How to Organize Your Own “Tea Party” Protest

The Conservative Revolution ^ | 2-21-2009 | Brendan Steinhauser

[bstein80]

The internet is abuzz with chatter about organizing protests around the country to put an end to this madness on Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. But I’ve talked to many people out there who have never organized a protest, and so they don’t have a clue where to begin.

Here are 10 simple steps that you can follow to organize a protest in your own community. If you want more help, just send me an email at bsteinhauser@freedomworks.org and I’ll work with you one on one to help make your protest a success.

1. Pick a location, date and time in your town. I’d suggest main street at an intersection with lots of traffic.

2. Tell your friends, family, co-workers and everyone else you know about the protest. Build an rsvp email list so that you can provide quick updates if something changes. You should also create a facebook group so that the group can communicate with one another.

3. Make 5-10 signs with legible slogans that send a clear message to the public and the media. Write in BIG LETTERS.

4. Call your local talk radio hosts and ask them to announce the location, date and time on the air for a few days leading up to the protest. Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper announcing the protest. Email the bloggers in your area and ask them to post a notice about the protest.

5. Write a press release and email, mail and fax copies to the local tv stations, radio stations and newspapers. Call the reporters that cover local events or politics and leave messages on their voice mail.

6. On the day of your protest, show up with your group, be loud, visible, happy and engage the public. Wave your signs, make lots of noise and move around to get attention. If reporters interview you, give them some good sound bytes for their stories. Stay on message and keep your answers short and coherent.

7. Bring sign-in sheets to capture the names, emails and phone numbers of everyone who attends the protest and/or says that they support what you are doing. You will then have a big list of people that can plan the next, much bigger and louder, event. Also bring handouts with one page of quick facts about why you are protesting in the first place.

8. Add your pictures, video and an after-action report to your facebook group, and send this stuff to the bloggers and reporters that you originally contacted. Ask them to post the photos, story and video.

9. Thank everyone who attended via email and phone, and set up a meeting to plan your next event. Now you have a list of people in your community that can help make the next protest huge. Encourage everyone to commit to bring at least one friend to the next protest.

10. Organize a carpool and go find a friend in your neighboring town or county and help them organize a protest there. You and your people are now veterans and should be able to keep the momentum going around your area.

Email me if you have any questions or want some ideas for signs. bsteinhauser@freedomworks.org

Good luck!

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds. — Samuel Adams

[blackbart.223]

"Secondly, if publicly protesting a politician or political party is tantamount to jumping off a cliff, then maybe America is lost."

Let me try this another way. I believe as you do. But I never lead with my chin. Do you understand?

[LinnKeyes2000]

odd, MO is where I was doing much of my ‘free religious lit’ handouts - downtown sidewalks of STL in particular. Even passed out lit to cops. Nobody said anything.

but it’s still fun to have them show you which city statute
is preventing you from handing out free literature. “Show
me the ordinance and I’ll leave ...”

[LinnKeyes2000]

also, we never prevented anyone from passing. I think
if we did, then there would have been an issue. Since
traffic was allowed to flow, it was no different than
two people talking on the sidewalk.

[GOPJ]

bttt