bicycledriver
06-09-2003, 03:01 AM
PT asked me in another thread how to be effective when lobbying as an individual or small group for regulatory or policy change at the local level. I finally had time to sit down and think about it.
As with any political advocacy, one must get to know those who have the power to make decisions. Find out everything you can about how the local government and policy decisions work, i.e. who the city council members are, who the parks and rec officials are, who the parks commision volunteers are, who the police chief and traffic enforcement officers are, etc. Keep track of these people - know their names, faces, hobbies and political leanings if possible. Attend some of their meetings as just an interested citizen to see how things work. Find things that they care about and think about how to explain your issue in ways that will appeal to them. Then start contacting them in a personal and friendly manner. Use hand-addressed snail-mail letters on nice stationary. Then follow the letters in a couple of days with telephone calls.
Be concise with your written and oral communication, and don't let anyone feel trapped in a discussion. Offer to answer any questions they may have about your issue. Volunteer to meet with them face-to-face on their timing and terms. Offer demonstrations.
In the case of advocacy about safe facility use, people will have their own ideas about what is or is not safe; in many cases you will have the challenge of overcoming their paradigm, or worse, getting them to overcome a phobia. The best way to get people to switch paradigms or overcome phobias is to give them contra-experience. This means, in the Segway case, giving them as much interaction with the Segway as possible.
The advantage that Segway advocates have is that it is relatively easy to bring the Segway to people. It is harder to get people to go to other places. My own advocacy is based on promoting the principle that operating a bicycle according to the rules for drivers of vehicles is the safest way to bicycle and works very well. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get most non-cyclists onto bikes in traffic to experience successful real-world bicycle driving. But it may be much easier to lure people onto Segways on the sidewalk outside their office or in the foyer outside their meeting room.
-Steve Goodridge
As with any political advocacy, one must get to know those who have the power to make decisions. Find out everything you can about how the local government and policy decisions work, i.e. who the city council members are, who the parks and rec officials are, who the parks commision volunteers are, who the police chief and traffic enforcement officers are, etc. Keep track of these people - know their names, faces, hobbies and political leanings if possible. Attend some of their meetings as just an interested citizen to see how things work. Find things that they care about and think about how to explain your issue in ways that will appeal to them. Then start contacting them in a personal and friendly manner. Use hand-addressed snail-mail letters on nice stationary. Then follow the letters in a couple of days with telephone calls.
Be concise with your written and oral communication, and don't let anyone feel trapped in a discussion. Offer to answer any questions they may have about your issue. Volunteer to meet with them face-to-face on their timing and terms. Offer demonstrations.
In the case of advocacy about safe facility use, people will have their own ideas about what is or is not safe; in many cases you will have the challenge of overcoming their paradigm, or worse, getting them to overcome a phobia. The best way to get people to switch paradigms or overcome phobias is to give them contra-experience. This means, in the Segway case, giving them as much interaction with the Segway as possible.
The advantage that Segway advocates have is that it is relatively easy to bring the Segway to people. It is harder to get people to go to other places. My own advocacy is based on promoting the principle that operating a bicycle according to the rules for drivers of vehicles is the safest way to bicycle and works very well. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get most non-cyclists onto bikes in traffic to experience successful real-world bicycle driving. But it may be much easier to lure people onto Segways on the sidewalk outside their office or in the foyer outside their meeting room.
-Steve Goodridge