Policy and a Pint - Make Advocacy Sizzle

Whether your Chamber of Commerce has an active public policy committee, a full legislative agenda, weekly policy updates, or the closest you’ve ever come to advocacy is suggesting that the Mayor stand in the middle of a ribbon-cutting photo op, here is a quick and easy way to connect your membership to public policy:

Host a “Policy and a Pint.”

The Chamber of Catawba County held one earlier this year. Here were the key components:

1. Special Guest - Congressman Patrick McHenry represents Catawba County in Congress and has always been accessible to the Chamber. 

The event was before McHenry slammed the gavel to become Speaker Pro Tem, but regardless of who your Congressman is, providing your members access provides them value.

A few notes on inviting a member of Congress:

• Check the Congressional Calendar - Roll Call provides the Congressional Calendar here. Your Member can’t come to your event if they need to be in Washington.
• Offer decorum - Many members of Congress have cut back on holding town halls, because their political opponents would ambush them in an attempt to embarrass them and create a viral social media moment. The Chamber can offer an opportunity for a civil discussion with the “adults in the room.”
• Access - As Congressional districts have grown larger and the time demands on members have grown greater, it has become less likely that your members will run into their Representative at the grocery store. Many will have never met their Representative, and this is a great value add.

2. The “other” draw - Hold your event somewhere that your members want to see. 

For the “Policy and a Pint event” we accessed a member’s new brewery that was not-yet-opened. The community had seen construction occurring for months at the former pawn shop, and everyone wanted to see what the new establishment looked like. The “exclusive” preview is for many people the draw, and the elected official conversation the by-product. But, this is a great way to introduce your members to the importance of engaging in policy discussions.

3. Exclusivity - Do you tier your membership? Make events like this exclusive to your biggest funders or most active volunteers. 

For the Catawba Chamber event, we had more than 80 members attend, and the event was “invite only.”  Many of your biggest funders want you to be making a difference, and they want to attend events with other business leaders at their level.  We all want to feel special, and you can increase attendance by limiting the number of those invited to attend.

Have you held a unique public policy event with your Chamber? We’d love to hear more about it.  Drop a comment below, or send me a note at [email protected].