Title: Want to lead a monthly meeting?
Original CoS Document (slug): want-to-lead-a-monthly-meeting
Login Required to view? No
Created: 2023-03-10 11:55:53
Updated: 2023-03-13 17:38:21
Published: 2023-03-10 00:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T20:31:54.769602510
You do not need to be a District Captain to run a meeting!
District Captains have a weekly National call from 9-10 pm on Tuesdays, which all volunteers are welcome. Register here. These meetings cover a myriad of topic, all of which will benefit you!
Volunteer Agreement must be signed once you do meetings on your own. In the beginning, a District Captain or other leader will do the meeting with you. Even once you are seasoned, it is great to have others in the room to help, as we all learn and share information differently.
Someone experienced and with more training will be with you when you start your monthly meetings. You are not alone!
Can I really run a monthly meeting?
Let's walk you through the process.
First, find your location.
You want it close to where you live, convient for you to attend. Pick the time that works for you. If you can make it, there will be others that can as well. Ideally, we want NH to have a meeting at least once a week, every week of the month. This is what we currently have scheduled.
Some locations to see if they have space for your meetings: your library, your fire station, a restaurant, a community center and you can always use your home if you wish to open up your space to strangers. Avoid places that charge a fee, as we are all volunteers, and this would be at your expense.
If the world was perfect, we would love to offer meetings at different days and times, because people work different shifts. Hopefully, the next monthly meeting will be during week 3 of the month.
INVITING
One week before your meeting you send an invitation email blast.
The next day, you send an invitation via text blast.
1 day before, you send your last email blast invitation.
On the day of, you send your last text blast reminder.
Only certain leadership positions have access to these tools, so the State Communications Coordinator or District Captain can help you with this.
Gold standard is requesting RSVP so that after your meeting, you can send a follow up to all who attended.
ACTUAL MEETING
Set up 30 minutes prior. This gives you an opportunity to get focused and greet anyone who shows up early.
Your style of hosting the is the right style for you!
If you prefer an event style setup, where you have a table with resources on it, do that. Here are some examples of what you can display:
- Resources could be whatever you have on hand
- The Law of Article V by Robert G Natelson
- A pocket US Constitution
- NH Constitution you can get for free at the Secretary of States office in Concord- you just have to ask them
- any literature from the COS Surge library
- Far from Unworkable by Timothy J. Dake
by Mark R. Levin
If your style is chairs sitting in a circle for easy communication, do that.
If your style is to do powerpoint presentations, do that. Be prepared, however, for how you will run your meeting if you end up with technical difficulites. Keeping your meeting simple will make your meeting enjoyable!
- Whenever the time comes, if you want a powerpoint, contact your District Captain or State Communications Coordinator to get one.
If you do not yet know your style, try a few different styles out until you get comfortable. You can change your style every month until you decide. There is no pressure. If something does not work, change it the next time.
CONTENT
Every meeting should contain the basics: what COS is and is NOT and how does it work. [COS is NOT a constitutional convention where we draft a new constitution, but rather a convention of state delegates who speak together to select the correct wording on the limited topics defined in Resolutions. Read more about that here.]
Both people who have never heard about Article V of the Constitution and those who have learned some things, will benefit.
What does that mean for you? You should know your 1 minute elevator speech of the basics and how to hand objections. COS University introduction courses are there to equip you!
- You can write your own script or borrow someone else from the NH State team if words do not flow easily from your mouth.
- You can always ask a District Captain to assist you at your meetings. If you do not know who to ask for help, contact the State Communications Coordinator.
Your meeting might only ever get that far. It all depends on how many questions you receive.
Eventually, you will want to check back to this page or contact the State Communications Coordinator to find out what the monthly message is to share additionally.
Gold standard will eventually be that all monthly meetings will cover the basic information on Convention of States and then the NH COS message of the month.
NH message of the month is based on either educating about fallacies circulating in NH, specific strategy efforts required to move us forward, local successes and more!
You do NOT need to be an expert to host a meeting!
You can always write down their question, let them know you will see what you can find out and get back to them. Refer them to FAQs section in the Resources Tab on the COS website, their question is most likely answered there.
Gold standard is to take a picture at your meeting, including your guests that attended. Send that to the State Communication Coordinator with the topics you discussed or anything else you wish to share about your meeting.
When donors see the level of activity in NH through reading blogs written by our Communication team, it helps them to invest. Plus, those across the state see the activity level and want to join us! Great job for helping to grown NH's team!
SUPPLIES
ALWAYS have blank petitions with you! These are double sided, so each sheet can hold 3 petition signers. Print off what you think you might need, a few more, then keep whatever is not used for the next meeting.
- Please ask them to write legibly as they need to be manually entered.
- Please encourage them to include their email & cell so that we can contact them and keep them in the loop. They can always unsubscribe later.
If you have social media business cards, give them to your guests. Point them to the QR code on the back that meets them where they are at in their educational journey about the use of Article V.
Remind them that keeping this in their wallet will help them speak about Convention of States, as it list the 3 topics on the Resolution that all 19 states have filed.
Give them at least a second card if you have them. Tell them to give it to someone else, ask them to use it, and then pass it on!
These Social Media Cards are NOT required.
The same place they sign the petition, they can also download FOR FREE, the Article V Pocket Guide.
Gold Standard is to check in your guests. Take the RSVP list and simply check them off. Leave blank lines so others who showed up and did not RSVP and sign in. Name, email, and cell# is usually all you need so that you can connect with them in the future if needed. Keeping track of people's level of involvement is how we identify future leaders.
ENDING YOUR MEETING
Thanking attendees for coming demonstrates that you respect their time and appreciate their commitment to learning more. You can also do this in your post-meeting follow up, emails.
Always leave with an action item request.
- If you do not know the NH State's monthly message or it does not have a particular action request, you can always say, “Please come back next month and bring a friend!”
- You can ask them to become a 20 Minute Patriot
FOLLOW UP
Email a thank you for attending and any links to the material covered at your meeting, if there are any.
If someone asked a question, find the link to the information and include for all attendees.
We all learn from one another. We all learn at different paces, depending on how much time we invest. Sharing links will allow any attendee to pick and choose if they want to learn more about that particular topic.
Reach out to your District Captain or the State Communications Coordinator to find the links that you need if they are not already found on the COS Surge library page.
PAT ON THE BACK
Is any meeting every going to be perfect? NO
Did you complete your meeting? YES- then you succeeded!! Congratulations!
Anything that did not work out to your liking, you can change the next time. If you wish to go talk through your meeting with a mentor, reach out the State Communications Coordinator.
Congratulate yourself, you just started a group in your area who will help restore our Republic!
You have successfully engaged your area, leading people to join the largest grassroots movement nation wide!
THANK YOU!