1. Library Advocacy Whose Job Is It Anyway? MILE May 2011 Michael Scott, SELS/SELCO MLA Legislative Chair Ann Walker Smalley, Metronet MEMO Legislative Co-chair
3. vs. Lobbying “Lobbying is the intention of influencing decisions made by legislators and government officials.” A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest. A regulated activity.
4. Why Advocate for Libraries? Make the case about the value of all types of libraries Build community support for libraries Stay in front of funders, users, others Avoid a crisis because no one knows your value No one else is going to do it Other reasons?
21. Some Issues Who Advocates Library Funding City County School District Academic Administration Library Buildings Privacy Intellectual Freedom Library Director Library Board Library users Friends Students, faculty,staff Local Library Advocacy
39. Prepare to Meet a Powerbroker Make appointment Define meeting goals Have a lead spokesperson Determine the message Have data that supports your message Prepare information packet
40. At the Meeting Introduce those present Have spokesperson provide brief summary of why you are here Explain your library message Ask powerbroker to share their views & willingness to help Q &A
41. Who are these people? And what are they doing? Rep. Jim Davnie & his constituent jenny sippel on Legislative Day 2011
42. After the Meeting Provide any promised follow-up Write thank you notes Thanks are important. It is not always about asking!
43. Other Ways to Advocate Letters Calls Emails Invitations to library events
44. The key is to Do It And Do It Often You know this
46. Weak Excuses “My library (public, school, college/university, special) doesn’t allow me to lobby.” “I’m shy.” “I don’t know what to say.”
47. More Excuses “My library job doesn’t put me in direct contact with library customers.” “What difference could I make?” “There are already people who do this.”
48. For all libraries For systems For their Library For their Staff But most of all Leaders Advocate
49. Free access to information Resources Buildings Internet Training MORe For their Users
51. Over to you At your tables – come up with a list of your local stakeholders - between eight and ten individuals or organizations On your own – write your elevator pitch 20 minutes for both exercises
52. The elevator pitch An elevator pitch is an overview of your service and is designed to just get a conversation started Keep it short – around 200 to 250 words Have a hook, e.g. an interesting statistic that you can compare to something easy to understand Make it clear – no acronyms or jargon Ensure it is credible – how can you add value? Practice so you remember it
53. What should you say? Write your elevator speech Prepare your pitch: What have you done locally What would you like to do? What can the person you are talking to do to help? Be clear about what you are asking them to do, e.g. increase (not cut) library/system funding, ELM, new building, more staff…..
54. Feedback One person per table –share the list you can take with you to get you started One elevator pitch at random from each table
Keep it short. Be succinct. According to Wikipedia, an adult's attention span is eight seconds, so be sure to give just enough information (and more importantly perhaps the right information) so that after only hearing a sentence or two, someone knows what you do - and if it's a pitch, what you need. 2. Have a hook. As Mel Pircheskyadvises, "The objective of the first ten or fifteen seconds is to have your prospective investors want to listen to the next forty-five or fifty seconds differently, more intently than they would have otherwise."3. Pitch yourself, not your ideas. As Chris Dixon writes, "The reality is ideas don't matter that much. First of all, in almost all startups, the idea changes - often dramatically - over time. Secondly, ideas are relatively abundant." Instead of talking about ideas, highlight what you've done - the concrete accomplishments or skills - rather than some intangible concept or a future goal.4. Don't forget the pitch. It's easy to get so caught up in the details of who you are that you neglect to mention what you need. What amount of financing are you seeking, for example? 5. Don't overwhelm with technical or statistical terminology. While being able to tout one or two amazing and memorable phrases or figures can be useful, don't fill your elevator speech with numbers or jargon.6. Practice. Rehearse your elevator pitch so that when the opportunity to give it comes, you can deliver it smoothly.7. Use the same tactics for print. You can hone your elevator skills by practicing them in writing. BabakNivi describes the email elevator pitch here. 8. Revise. As your startup moves through various stages, be sure to update and refresh your pitch. 9. Be involved in the startup community before you pitch. Business Insider suggests "Engaging in online discussions, writing insightful blog posts, and participating in the relatively small startup community can earn you a 'strong presence' that gets you noticed by potential investors." Building relationships with investors before pitching to them will help your success.10. Listen. When seeking to build strong networks, remember it can be just as important to listen as it is to talk.