had a new t-shirt and pin, so she came over and asked me for the other t-shirt and a pin. Of course, I gave them to her. Fairly soon, their friends came over and asked if they could have t-shirts; I didn't have any more shirts left, but I handed out the pins. There are two 8-10year old kids running around Boston with Corporate Personhood and “Schools not Bombs” t-shirts!!

Meeting with Activists

The past two weeks have been busy for YWILPF:

-I met with several established activists from Mass Peace Action and shared contacts and ideas
on best practices in terms of organizing

-I created recruitment brochures that YWILPF US can use at any and all events (including
ones in Boston) (please go to our webpage or Google Group to check them out) (please see
the next blog about this process)

-I tabled and recruited young women to join YWILPF Boston at a peace festival (please see the
next blog)

-I gave close friends literature on YWILPF in case they were interested in joining (please see
the next blog)

-I have begun planning a meeting for YWILPF Boston for July 12th (please see the next blog)
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Meeting with Activists

Networking and collective or group brainstorming are essential to building any viable organization. In addition, it is necessary to get a feel for your area in terms of demographics, activism history, existing organizations, and past events. Meeting and discussing these topics with experienced activists in your area is a great way to answer a lot of these questions.

On June 19th I met with three activists in the Boston area from Mass Peace Action to discuss
what YWILPF is and what YWILPF Boston would like to accomplish. They were extremely helpful:

-they shared their mental address books of organizations and activists who might be
interested in collaborating,

-gave me feedback on ideas I had about how to organize on economics and militarism issues,

-gave me tips about organizing in Boston specifically,

-and informed me of events (a festival and speak out event) that are going on in the Boston
area in which YWILPF Boston could possibly participate.

After the meeting, I thanked them, typed up my notes from the meeting, and began researching the various organizations and contacts. When you initially contact an organization or individual, it's a good idea to mention how you obtained their contact information (“person from organization suggested I contact you because reason”).

Finding a space to store all contact information is extremely important, I would suggest one that has a search option. I have a Mac, so I am using Address Book, which is a great tool for contact storage, but there are many other free programs for contact-management.

Sending a follow-up email or call, whether they are with other activists, potential recruits, etc., will go a long way in your work as an activist. Follow-ups remind the person(s) you met with that you exist and are serious about your intent; I would suggest sending the follow-up a day or two after the meeting so that you have time to reflect on the meeting and offer up any lingering thoughts.

**My mistakes:

1. I sent a follow-up email to the three activists a few hours after our meeting because I knew I wouldn't be available for a day or two.

2. I sent the email from a new email address. Apparently, they never received the email. I suspect my email was caught by a spam filter because they I used a new address from which they had never received email.

3. On Tuesday of the following week, one of the activists sent me a follow-up email.

**What I should have done:

1. I should have sent the email on Monday morning so that they had the weekend to reflect on our meeting.

2. I should have sent the email from an address they had already received information.

3. I should have sent another email to them after receiving no response just to make sure they received the first follow-up email.

Introduction & First Week

My name is Jessica Bombasaro-Brady, I am the YWILPF Intern for the Summer of 2009 and am organizing a YWILPF Branch in Boston focused on the connections between militarism and economics with a particular focus on the effects of militarism on education.

Most of my blog entries will be about my experiences organizing young women in the Boston area, my mistakes, successes, and a few anecdotes. If you have any requests for information you would like to see, please make a comment on the blog.
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Prior to organizing a group, you must do your homework. I know everyone hates that word, but it really is necessary to know your community, contacts, and possible channels of communication in order to build a feasible and sustainable activist group.

1. Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, etc. about possible contacts or alliance organizations that you can organize with.

I attended the monthly Boston WILPF Branch meeting this past Saturday and discussed my interest in organizing a YWILPF branch in the Boston area that focused on the connection between militarism and economics particularly in relation to education. My WILPF sisters were very helpful and they gave me contact information for several activists and possible alliance-organizations (ie. Union for Concerned Scientists, AFSC) in the area.

I also spoke with the Chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Department at Tufts and he gave me the names of several activists and organizations in the Boston area who might be interested in these issues.

2. Research organizations that are related to your issue / topic that are located in your area.

I researched several organizations, including those that were mentioned by the Boston WILPFers (Union of Concerned Scientists located in Cambridge, AFSC also located in Cambridge) and by my professor at Tufts (Mass Peace Action).

I also gathered information about several other organizations like the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (Dorchester), BYOP (Copley Square), and BAGLY (Copley Square).

3. What is your strategy to garner support and organize in your community? Do you have a specific model you are going to use?

During the St. Louis YWILPF Conference I received suggestions from YWILPF Core Committee members about possible organizational structures to research and consider for organizing the Boston Branch. These suggestions included the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) Manual, the ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Manual, the essays written by Kim Fellner, Ernesto Cortes, and Michael Eichler on organizing, and MoveOn.Org's book, 50 Ways to Love Your Country.

4. What modes of communication are you going to use to contact other activists, organizers, etc.?

This all depends on your comfort and your availability. I am on email all the time, so I setup an email address (Ywilpfboston@wilpf.org). Eventually, I'll probably create a Facebook group and maybe even a website. Of course, there is this blog; blogs can be a great way to communicate. You might prefer MySpace, telephone communication, Instant Messenger, Skype, Google Groups, etc.

Young WILPFers Organizing For Change

Last weekend, Y-WILPFers met in St. Louis to discuss the future of our network in the United States. At 31, I was the oldest Y-WILPPFer in attendance.

Y-WILPF is the international network for members of WILPF age 35 and younger. On the international level, Y-WILPF is a subcommittee of the Organizational Development committee. The goal is that by providing a space for young people to meet and organize for peace and justice within WILPF, we will help increase the visibility of our organization among younger generations and grow our membership.

Our org can seem a bit convoluted to outsiders, so let me just offer a simple explanation: we're an international League, founded during WWI. The League is comprised of National Sections, with each section selecting an International Board member to sit on our international board. Each section selects voting delegates to our International Congress. The number of voting members is determined by the size of the membership within the section. Every national section gets at least two votes at Congress. At each International Congress, the delegates vote on changes to the international constitution and by-laws, pass resolutions and statements, and vote on the next international Executive Committee. The executive committee has a president (or co-presidents), four vice presidents, and a treasurer. Additionally, international WILPF has standing committees (programmatic and structural) and two projects based at our UN office (on Security Council Resolution 1325 and nuclear disarmament).

The structure of WILPF within each national section is determined by that section's members. In the United States, we have a national board, comprised of the chairs of national committees. We tackle a variety of themes through our issue committees (e.g. Advancing Human Rights / CEDAW and Disarm, Dismantle the War Economy). On the local level, we have branches. And somewhere in between all this, we have Y-WILPF.

I've been involved in every attempt to galvanize young members nationally since I became a member of the national board in 2001. (I served two terms.) We've never been successful. Sometimes, our energies have been focused on helping the larger organization survive and thrive. Sometimes, people who attend one event don't have the time/energy/passion to continue organizing through WILPF. Often, people find local organizing or local issues to be more important to them personally than this amorphous organization.

I've watched my strongest mentors leave WILPF. I've watched my closest friends walk away to pursue professional goals or simply to return to the normality of life without the Weight Of The World On Your Shoulders. I am personally struggling to maintain my involvement with this wonderful organization while fortifying my career in integrated marketing and maintaining a social life. Voluntary political advocacy work is a difficult path to follow. I stay with WILPF because I believe passionately that individuals must participate in political discourse on the local, national, and international level for democracy to thrive. I believe strongly that we need to change the way we organize, to allow more women to be paid for their WILPF work. Right now, we struggle to maintain a bare bones staff and we fumble every time we try to create an international event, because it takes so much money to fly people to the same place.

Don't get me wrong. I don't lament that we're not Amnesty International or any other well-funded, better known organization. I am proud of WILPF's history, present work, and future role in the global push towards peace with justice. But even as I attempt to announce another chapter in the history of young WILPFers gathering together, I acknowledge the shaky ground on which we stand. I look forward to the energy and vitality the new generation of WILPFers brings to our League.

If you're curious about young members of WILPF are working to bring more young people into our League, then bookmark this blog. Members of the Y-WILPF US Core Committee will blog on this website about their work to inform young people about our League and to invite them to join us as we create a separate organizing space for young women within the US Section.

Go to wilpf.blogspot.com

Young WILPF is the international networking group for members of WILPF who are 35 and younger. Members of Y-WILPF will be adding new blog posts to wilpf.blogspot.com.

First Post

Hopefully, other people will soon be writers on this blog. Welcome to the blog home of the WILPF Youth Caucus. We started in the U.S., but would be thrilled to get to know women from around the world. Our group includes four US WILPF board members, our International Secretary General, one US WILPF staffer, and some amazing students (from high school to grad school).