19 Tips for Organizing Conference Planners

Feeling overwhelmed with responsibility in planning your union’s organizing conference? Where do you start? What needs to be included? What if anything should be done differently this time?

It’s no easy task. You have to choose the right location, the right venue, and it needs to run like a well-oiled machine. You want to send people home feeling refreshed and ready with new tools to do their job better.

Here are 19 tips to help you conduct a successful organizing conference everyone will enjoy.

1.      Review Objective – Ask “Why an organizing conference?” then set a goal and work toward it.

2.      Plan for Fun – Host it at a location people enjoy and give them time to enjoy it.

3.      Keep it short – Two or three days max; don’t take your best people out-of-the-field for too long.

4.      Build Them Up – It’s easy to get discouraged as an organizer. Encourage attendee’s success.

5.      Limit Teleprompters – Good leaders make accomplished speakers. Teleprompters distract.

6.      Skip the Entertainment – Organizing is a fascinating topic. Keep the focus on organizing.

7.      Limit Speakers to 15 Minutes – Less if possible. Everyone will thank you!

8.      Remind People to Bring a Sweater – Conference rooms are often chilly.

9.      Keep it light – Organizers are the most overworked people in the labor movement.

10.  Give Them a Break – Regular restroom breaks lead to better attention and retention.

11.  Limit Evening Receptions – After a long day glued to a chair most would rather pass.

12.  Repeat Theme Often – Ask each speaker to include a reference so it’s not forgotten.

13.  Start and End On Time – Be respectful of attendee’s time and travel arrangements.

14.  Have Contingency Plans – Be ready should a speaker fail to show or a computer malfunctions.

15.  Keep It Relevant – If the subject is anything but better organizing it should be dropped.

16.  Don’t Preach to the Choir – Organizers know exactly why they do what they do.

17.  Limit Who Attends – Raise the bar by requiring attendees be full-time union organizers.

18.  Discover New Talent – Bring in new people to conduct seminars and breakout sessions.

19.  End Strong – As participants depart they should feel relaxed, motivated, and energized.

Grab The Future

“Grab the Future,” that was the message to organizers attending the 2009 Membership Development Conference. During the general session use of social networking technology such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter was discussed at length as a way for organizers to forge relationships with today’s workers. Social networking as a recruitment tool is something I wrote about in my book, Bigger Labor; A Crash Course for Construction Union Organizers. I was glad to see so many organizers and local unions embracing social networking. All were encouraged to link sites and members together for greater communication.

The conference was held at Bally’s Las Vegas and was attended by over 1000 of the top organizers and labor leaders from the United States and Canada. The keynote speaker was IBEW, International President Edwin D. Hill. Hill reminded the delegates that challenges create opportunities. Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar B. Goodman welcomed delegates to the city. Comedian Mark Lundholm who has appeared on Comedy Central and has had his own Showtime Comedy Special provided energetic humor in the opening session.

Director of Construction Organizing, Kirk Brungard gave the opening remarks on the second day. He also led a panel discussion on Grabbing The Green Energy Market with experts Solomon Furer, Paul Costello, Dennis Affinati, Bill Dever, Michael Redlund and John Bourne. Veronica Soto, of the We Build program spoke on Developing the Message. I had the honor of helping to present a training session on Organizing Work in Public Agencies. The construction seminar offered attendees an opportunity to practice public speaking before a mock city council on issues related to public work projects. Other training sessions included construction law, Apprenticeship Updates, Building a Vibrant Volunteer Organizing Committee, etc.

At the closing session, guest speaker, Stewart Acuff from the AFL-CIO gave a passionate speech on the need to pass National Healthcare Reform now.

Conference Hits Jackpot

What’s your idea of a great organizing conference? For me it would be upbeat and fun while providing useful knowledge that could be put immediately to use. It would be at a nice location, easily accessible from an airport. Top industry achievers would be there and everyone would have a variety of opportunities to get to know each other, share experiences and ask questions. One last thing, the waitress at the buffet would slip me a coupon for a free meal. That really happened. It’s funny how free food always seems to taste better then food you have to pay for.

This year’s IBEW Membership Development Conference was held at Bally’s in Las Vegas. It was an upbeat week. Huge gains in signatory contractors and membership in the IBEW construction branch gave organizers reason for celebration. While there is much more work to be done the conference reflected the new mood of optimism. 

My own local union, Local 11 was recognized for signing the most electrical contractors. In a 2 year period 75 new contractors became signatory.  These are record breaking gains that only a few years ago would have seemed impossible. 

Conference planners did an outstanding job providing useful presentations. My favorite was Peter Cockshaw an expert on labor-related issues.  I’ve seen him speak before on construction industry developments but he was on fire at this event. He didn’t rely on Teleprompters or a script. He just told it like it is. He applauded the union’s commitment to training electrical workers. He denounced the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. for spreading falsehoods about their training being anything close to that of the IBEW. According to Mr. Cockshaw the ABC relies on deceptive use of research to promote itself. This is one of the most important issues requiring organizers attention in his view. 

Comedian with a message Bernie McGrenahan provided some much needed levity on Wednesday of the conference. He had everyone busting up but he also shared some touching personal stories. I spoke with him at the reception. Turns out he lives in my neighborhood. You really should check out his website. He’s amazing! 

Teamwork among organizers was encouraged on the last day of the conference. A football theme with video interviews of epic coaches provided inspiration. Though not much of a fan of sports, it was really effective and appreciated by the 1300 or so in attendance, myself included. Many of the organizers I spoke with at the conclusion of the conference said it was the best so far.  

Labor's Own Think Tank

The UCLA Downtown Labor Center sponsored a 2 day conference called the California Construction Academy. It is a think tank for Statewide Building Trades representatives from the most active unions. The focus of the event was economic justice for those who face barriers to employment and rebuilding California’s dwindling middle-class. The statistics are staggering; 35-50% of craft workers will be retiring within the next 3-5 years. The growing need for apprenticeship training needs to be met in order to fill those positions. Union organizers participated in breakout sessions to help identify solutions. The majority of training in the construction industry in Los Angeles is done by Joint Apprenticeship Training.

EWMC Community Day

Here is a video showing work performed by EWMC volunteers in the San Fernando Valley. Members came from all over the country to participate in the EWMC Conference in Los Angeles. Thursday was designated as Community Day. With some 160 participants performing gardening, clean up, painting and other work to help kids.

EWMC Conference in LA

The 8th Annual Electrical Workers Minority Conference was held at the Sheraton Universal this weekend. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaigosa, IBEW President Edwin Hill, AFL-CIO Organizer Eddie Acosta and others were speakers at the event. The theme for this year’s conference was “Building Power to Make the Dream a Reality.” On Thursday EWMC Members volunteered at local schools throughout the San Fernando Valley. Volunteers painted classrooms, planted shrubbery, and performed various labor to help beautify the community.

2007 Membership Development Conference

The Membership Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia was a huge success. The conference was held on October 15- 17 and there were over 1400 union organizers from the U.S. and Canada in attendance.

On Monday Gene Morrill from the National Labor College gave a great presentation on communicating with unrepresented workers. Organizers were challenged to approach Gene on stage posing as an unrepresented worker and try to persuade him to accept a better life for himself.

On Tuesday my favorite training session was the Developing New Contractors session by Matt Kolbinsky president of Pro Union Consulting, Inc. His company trains union members to become successful union contractors. To date Pro Union Consulting is credited with creating 50 new construction contractors and has set a goal of creating 1000 within 10 years. I have no doubt that this number will be far exceeded.

On Wednesday motivational speaker Gary Zelesky took the stage and challenged everyone to say YES to their passion. If you’ve ever seen Gary, you know just how funny he can be. I purchased his new book when I got home. The book is entitled “The Passion Centered Professional- How to Go from Having Just a Career to Having a Life”. It’s not even out yet and I have no doubt it’s going to be great! I recommend everyone pre-order a copy at his website.

Overall the conference was great! The sound system was amazing. The training sessions were informative and the mood was upbeat.