[fvc-wat-disc] Multi-cultural festival thoughts - part 1 - the attendees

[Sharon Sommerville]

Hi Jay,

I agree with Cathe that your perception of the types of folks we encounter
at public events is excellent.

There is always the opportunity to make our conversations with people more
engaging, thoughtful and effective.  Thanks for opening up this line of
conversation.

In terms of working with the various groups perhaps we could develop short
scripted responses/strategies for each category that we can use when we
identify someone that fits one of the categories.

One of the things we need to be aware of is that we have caught folks in
mid stream, that is to say; they weren't thinking about electoral reform at
that moment they encountered us.  We just happen to be there and have
caught their attention.  When we ask them if they are willing to take
action, we have no less than 5 things they can do: one or two petitions,
one, two or three postcards..... we also want them to sign up for the
discussion or announcement list and that is in addition to signing numerous
things but we want support for our current campaigns and to get them to
sign on to becoming somewhat involved.  It is a delicate situation, when
someone is just out looking to watch a Ukrainian dance group and have a
funnel cake.

Cheers,
Sharon


On Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 9:30 PM, Catherine Campbell <cdcampbell9 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> It was nice to finally meet you on sat. I've been impressed by your
> analysis you've sent to the group. Regards, Cathe Campbell
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 26, 2017, at 7:48 PM, Jay Judkowitz <judkowitz at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
>      It was great working the booth with you all.  The numbers Sharon
> shared about sign-ups for the petition were amazing.  Great work, everyone.
>
>      I was thinking about the different groups, how they differed from
> each other, and how we can approach them for the best result.  I'd love
> your thoughts on these observations and suggestions.
>
>    - *People who are already sold*: These people are great.  Take no
>    time, readily give their signatures, and usually provide us some form of
>    moral support.  For them, our goal should be to get them to become active
>    and to join one of our mail lists.  We need to make sure we give them the
>    smallest possible commitment level possible and see if we can't get them
>    hooked on working on this issue with us.
>
>
>    - *Curious people who just never thought about it before*: These are
>    actually the perfect audience.  They are curious and want to know why we
>    are spending all day at a fair talking about our issue.  They generally are
>    sympathetic to the question of fairness.  They like non-partisan messaging
>    because they are not steeped in the history of broken promises and want a
>    positive message.  To them, it's good to just say it's a risk to have 39%
>    of the votes create an unassailable legislative machine because you never
>    know which 39% will win.  The fact that the last two minority majorities
>    were from different parties make it super easy to keep it non-partisan.
>    It's possible to do this discussion without even using the name of a party
>    once.
>
>
>    - *People who get it, but not why it matters*: They acknowledge the
>    unfairness of FPTP but don't see why they should care.  This is a tough
>    crowd because we don't know what argument to give if fairness does not
>    work.  Do they care more about coalition building, less dictatorial power
>    of a single party leader, better representation of women and minorities, or
>    having more voices and interests heard?  I think that with these people (if
>    they don't just walk off), we need to ask them questions - find out what
>    they care most about and see if we can relate FPTP vs. PR to their
>    interests.
>
>
>    - *Angry people*: These people don't need to be grabbed in - they come
>    to us.  They have a gripe about the world and feel that the government is
>    inherently unfair and out to screw us all.  They talk to us because they
>    see us as also upset about unfairness and know we will listen.  Well,
>    actually they talk AT us. They want to share their gripe and be heard but
>    don't really discuss PR WITH us.  The problem is that they take our time
>    and attention away from other people we want to talk to and, worse yet,
>    they can scare away folks from the booth.  To top it all off, sometimes
>    they don't even sign the petition because they are convinced nothing will
>    ever make a difference.  For these people, we need to make a quick and
>    compelling case that in spite of the inherent selfishness of people and
>    parties, PR can make things better by creating checks and balances between
>    the parties and create more accountability.  We can't be unrealistic in
>    saying we will cause better people to be elected, but rather we can create
>    a better system for reigning in the worst in our leaders.  That said, if
>    they don't bite quickly, it's probably best to excuse yourself to talk to
>    someone who seems like they won't rant for 10 minutes or so.
>
>
>    - *Apathetic people*: These people usually run away quickly and refuse
>    to make eye contact.  But, sometimes their kids want to spin a wheel and
>    take candy.  Maybe it's just easiest to let them go, but maybe it's
>    possible to just give a quick general non-PR message that politics matters
>    in general.  Sure, life is very good for very many Canadians right now, but
>    there is no law of nature that says it always has to be so.  Special
>    interests and actual bad people don't rest and without the vigilance of
>    good and reasonable people, we can lose the precious situation we have
>    here.  We won't get them to sign for PR, but maybe we can plant a seed for
>    later.
>
>      Talk to you all soon.
>
> Best regards,
> Jay
>
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