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background image Welcome to the Team
Congratulations on being selected as a State Information Analyst (SIA) for Convention of States.
Your dedication to America and courage to step up into this vital role, join the state leadership
team, and provide your expertise with technology issues will help fulfill the mission of COS by
assisting and training your state team to use technology effectively.

The mission of Convention of States is to “Build an engaged army of self-governing grassroots
activists.” Your mission is to become proficient with the Convention of States technology and
provide technical services to your leadership team, volunteers, and supporters.

We aim to grow a grassroots army large enough to not only call the first-ever convention of
states but also to drive the political and cultural narrative across all 50 states. We want to
see self-governance and liberty flourish in our nation, and we believe the only way this will
happen is if good people like you get involved in the political and cultural battle. We want
to train you on how to do this as effectively as possible.

One person alone cannot do this job. It is a team effort. You will be working closely with your
state team, as well as with the National Technology team, which is here to serve your needs and
help you succeed. Good communication with your teams will be the key to your success.

This manual describes your agreed-upon responsibilities as an SIA. Additional resources and
training are available for becoming proficient with the technology tools used to further the goals
of the grassroots organization.

Roles and Responsibilities

SIA Roles

1. Regional Director Technical (RD Team) - Directly supports the regional directors with

Regional Reports, Imports, Exports, Data Clean-Up, Voter Voice, MailChimp, and
attends meetings assigned by the Regional Director. Member of RD Team with SIA role
assigned. (Regional Director Assigned)

2. National Technical Support. (National Tech) - Technical Troubleshooting, writing

issues with systems (Bugs), proficient with the systems and software, handling help desk,

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background image knowledge base, technical writing, user support, and QA testing, Specialist in areas of
COSA platforms. Website professionals. Email “backend” specialist. (National Assigned)

3. State Information Analysts Captain. (SIA Captain) - The Regional Lead for SIAs,

keeps individual SIAs involved and engaged. They provide direct support to State SIAs
for issues in their region and assist States with On-Boarding and vetting. They may also
lead an SIA Tech help desk team and assist other state leaders as needed.

4. State Information Analysts. (SIA) - User Support, Data Analyst, Systems

Communications Expert, Reports, Exports, FUT, DD, Training. Directly supports all the
state leaders, volunteers, and coordinates the technology training for leaders in those
positions. The SIA is the leading technical expert within the state.

5. State Information Analysts. (SIA Team) - has the same functions as an SIA Leader.

Committed to supporting the “Main” State SIA and leadership team.

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background image General SIA Responsibilities:

● Over time, work through the training in the SIA Training Center. This will take some

time. Reach out to your SIA Captain for assistance if needed.

● Attend state leadership meetings and connect consistently with the state leadership team

via established tools, i.e., Slack, Email, etc.

● Attend national SIA leadership calls to stay up-to-date on the latest national system and

policy changes.

● Respond to requests for help from your state team when they need assistance with

technology or to provide training for leaders on how to use the tools effectively. If you
are unable to assist anyone for any reason, please reach out to the Regional State
Information Analyst Captain, and they will gladly help you.

● Learn how to train DCs on the tech software systems they use for their job: District

Dashboard (DD), Follow-up Tool (FUT), Legislative Management System (LMS), etc.
When training other positions, you may need to teach them on the Leadership
Management Tool (LMT) and other systems tools.

● Ensure all your DCs, and State Leaders know how to use technology tools effectively.

● Learn how to send out email communication using the messaging tools in Citizen Builder

and MailChimp. Train your state teams on how to use these tools effectively.

● Get admin access to your state’s Slack team and encourage the team to use Slack and

manage the Slack team members.

● Along with the LL (Legislative Liaison), review and validate the LMS to be sure the

LMS has the correct legislature and legislative information.

● Help your team with projects related to technology, data analysis, and data visualization.

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background image ● Commit to spending at least 4 hours a week in this position. We understand you will have

events that will require time away. However, 4 hours a week is necessary for most weeks
to have a significant impact.

Building and Leading Your Team
Team building involves a wide range of activities designed to improve team performance. It aims
to bring out the best in a team to ensure self-development, positive communication, leadership
skills, and the ability to work closely together as a team to problem-solve.

You are now a leader in a unique and growing team in your state. You will want to get to know
and establish personal relationships with your entire team. Please let your state team know your
preferred contact method (phone, text, Slack, etc.) so that they can reach you when needed.

You are part of a statewide leadership team, usually consisting of the following members and
their teams:

● State Director

● Grassroots Coordinator

● Legislative Liaison

● State Communications Coordinator

● Coalitions Director

● Media Liaison

● State Information Analyst

Collaborate often with your state team. Good collaboration is when team members are all united
in accomplishing the same goal. The teams may have very different duties and responsibilities,
but they work well both as a unit and with the other teams within your state.

Effective collaboration among the state teams requires strong communication and interpersonal
skills—whether working under the same roof or virtually. There’s a balanced flow of sharing
ideas and feedback. Teams hold themselves and others accountable for getting the job done in a
unified fashion.

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background image Here are five key collaboration skills to bring teams together and knock those big goals out of
the park:

Active Listening
Clear and thoughtful communication requires self-awareness because team members need to
understand their preferences and at the same time strive to hear the concerns of others. Strong,
active listeners are excellent communicators, both verbally and with written communication.
Improve your active listening skills for better collaboration.

Organization
While in an ideal world, everyone on your team would be a perfectly organized individual, that’s
not always the case. Take steps to learn to be more organized.

Engagement
Successful collaboration is the result of team members engaged with each other and other
members’ efforts. Thus creating strong engagement and better collaboration skills that unite
teams should include regular feedback and discussion. Collaboration allows team members to
voice their opinions, share ideas, and even explore taking on new job duties.

Transparency
Let the people on your team know about where the state is regarding any projects, why certain
aspects are essential, and any challenges that may come up along the way. Transparency allows
each team member to take the right steps in their respective duties to avoid any complications
and do the best job possible.

Adaptability
People are not always going to agree with the workplace choices of other team members. That
said, being open-minded and learning to adapt and compromise will increase the chances of
successful team collaboration by giant leaps and bounds. Teams that know how to compromise
and adjust will be that much stronger because they’re showing consideration for others and
putting the long-term goal ahead of their egos.

Legal Limits On Your Volunteer Activity
Convention of States represents a significant threat to the established powers in Washington,
D.C. They would love nothing better than to shut us down and silence our voices. We need to

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background image keep our activities clean under the law to ensure they can't do that. As part of this, COS requires
all state leaders to complete the Legal Training Course at COS University.

Organizational Information
Who Are Citizens for Self-Governance, Convention of States Foundation, and Convention
of States Action, and How Are They Related to Convention of States?

Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, founded Citizens for Self-Governance
(CSG) to promote the ideals of the Tea Party beyond the partisan divide. CSG encourages the
principle of self-governance by educating citizens about their constitutional rights and defending
individuals and groups unjustly targeted by the government.

In August 2013, CSG founded the Convention of States Project to educate citizens about a
little-known but very potent power in Article V of the Constitution. Convention of States Action
(COSA) was created a little over a year later in late 2014 when it became clear that Convention
of States would require a massive legislative effort to get applications passed in 34 states.

In 2018, CSG filed to operate under the name Convention of States Foundation (COSF) to
establish more consistent messaging and make it clear how CSG was connected to the
Convention of States movement. CSG and COSF are just two names for the same organization.
CSG/COSF continues to be involved with COS by promoting the idea of a convention and
educating citizens about their constitutional power in Article V. Most of the COSis now under
COSA, which works to get the COS application passed in 34 states.

Why Have Two Different Organizations?

We have two different organizations because of how the IRS regulates nonprofit organizations.
The IRS allows different types of nonprofits to engage in different kinds of activity. According
to the IRS, COSF is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization, which means that it can educate people
about their constitutional rights but can’t promote legislation to protect those rights or get
involved in supporting or opposing candidates. COSA is a 501©(4) nonprofit organization
which can promote legislation and support or oppose some candidates as long as it does so in
accord with state and federal laws .

There are all kinds of technical differences between 501©(3) organizations like COSF and
501©(4) organizations like COSA. However, the main one you need to understand is that COSF
can’t promote legislation and absolutely can’t promote or oppose candidates, but COSA can.
COSA can talk to legislators about the COS application, collect petitions, host legislative
strategy sessions, and engage in other activities to promote the COS application. COSF cannot.

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background image How Does This Affect You?
Most of your volunteer activity will be for COSA, so you won’t have to worry about the limit on
promoting legislation most of the time. But every so often, you may be asked to support or assist
with an event or activity sponsored by COSF. When working on a COSF event or activity, you’ll
need to remember that you can’t collect petitions, discuss legislative strategy, display COSA
materials or banners, or otherwise try to persuade people to support COSA’s specific application.
When working for COSF, you can educate people about their constitutional rights, including
those in Article V, and respond to frequent objections like claims that a convention would “run
away.”

One More Limit: No Campaigning under COSF!
Promoting or opposing political candidates is strictly prohibited for COSF and is only allowed
for COSA if specifically approved by the COSA National Legal Team. COSF cannot do any
campaigning ever. COSA can only campaign if it complies with many state and federal laws and
regulations governing campaign activity. As a COS volunteer, you can only tell people how they
should vote in the next election if you receive explicit permission from the national legal team.
You can’t send out an email to our volunteers in your district asking them to support a candidate,
oppose a candidate, volunteer for a candidate’s campaign, or join a political party. You should
not do anything even close to the line–don’t do anything that could be construed as supporting a
particular candidate or political party without checking with COSA’s Legal Team. The
prohibition against expressing a political view is an absolute rule that we strictly enforce because
any violation will jeopardize the organization’s nonprofit status.

If you want to do a limited campaigning effort in your state through COSA, please contact your
RD. The COSA Legal Team will check the laws in your state and determine if you can proceed.
If the Legal Team approves campaigning in your state, they will issue detailed instructions about
how to comply with the law. Make sure you carefully review these instructions before engaging
in any election-related activity

This restriction only applies when you actively volunteer for COS or use COS resources
(including the CitizenBuilder database). You are entirely free to support any candidates or
political parties you wish with your own time and resources.

Who Do I Contact If I Have Questions?
If you would like to get in touch with our legal team about specific questions, please reach out to
your State Director or Regional Director, who will be able to direct your inquiry to the right
place.

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background image Continuing Education
We have many resources available. Here are a few to get you started:

● Our Resource Page is the best source to learn more, and we encourage you to visit often.
● Here are a series of short articles on various topics.\\ ● We have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos available on our YouTube

Channel.

● COSUniversity offers online training courses.
● Hundreds of research articles and historical documents can be found on our Wiki site.\\ ●

COS Briefing Book.

●

The Law of Article V by Robert G. Natelson

Personal Development
“If you want to grow and become the best person you can be, you’ve got to be intentional about
it. Many unsuccessful people who try to lead others have the mistaken belief that people will
follow them because their cause is good. But that’s not the way leadership works. People will
follow you when they believe in you.” - John Maxwell