A party plan approach to community education
Andi and I are both impatient to get Ruby actively involved in initiating practical relocalisation projects. To do that, we need to motivate people to get involved and work with us.
Companies like Amway have demonstrated impressive growth and success, using a 'party plan' approach for selling products and recruiting new distributors/members. The approach is simple – but very effective. A distributor asks people in their personal network to host a 'party' for friends and/or relatives, at which the distributor gives a presentation, takes bookings for subsequent parties and recruits new 'distributors'. The presentation follows a simple to deliver format that is easy for beginning ‘distributors’ to present. There is a structure of mentoring and support built into the recruitment and training of new distributors/members.
If someone we like or respect invites us to visit their home to check something out, we probably will. Reading a newspaper article, seeing a flier or being approached by a stranger is less likely (in my opinion) to successfully motivate people to go out of their way to find out about something new and unfamiliar. Word of mouth is not only the most effective form of advertising – it is also the cheapest! Presenting in private homes avoids venue availability restraints and expense. When group members are familiar with each other, they are more likely to freely participate in discussions, share opinions, ask questions and contribute ideas.
Relocalisation is about promoting cultural and behavioural change and building networks of interest and support across the community. A party plan approach for raising community awareness about peak oil and introducing Ruby taps into existing networks right from the get go - people who already know each other, are given the same thought provoking information in a novel context. Knowing human nature, wouldn’t you expect that the next time they meet, they will talk about what they’ve heard and what they think of it?
Peak oil can be a heavy topic, with the potential to be more depressing, disempowering and immobilising than motivating! Why would anyone host a doom and gloom party? Why would anyone willingly agree to go?
Barry (Blackall Ranges Relocalisation group) said “I want to see relocalisation as a fun activity” and suggested (tongue in cheek) celebrating the day of the global peak as an excuse for a get-together of like-minded individuals.
Fun motivates.
Andi and I immediately recognised a novel way to catch people’s interest and a good hook for motivating people to become involved. Put the focus on what we are creating – not what we are leaving behind.
Having decided on our concept, we had to start putting the tools together to achieve it.
We wanted to develop
- A brochure;
- An invitation to Ruby parties;
- A party ‘kit’ that was cheap to reproduce for demonstrators/communities to use to introduce Peak oil, the Oil
Depletion Protocol, Relocalization Network and RWBI;
- An information pack to give to party guests that would give them information to take home. This needed to include
information about where to begin independently researching the topics further
Our party invitation is our brochure; is a summary of the key points of our presentation; and offers information on starting points for further research of the topics. So it serves multiple purposes.
Andi and I are still working on the exact process of the presentation format. So far we’ve decided that the presentation will be interactive and take about an hour in total (including some discussion time). It will include
– a short DVD presentation explaining peak oil and the implications for our society
– an introduction to the Oil Depletion Protocl and relocalisation
– an introduction to Ruby and her aspirations
- an invitation to get involved
The purpose of the presentation is to raise the issue in people’s mind and encourage them to get involved. The presentation can be delivered to a shire council meeting, or a privately hosted Ruby party. The presentations will act as a forerunner to larger community meetings and planning sessions.
Any ideas, suggestions or comments would be gratefully received.
Cheers
Ree
Relocalisation Works in the Burnett Inland (RWBI)
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September 18th, 2006
Hello. I am from Des
Hello. I am from Des Moines,Iowa in the USA and saw this story on energybulletin.com. What a great idea! Way to be creative to get the message out. I have a suggestion, why don't you turn it up a notch and serve locally produced food at the party? I thought of a similiar idea to get people thinking more about peak oil and alternative transportation by hosting a potluck and encouraging people to buy locally grown food or bring food from their garden and transport themselves by bicycle or walking. I named the party the Fossil Free Feeding Frenzy and will take place on October 1. Unfortunatly a lot of people I invited can not make the party, but I plan on holding one again next summer. I anticipate the first potluck to be informal and low key. I plan to include more information and have a discussion at the party next year. I may borrow some of your ideas, if you don't mind. Good luck with your parties.
September 28th, 2006
A great exercise
Recently we presented to a forum of over 20 delegates for 12 different shire councils (municipalities). At one point in the discussion I asked them what would we be eating for lunch if we only ate food from within a 50km radius. The answer "beef and peanuts' - it definetly got them thinking.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Cheers
Ree
September 18th, 2006
Hi Dan, I love the name of
Hi Dan,
I love the name of your party! I'm hopeless of thinking up fun names! One of the things we've struggled with is how to put the 'fun' into reloc - but you seem to have a knack for it.
It's a great idea re the local food and biking or walking - but not so practical in our area. We live in a small rural town, and many people would be biking or walking distances over 10km to attend (some will travel 100km!) Also the majority of food grown locally (within a 50km radius) is what is grown in people's backyards. Olives and crayfish would be about the limit of available produce I think. But it makes you stop and think doesn't it? So I figure it's a great idea for an exercise - get pple to think about what food would be on the table if it was only locally produced stuff - and who would still be in the room if the only transport was bike/walking... Then maybe in a year or two after reloc has been active - see what the difference is then.
Cheers
Ree
September 14th, 2006
Transition Culture
Cherie's idea is getting around! This from the originator of the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan:
http://transitionculture.org/?p=454
September 11th, 2006
Party Favors
Hi Andi & Ree,
I think many of the showings of End of Suburbia have been undergone with people's friends--like any party.
I like the flavor of a "Party" and have a couple of ideas. How can you make this event more like a party and less like a presentation about serious stuff? One is to have your brochure feel like a party invitation graphically--if you can afford it, add color by print or by hand. Pictures.
Parties are about fun & socializing (as well as buying, like at Amway). Party fun can come in games, story-telling, eating together, sharing ideas. Is there a way to do that in the party, so people really get engaged? We found in our groups that brainstorming really got folks involved. Perhaps have them start by looking at what is already being done in their community that moves towards sustainability and localization. The Oil Depletion Protocol is a great idea, but will likely seem too abstract or distant by itself.
In our visits to about a dozen Relocalization groups in the Pacific Northwest this summer, we found that people who were already informed about peak oil were eager to learn what other communities are doing--ideas for what they could do. People are motivated when there is hope. We showed some of our "Peak Moment" highlights videos & talked about what we were seeing in the communities we visited--examples like carsharing, permaculture in various forms, renewable energy installers, personal lifestyle changes for energy conservation, the fun of going into a re-usable building materials store.
What will the party favors be? If you had the funds, a compact fluorescent bulb would be a great. Everybody go home and replace an incandescent. Step 1.
I'll be interested to hear how the parties go...and salute you for an innovative idea. As Guy Dauncey reminded us, it has to be FUN or we'll burn out. Have fun!
Janaia
September 12th, 2006
thanks Janaia!
Many thanks for the input Janaia- great ideas!
September 10th, 2006
Posted on Energy Bulletin
Brilliant idea.
Your neighbor Kim suggested we post this on Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net), and so we did:
http://energybulletin.net/20309.html
Just a comment on the idea on not loading people down with brochures and pamphlets. That's a wonderful idea. First, we aren't using resources on things that are going to be wasted.
Second, by a quirk of human nature, people value things that are in short supply and that they have to ask for.
The editorial staff of a student newspaper I published had a meeting and decided to limit the number of copies we would print. I don't remember the reason, but I do remember the result -- all of a sudden, copies of the newspaper became collector items. When we published an issue, people would rush to get a copy. The excitement was palpable.
I guess the moral is - make it a little hard for people to get things and they will value them all the more.
September 11th, 2006
thank you for the traffic!
Bart, you've sent a lot of new viewers our way- many thanks!
September 11th, 2006
I guess it's reverse
I guess it's reverse psychology - though that wasn't our intention I will be happy if it has that effect!
Thanks for your encouragement - and we were thrilled to 'make the energy bulletin'!
Cheers
Ree
September 8th, 2006
very interested in learning more
Your idea about the party plan has gotten some buzz up here in the Great White North. Our group's secretary is already a buzz with packages he can put together. Have you begun this idea yet? I would love to hear more about how it is going. You can reach me at lifetree76 at yahoo dot com. Our group is in Chatham Ontario Canada and can be found on the directory.
cheers,
Lance
September 10th, 2006
Hi Lance,
Hi Lance,
It's nice to get some feedback. Thanks.
How far are we along? Well we've designed our brochure – Andi posted the links as a comment on this page as well. Have you had a chance to look at it? Any suggestions?
Our pack is going to be very simple and cheap for several reasons. We have no funding at this point, and even if we did, we would want the pack to be easily accessible and duplicatable for other groups starting out with no money. Also, I believe that when we give people big sample bags of printed info (cause we're passionately interested in the topic and want them to have all the info) most of it ends up in the bin unread anyway, hence is a waste of resources.
We give hosts a dozen brochures to use as invitations, so those attending the party will already have the information about how to look into the issues further (and may even have done some research before they come!). Those that don’t attend will still get the main info - just by being invited.
At the party itself we will have information about our partners available for people to browse – but they will have to ask if they want a copy to take with them.
The 'pack' that we give to groups and presenters will be the brochure, the presentation outline and the dvd. As we develop it we will make it available on the net here and eventually on our own RWBI.org web page (more on that down the track).
In our links section is a link to the ABC 4 Corners story (Peak Oil) and a Catalyst program (The Real Oil Crisis). At the moment we are cutting and pasting from these links to create a 5 - 10 minute dvd (all fully referencing the ABC as the source) giving a brief PO introduction. We have been in contact with the ABC and are hoping that they will give us permission to use it as a community education tool and to put it up on the net as a free to users resource (they are both free to air TV programs and currently available on the internet). It's a current affairs style presentation, recent and Australian - so should suit our audiences here.
We have yet to do up a presentation outline and library resources list. The library resource list we will prepare with the help of our local librarian and the list will be available at the library. During presentations we will simply tell party guests that if they go to the library and ask, the librarian can give them the list.
I am doing my first party next week and have 2 others who are going to host parties in the near future (we just have to set the dates). These early parties will not include the cut and pasted version of the ABC stories. Instead I will use the full Catalyst story (it's 12 minutes long) until we have permission from the ABC for the one we are developing.
I will definitely let you know how we go with our trial by party (warts and all!).
Please share with us ideas you have, how you develop this approach to suit your community and what you discover as you try it out. You are welcome to plagiarise anything that is useful off our site (in whole or in part) – so long as the original sources are referenced. Andi and I co write everything here.
I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Cheers
Ree
September 8th, 2006
Brochure
By the way, you can find both sides of the brochure, with the party invite, here:
http://deandi.com/rwbi/BrochureA.pdf
http://deandi.com/rwbi/BrochureB.pdf
September 9th, 2006
G'day Ree and Andi, just
G'day Ree and Andi, just wanted to say I love the party plan approach to getting the word out and the brochure/invitation is great. You've included enough info to pique peoples' interest and heaps of links and leads so they can do their own research and make up their own minds.
Keep up the ground breaking work, I'm cheering you on from the sidelines :-)
If there's ever anything I can do to help, just let me know.
Tully.
September 10th, 2006
Party Plan Peak Oil
An absolutely BRILLIANT idea - a big congrats !!!!!! Tongue in cheek here, but methinks this inspiration has "Feminine intuition" written all over it . . . ;-)
September 10th, 2006
Thanks to both Tully and Kim
Thanks to both Tully and Kim for your encouraging feedback. I know you are both doing some pretty great work yourselves.
Cheers
Ree
October 4th, 2006
Hi Ree and Andi and
Hi Ree and Andi and everyone,
I also love the party plan idea and the pot luck dinner idea.
I wonder if you would be eligible for a grant to develop a catalogue of locally accessed goods and services a bit like the Nappy Bag Book which has been done in Australia for maternity and newborn services?
I think there would be a lot of local businesses that would be interested in promoting themselves in your party plan. And if it is a limited edition thing, or only available through your party plan (perhaps for a nominal fee to cover publishing costs?) you will be promoting local goods and services directly to the people who would be most interested in buying/accessing in the region. It would at least be a way of giving people referral information and background (double duty pamphlet?) that would not be tossed in the garbage unread.
Another idea that wouldn't require grant money to start up is a calendar. In our organisation (birth related) we began publishing a calendar - costs covered by advertising charges. It featured local businesses that our members would have some interest in. It was generally easy to get advertisers and because costs were covered we could give the calendars away as a way to promote ourselves for free.
I know it's all more paper and resources but I thought the ideas might at least provide a catalyst for others. If you're going to give people information on paper, it may as well offer a dual purpose.
Anyhow, thanks for having me! I just wanted to share that I have been actively involved in lobbying for birth reform in Qld for the past several years, have planned and executed public awareness events and helped plan several rallies so I have lots of ideas to share.
Jodie
October 5th, 2006
Welcome aboard
Jodie, great to have your support. I like your ideas. Andi is a great photographer and each month could have a reloc message/strategy; promote local business and ruby..... mind is ticking away....
Your suggestions at aussieslivingsimply.com.au have already been very influential and I look forward to taking full advantage of your experience in the future.
Cheers
Ree
October 5th, 2006
great idea!
What a great way to use my photography skills! Onya ladies :)