Promoting Parliamentary Law Month Debra Henry, PRP

Promoting Parliamentary Law Month

Parliamentary law month provides an excellent opportunity for your unit or association to enthusiastically inform your community on the applications of parliamentary procedure. In the month of April, NAP members should be actively engaged in developing awareness of proper meeting management. The members of your local group should be excited about this prospect. Your question maybe, “How do I share my excitement about this subject with others?” A solid public relations strategy will help you promote your event clearly and consistently.

There are many types of activities that you could produce to implement our organization’s tagline, “Educating the World on Parliamentary Procedure.” This year, many units may choose to host an educational workshop via a webinar. A cyberspace event is low in cost; ideally, it should be offered to attendees at no cost.

Your approach to promoting the event should be multifaceted. Here are some suggestions for implementing a public relations strategy for your online workshop:

identify your audience

• Ask yourself, “Who are my people?”

You should recognize that the people who are most like you would be your constituency. They would be individuals who enjoy working collaboratively and efficiently, and

belong to boards, legislative bodies, organizations, and/or clubs. • Suggest that every member of the unit or association commit to issuing no less than 10 invitations per member, utilizing his or her social or professional network. • Make use of the membership lists provided on the websites of local or regional chambers of commerce to invite their members. • Perform outreach to boards of church, civic, social, and fraternal organizations.

Brand the event

• Give the event a name that is memorable and connected with the objective of your parliamentary law month event. • Portray the “look and feel” of the event in your design portfolio with graphic elements to give the target audience a preview of what is to come. The design elements should be uniform and recurring in all communication—stationery, flyers, forms, websites. • Use fonts that are easy to read and commonly used so that the fonts can be replicated and consistent across print and online media. • Create a logo for the event or utilize your unit’s or association’s logo and integrate it into the design portfolio for the event.

By Debra A Henry, PRP

• Design a web page on your unit’s or association’s website devoted to the details of the event. • Generate a free URL and complimentary website dedicated to the event if you do not have an existing website.

Reference the URL in all communications related to the event.

Promote the event

• Emphasize that this will be a free and fun event. Advertise the value that the user will obtain by attending the event. Have contests, giveaways, skits, and exercises that will increase the enjoyment of your parliamentary law event. Attendees learn more when they are entertained and amused. • Enlist a celebrity guest whose philosophies are commensurate with the mission of NAP to address the audience. Advertise the presence of the celebrity at your event. • Ask a local politician to offer a proclamation, and publicize the presence of the politician at the event. • Invite a professional registered parliamentarian to teach a complex topic at your parliamentary law event, and promote the expertise of that professional as a part of your public relations strategy. • Distribute a press release to local media: print, television, and radio outlets. • Submit an op-ed to the local or regional newspaper to advocate for better meetings through parliamentary procedure, and highlight your event. • Utilize social media such as Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin.

Ask all members of your unit or association to promote the event on their personal social media. • Create a hashtag to be used consistently online to follow the progression of the event, categorize content, and create a larger audience for the event. • Produce a promotional video to be utilized in social media posts, your website, and on video platforms like

YouTube or Vimeo. • Grant interviews to local TV and radio outlets in your community. • Engage an event ticket distribution platform, such as Eventbrite, which will assist in promoting your event to its users. If there is no charge to attendees, there will not be a charge for your unit or association to use the site. • Invite local newspapers and TV and radio outlets to cover your parliamentary law activity.

One of Benjamin Franklin’s most popular quotes is prescient regarding preparations for parliamentary law month: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Whether you use all the suggested strategies or incorporate only a few recommendations to promote your event, I am certain that your unit or association will attract more attendees, provide useful information, and increase membership in NAP.

I wish you much success in your parliamentary law month activities!

Debra A Henry, MD, PRP, has attained the highest credential of the National Association of Parliamentarians. A skilled meeting coach, who is a practicing physician and psychiatrist, Debra imparts her knowledge of parliamentary procedure, leadership development, and group dynamics in an insightful and entertaining manner that makes instruction fun. Debra serves on the NAP Communications Committee.