[NV Greens] Seminars to build state platform ideas

[charleslaws at att.net]

Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 08:06:03 -0500
From: Greg Gerritt <gerritt at mindspring.com>
Subject: [usgp-dx] platform seminars
To: national comm affairs <natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org>

There has been some recent efforts on this list to get Greens to put forward
short statements on projects that they are doing in their communities that
are helping to build the Green Party.  The Green Party of Rhode Island has
started a project that may be of interest, and under some circumstances may
be useful to your state party.

The GPRI is conducting what it calls platform development policy seminars.
The idea is to ask leading experts in a particular policy area to come
together and tell the Green Party what they would do if they were leading
the government.  The first seminar the GPRI held was on human needs.  We had
leaders in hunger issues, housing, healthcare tell us what policies they
would advocate for if they were governor or running for governor that would
actually solve these problems.  The GPRI takes good notes, and shall take
the materials we receive and turn them into the platform we shall run on in
2006.  Last night the GPRI held its second seminar, and again leading
experts, including the Narragansett Bay Baykeeper told us what they think
the right policies for RI are.

The GPRI expects to conduct a total of 6 seminars, finishing up in February
so we have time to write a platform to be voted on at a spring convention.
The remaining seminars scheduled are Civil Rights, Education, Violence, and
Electoral and Governmental reform.

The process we have used so far is to individually invite leading experts
that we know to these seminars,  We invite many, and a percentage of them
show up.  We do follow up and reminders, and the excuse is that we have to
know how much pizza to get.  We do them in the early evening and feed
everyone.  Personal invitations are important.

The ability to invite people like the Executive Director of the RI Food Bank
or the Baykeeper may not translate in other, larger, states.  Here in RI we
do actually know and work with these people, show up at their events, build
and maintain relationships with them. That is partly because RI is that kind
of place, If you are active in the community you get to know everyone.  But
even if you can not have the personal relationships get the Executive
Directors of major organizations to come to the seminar, I am sure that
there are many extremely knowledgeable people who are in some ways allies,
even if they are not Greens, who would be willing to share what they know
and recommend policies that Greens could evaluate for their platforms.

The GPRI believes that these seminars not only give us material for the
platform, but also gain us allies in the community over the long term.  They
build credibility for us by showing we can listen, and the leaders see that
we can get other leaders into the room in a positive way.

Our descriptions of the seminars, both in the invitations, and when
welcoming the attendees is very clear.  The GPRI is going to use this
material for our platform.  There is a facilitator, a note taker, we make
sure everyone gets to speak, then encourage discussion.  Set a time limit
and start and end on time.

The GPRI is more than welcome to have a more in depth discussion with any
state party that wishes to conduct a similar process, and would like to hear
from other states that have dome something similar to compare experiences.

greg gerritt GPRI