Planning Events as Campaign Tactics

Below are some ideas of events you could organise to raise awareness about or fundraise for Amnesty’s work to end human rights abuses. These are the basics – we encourage you to put your own spin on them and PLEASE let us know about them so we can promote them on the website, in our Ebulletin, to members, groups, supporters and staff in your area!

Public events and actions generally have one of 3 purposes:
1. Raise awareness about your issue and engage the public on it
2. Send a message to the person with the power to take a decision on your issue
3. Raise money for your campaign or issue

Sometimes an action can accomplish all 3 but most times they do not. You should not try to accomplish all 3 with every action or tactic you organise as it may undermine your overall effort.

1. Raise awareness about your issue and engage the public on it
Organise a film night

Hosting a speaker
Hosting a speaker can inject excitement into your regular group routine, give members a closer, more personal look at human rights issues, and provide a great opportunity to attract and involve new people. Guest speakers can be other AI Ireland staff or activists (such as Country Specialists or Student Area Coordinators), representatives from other organizations, authors, or visitors from other countries.
There are hundreds of people who have knowledge and experience in human rights who might be available to talk to your group. To identify speakers on particular topics or issues, use your imagination and talk to Amnesty staff or other activists.

Planning for your event

• Begin planning for a speaker event at least two months (preferably four) ahead of time,and set clear goals for the event.
• In your invitation to speakers, be clear about what you want them to discuss.
• Clarify whether each speaker expects a fee, honoraria or other expense your group will need to cover and how and when the speaker expects to be paid.
• Develop a clear agenda, with times, for the event. Don't forget to schedule time at the beginning to introduce Amnesty International and at the end to ask people to take action and join.
• Plan time for a question and answer period after the speaker's talk, and think of other creative ways to encourage audience participation, such as breaking into small discussion groups.
• Assign someone to act as host for the guest and make sure they learn about the speaker’s background in order to give an introduction at the event.
• Communicate clearly and regularly with the speaker before the event to get information about him or her, and share information about your group and the event.
• Develop a recruitment plan for reaching out to new people whom you think the speaker will attract.
• Ask all guest to sign in, and follow up with newcomers after the event.

On the day of your event

• If possible, arrange to meet speakers when they arrive, and take them to their hotel or other destination.
• Once they arrive, plan to spend time with them to prepare for the event.
• Allow time for the speaker to eat if food will be served at the event.

During the Event

• Keep time during the speech. Before the event, devise a system to let the speaker know when time is running out.
• If your speaker is attending multiple events, allow breaks in between speaking engagements.

Following the event

• Send a thank you note to your speaker.
• Report the success of your event to your regional office and consider posting a review and photos on the AIUSA website.

Other things to consider

• If hosting for more than one day, remember to schedule some free time and stick to it.
• Make suggestions of things the speaker can do in your hometown during free time.
• Remember the speaker may be away from home for a long time and need access to shopping, laundry facilities, and other basic conveniences.
• Try to connect the speaker to groups they may be interested in networking with.

Questions to ask the speaker:
1. What is their complete contact information?

• Address
• Phone
• Email

2. How to contact in an emergency
3. Where are they from?
4. How did they get their expertise or experience?
5. Will they send a resume or curriculum vitae AND a brief bio?
6. What is their connection to Amnesty International?
7. What is the cost to the group?
8. Honoraria, Travel, Accommodations, Other Expenses
9. Do they have any dietary restrictions and/or special needs?
10. What equipment do they need for their presentation? (e.g. slide projector, video player)
11. Do they have a preference for how the room is set up?
12. Can you take photos of them?
13. Are they available to do interviews with press?
14. Can they provide a photo to use for flyers or other promotional materials?
15. Is there anything else they need to feel comfortable?

Information to share with the speaker:
1. Contact person and contact information:

• Address
• Phone
• Email

2. Group name and number
3. What your group has been working on
4. Goals for the event
5. How long your group has been in existence
6. A complete agenda for the event
7. Number of members in your group
8. Number of people expected at event
9. A description of the expected audience

Check List

• Invite a speaker
• Secure time and place for speaker
• Develop an agenda
• Develop a recruitment plan
• Publicize speaker event
• Make and post flyers
• Send out emails
• Ask organizers/friends to commit to bringing a number of people
• Meet the speaker ahead of time
• Bring sign-in sheet
• Hold the event
• Bring evaluation forms to hand out at the end
• Send thank you cards to speaker
• Follow up with attendees
• Report out about the success of your event to your regional office

Host a ready-made exhibition

2. Send a message to the person with the power to take a decision on your issue
Set up a petition table or letter writing marathon
The most straightforward and often easiest public tactic to organise is tabling for petitions or letter marathons. The materials needed are minimal and you can usually get friends and family to volunteer a couple of hours to cover a shift.
What a passer-by sees and feels and thinks about an AI table is the key to success. Some tables feel uninviting and confusing. Others feel visually attractive, clearly arranged and welcoming.

Tabling Tips:

• Look inviting – aim to catch people’s attention and draw them towards the display. Give out a clear message that this is Amnesty International.
• Suit the occasion – arrange your table to suit your location and audience.
• Be “up front” – flat tables covered flat with paper will look flat! Create a vertical, high-visibility look to your table using banners, posters, post-boxes etc.
• Create a focus – choose only the most essential items for the display and arrange them in a clear order that will focus and guide people’s attention around your table.
• Tools for freedom – include at least one ready-to-sign appeal letter and the option to make a financial contribution.
• The backdrop – use the backdrop to give out key messages about AI’s work and the current activities of the group.
• Portability – keep display materials light. Select only what you need.
• Be engaging – stand up and move to the side and front of your table. Wear and Amnesty T-shirt.
• Be confident – remember the important work you’re doing, the successes Amnesty and your group have achieved and that most people respect AI and admire those who are committed to its work.
• Make a schedule – take short shifts and work in pairs. Prepare a schedule in advance and ensure a bit of overlap.
• Create energy – create the right degree of movement and activity around your display e.g. a TV monitor continuously playing an AI video, an “interactive” project like inviting people to sign, add comments or illustrate a giant appeal letter or petition. Make it possible for children or people who have difficulty with writing or individuals with special handicaps to send their message to the chosen target.
• Be prepared – consider questions that you might be asked and clear and brief answers to these questions.
• Further involvement – make sure you suggest different kinds of involvements adjusted to each person’s time and skills. Include a sign-up sheet at your table. Delegate a team of group members to contact everyone on your sign-up list.

Considerations:

• Location of table: will there be steady foot traffic, do you need permission to set up in that area, is the weather likely to cooperate?
• Have you organised the petitions and copies of letters for people to sign?
• Do you have a table? Pens, clip boards
• Do you have a banner that clearly identifies who you are and what the issue is that you are collecting signatures for?
• Do you have a leaflet that explains the issue and the reason for the petition / letter?
• Do you have membership forms for your organisation?
• Do you have enough people to cover several hours? And have they been briefed on the case that you are petitioning on?

Hold a vigil
Vigils are typically silent and solemn gatherings held in a public space. Vigils can be a powerful means of bring attention to an issue, a prisoner of conscience, etc. This page reviews important points to remember when organizing a vigil.

A powerful way to raise community members' interest in human rights issues is to hold a silent candlelight vigil on behalf of a person or group of people your group is supporting. Consider inviting not only students and community members but ally organizations as well. Vigils can also draw attention to other events you have planned, such as a guest speaker or film screening.

Some points to remember

• Obtain permission from local authorities or your school administration. A permit to demonstrate is often required. Plan adequate time to obtain permits - depending on the venue, it can take weeks or even months for a permit to be issued.
• Plan your program. Set the length of the vigil by determining how it will start, how it will end and what will happen in between. Some vigils begin with a few words about the purpose, a reading about a case or a poem that demonstrates the importance of the issue or situation. During the vigil, participants may either maintain a silent focus or choose instead to read names or statements relevant to the issue. To wrap up, give a call to action, and make sure everyone is asked to join AI Ireland.
• To get your message across, be sure to have clearly worded signs that demonstrate your purpose. Incorporate photos if possible (i.e., a giant photo of the person or issue you are focusing on).
• Bring lots of candles.
• Use wax-paper cups to prevent candles from dripping or blowing out.
• Use the candlelight to create a pattern - a line or a circle - that can easily be seen by others.
• Don't block entrances, sidewalks or passages.
• Designate two spokespersons to stand apart from the vigil line or circle to distribute action materials and talk to passersby who want to know what your group is doing. The vigil itself should be as free from distraction as possible.
• As with any event, bring a sign-in sheet and clipboard to pass around or to greet people with. Remember to follow up with newcomers.
• Concentrate on the quality of the vigil; numbers are important, but are not decisive.

Create some street theatre
Street theatre needs more advance planning than tabling, for instance, but can be done to enormous effect if done well. One example of Street theatre is a silent march in costume. Amnesty Irish Section conducted a silent march of 30 people dressed in Guantánamo Bay Prison jumpsuits. They were escorted by other Amnesty members dressed as US military personnel. The march started at the Amnesty offices and went along Westmoreland Street to O’Connell Street, the main street through the centre of town, at lunchtime. The march was scheduled for the day before President Bush was due to arrive in Ireland. The aim of the march was to get into the newspapers for the next day, sending a message to President Bush about what the people of Ireland felt about US policies in the “war on terror.” It worked. The papers published pictures and the US government representatives saw them.

You do not need huge numbers of people to carry off effective street theatre but it does need to be planned, choreographed and staged (based on where you will be holding it). Having someone in your group who does theatre work, even amateur theatre, will help in designing and carrying out your street theatre piece.

Street theatre can be much more than just a silent march, including outdoor gigs with musicians singing protest songs or poetry readings, short plays or mime. Augusto Boal is one of the leading proponents of street theatre. His methods are often referred to as “Theatre of the Oppressed.” Books about his work are included in the reading list at the end of this manual.

Organising Marches / Demonstrations / Protests
Marches and demonstrations are a more common type of tactic but to have an impact or get the notice you are aiming for, they need to be done well. This often requires large numbers of people but to draw large numbers of people you will have to choose the timing well and pray for good weather.

In recent years the Irish Section has organised a number of street marches on different issues and we usually do some sort of march or street action as part of our Annual Conference.

In March 2005, to close a 5-day festival celebrating International Women’s Day we held a street march that stepped off at 6pm and marched from Temple Bar to the Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann. More than 700 people participated in that march at the end of which a number of speeches were made. The march was held in the dark so participants were given candles as well as other props to carry. As per prior arrangement, the Gardaí (police) closed the street to car traffic. At Dáil Éireann, while speeches were being made, a giant graphic of our Stop Violence Against Women campaign logo was being flashed onto government buildings.

All in all this march was very effective in terms of raising awareness about Amnesty’s work on the SVAW Campaign. It brought together our many partners on the issue, sent a message to government, and it attracted a lot of media attention.

However, the street march as well as the 5-day festival required an enormous amount of work. There was a team working full-time on the whole project for 3-months. In the run up to it the street march required several days of ring-rounds to ensure there were good crowds plus we had International Women’s Day in our favour. There had not been a big march marking the day in quite a few years so the women’s movement was very interested and supportive.

Considerations for Street Marches or Demonstrations:

Police cooperation: It is usually the traffic detail that needs to be notified of any marches that will be in the streets. The police prefer, for safety reasons that marches go with the flow of traffic. You will need to supply the police with the route, estimated numbers, general reason for the march and if people will be gathering at the end of the march for speeches.

Slogans: If marchers are to chant slogans you should decide the slogans in advance. Having a few short slogans that can be periodically changed works well but you need to make sure that they clearly convey your message.

Props/ Banners /Posters: You need to make sure that these also clearly convey your message. People passing need to be able to read a moving placard and understand what it is all about.

Colourful materials, waving flags, dancing candles can all be used to attract attention and actually make the march look bigger.

Stewards: It is important that you have volunteer stewards designated to help organise and line up people at the start, hand out props and placards, keep the march together on route, lead the march on the designated route and collect props at the end. For some reason street marches have a tendency to break up with slower groups becoming separated. It is an important part of the stewards’ job to ensure that the front of the march does not move too quickly and leave people behind.

Demonstrations are slightly easier to organise in that they are usually located in one place for a set amount of time, for instance, outside City Hall for 30 minutes when the City Council is about to meet. But the above considerations would largely apply to demonstrations as well as street marches.

3. Raise money for your campaign or issue 

Post Event Evaluation Sheet

It is always important to look back after an event and consider its successes and weaknesses. Here is a checklist that might be helpful in doing so:

1. What were our overall aims of the event?

2. Did the event achieve the final aims? How?

3. How did the event feed in to the campaign goals?

4. What was the message?

5. Was the message clear?

6. Who was the target audience?

7. Did the target audience attend?

8. How many people attended?

9. Were attendees provided with an opportunity to progress the campaign goals?

10. Did you get any new support as a result?

11. Did you have a member recruitment strategy in place?

12. Were the speakers’ messages pertinent to the event objective(s)?

13. Was the set length of time appropriate?

14. Did the event get media coverage?

15. Was the venue / location appropriate?

16. Materials

• Were there sufficient quantities?
• Was quality /content sufficient appropriate?
• Were the materials designed / delivered on time / in a timely manner?

17. Tasks

• Were each group member’s roles clear?
• Were the tasks parcelled out equally?
• Were there roles missing that should be filled the next time?
• Was each member supported sufficiently?

18. Was the budget identified? Did costs remain within the budget?