> ReEnergize Texas » Promote

Download:

Recruitment Guide (or read below)

How to Speak About Global Warming in Texas

Re-Energize Texas Summit Flyer A

How to Recruit Other Students from your Campus Campus Coordinator Recruitment Guide

Table of Contents

1. Re-Energize Texas Goals and Plan

2. Campus Coordinator Job Description: “Fill the Bus”

3. Getting the Word Out

4. Funding: Getting the People on the Bus

5. Arranging Travel and Housing

6. High School Outreach

7. Sample Emails to students, faculty, sample press release, op-ed, letter to the editor

8. Contact info for the organizing team

Re-Energize Texas Goals and Plan

There are a few goals for Re-Energize Texas:

  1. Recruit 300 students to attend
  2. Educate attendees to better understand both the problem and the solutions to global warming
  3. Teach attendees how to make progress against all odds by meeting people where they are and talking about issues in a way that no one can disagree with
  4. Give everyone the skills they will need to bring their campus towards climate neutrality
  5. Share the good news about progress already made around the state of Texas
  6. Make the connection between campuses and the wider community
  7. Spark the energy needed to make a difference on your campus!

You can look for updates on the agenda at www.ReEnergizeTexas.org.

How We’re Going to Recruit 300 Students to Austin TX: Campus Coordinators

The Energy Action Coalition has just hosted Power Shift 2007 and it has been a huge success. Over 6,000 students from every state and every congressional district in the US showed up for the largest climate summit in history and one of the largest student environmental conferences ever organized.

How did they do it? Through an incredible network of Campus Coordinators.

Each Campus Coordinator was responsible for bringing at least one busload of fellow students to the conference, or about 55 students. They did it all across the country and in the end they shattered their attendance goals. Depending on the size of your campus, you can aim somewhere between filling a van (15 students) and filling a whole bus (55 students).

And that’s how we’re going to do it this time, too! Campus Coordinators are the lynchpin of The Re-Energize Texas Summit and will be responsible for signing up at least 20 students each.

If just 20 Campus Coordinators at 20 schools each fill just one van with 15 students, 300 students will attend. Now imagine if there are 30 coordinators around the state – that would be nearly 500 attendees! And remember, size matters, but it’s not everything. Southwestern is a small liberal arts school that sent 11 students, 1% of the student population all the way to Power Shift in Washington, D.C.! Larger state schools could double that number with only a tenth of 1%!

So, we need students to step up and be a Campus Coordinator.

Ready to do it? Read on for an easy how to guide.

Campus Coordinator Job Description:

“Fill the Bus”

To recap: your primary responsibilities are to find and recruit students to come to The Re-Energize Texas Summit and coordinate the logistics of bringing 20 students to the University of Texas – Austin, February 8th – 10th . Piece of cake. J Here are some ideas for how you do it. In the back are more detailed how-to guides.

1. Register! Go to www.ReEnergizeTexas.org and register yourself and others for the conference! The cost is $20.

2. Get the word out

The next step is to get the word out about The Re-Energize Texas Summit as far and wide as possible. More ideas at www.ReEnergizeTexas.org, but the idea is to make sure every nook and cranny on campus knows about the conference and enlist people’s help in getting the word out and recruiting people to come. This means approaching student organizations, professors, Deans, Student Activities Directors, other school staff, and the campus media. It also means getting the word out on Facebook and other social networking sites, and also organizing awesome global warming events – like a Clean Car Show or holding An Inconvenient Truth screening – to get people together and recruit them to the conference.

You can download and print flyers from our website and start putting them up now. And keep putting them up every chance you get until they’re all over campus! Download a sample press release, make a couple quick changes to make it more suitable for your campus, and submit it to your campus paper. Ask students to write letters to the editor about why climate change matters, what they want the campus to do about it or about the conference itself and always include a plug for Re-Energize Texas. You want to pique people’s curiosity!

3. Get funding. It will be much easier to get 20 people or 55 people (a bus) to come if most of the expenses are paid for. More on this in the back, but we’ve calculated that the total cost of 55 people attending the conference – conference registration, bus costs and lodging included – is about $9,000, or $165/person. If your group is flying, it will be more expensive, about $270/person.

So obviously, the more money you raise, the easier it will be to get more people to the conference. There are ton of funding sources on campus: the student government, the dean, the president, and professors – and in the back, we have a list of ideas on how you can successfully raise funds from all of these sources.

4. Arrange travel and housing. Once you’ve recruited the people and secured the money, get the details worked out. Charter the bus, book the flights, and snag the motel rooms.

The Re-Energize Texas website (www.ReEnergizeTexas.org) is a great resource for different housing options, and has tips on how to make all this happen! Remember, the sooner you book the space, the better the rates will be. Also, always feel free to contact the organizing team (all contact info is in the back).


Getting the Word Out

Here are some ways that you can get the word out and recruit people to come to the conference. But don’t be limited by these ideas, go crazy.

Student Organizations

Recruiting from among student organizations allows you to target students based on their interests, recruit from a pool of already active students, and harness the groups’ resources to further recruitment and fund your trip (see funding section for more details). Here are some things student groups can do:

  • - Send their members to Re-Energize Texas
  • - Provide funds to their members who attend
  • - Get the word out to their listserv and Facebook sites, and at their group meetings.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Build a list of all student groups you want to target on your campus. Make sure to identify environmental groups, but be creative and broaden your search to include other groups that have large networks (i.e. the ski club, greek system, religious groups, cultural groups, etc). Include contact info for group presidents (email, phone, office address).
  2. Write an email to organization presidents explaining The Re-Energize Texas Summitand requesting a meeting. Sample email in the back.
  3. Follow up with a phone call, or just stop by their office or next meeting. This is essential. Most people don’t respond just to an email.
  4. Set up a meeting time. Meeting someone face to face is the most compelling way to get her or him excited about The Re-Energize Texas Summit and how they can get involved. Make sure you prep for the meeting and know what you want to get out of it. For example, the best case may be that the organization commits to sending their whole club and funding the trip. If nothing less, they should let you speak at a meeting and send an email to their whole membership.

Faculty, Staff and Administration

Reaching out to the faculty and staff at your school is crucial due to their access to students and funding mechanisms. Faculty and staff are powerful allies. They have a real stake in students’ development and see The Re-Energize Texas Summit as an exciting opportunity for students. Professors and staff can:

  • - Give recommendations of students to help you recruit for the conference
  • - Identify students who want to attend
  • - Use of class / department listserves (preferably an email written by the faculty member encouraging students to attend)
  • - Personally sponsor students, or use their department’s budget to sponsor students
  • - Make announcement in their class (aka class rap)

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Make a big list of professors and staff to go to. This would include the professors you know, of course. But also other prominent professors or staff, especially those from biology, environmental studies, history. It could include the directors of community service programs and any sustainability programs. It would also include the Dean, the Vice Chancellor for student affairs, and even the campus president.
  2. Send each person an email.
  3. Follow up by phone or in person. Schedule a meeting to make a pitch for help.
  4. Be persistent and watch the magic happen!

Facebook & Other Social Networking Websites

Hopefully this speaks for itself. Getting the word out on Facebook is a quick and easy way to get visibility. Here’s how to do it:

•1. Create a The Re-Energize Texas Summit facebook group for your network. Use information and graphics from wwww.ReEnergizeTexas.org to stock your group page.

  • 2. Send invitations to friends and registrants to join.
  • 3. Registrants who join should invite others to join the group.
  • 4. Provide on-going updates about the conference to keep the group page fresh and dynamic.
  • 5. Post information about The Re-Energize Texas Summit and links to the website on other groups’ pages.
  • 6. Use search function to invite students based on their interests.

Don’t be limited by Facebook, do what makes the most sense to you!

Campus Media

Here’s a couple of easy ideas to get the campus paper to feature The Re-Energize Texas Summit:

  1. Get them to write an article. Write a press release, send it to the news editor, then follow up in person and make a pitch for doing a story.
  2. Write an opinion piece.
  3. Write a Letter to the Editor.

Don’t be limited by the campus paper – make a Public Service Announcement for the campus radio station, for example.

Campus Events

By holding simple and fun campus events, you can get the attention of a lot of people and sign them up for Re-Energize Texas that way. Check out the Campus Climate Challenge Toolkit for great event ideas, available on the Resources section of the Re-Energize Texas website. At all these events, be sure to:

  • Pick a high traffic area, or place where people congregate.
  • Have big signs and information about Re-Energize Texas to hand out.
  • Have laptops connected to the internet at the table so students can register right there.
  • Have sign up sheets and follow up with people the next day.


Funding: Getting the People on the Bus

At lot of schools have hearty budgets devoted to student activities as well as multiple other possible sources of funding. The trick is finding all the different sources on campus.

Many of the faculty, staff, and student organizations that you contacted during your recruitment drive can also be sources of funding, so you should include it as a part of your initial ask. Ask big, you never know what you can get.

Cost per Person

The cost per person varies depending on distance and mode of transit, but here’s a rough estimate to work from:

  • A charter bus for 3 days for 55 people costs between $2,000 and $5,000, or up to $90/person
  • A van for 3 days for 15 people costs between $100 and $150, or up to $10/person[1]
  • Don’t forget, carpooling is an option, too!
  • A hotel room in Austin for 4 people for two nights costs about $200, or $50/person
  • Conference registration for one person is $20 before October 1, $40 after October 1
  • A flight from El Paso to Austin is about $200/person if tickets are bought at least 21 days in advance.

So, getting 55 people, by bus to Austin = $9,000. Obviously this would be more for those who have to fly and less for those who can manage by van. The van is the easiest way to save a lot of money, but some schools will require drivers to take safety courses and get certified, which may be a long or cumbersome process.

How to do it

  1. Determine your funding need so that you can ask for a specific number of students to be funded. Funding should be lined up as early as possible, therefore, plan on acquiring enough funding to transport 55 students.
  2. Build a list of all possible sources of funding with contact info. This should be very similar to the list you used for your recruitment drive. Potential contacts on your campus include:
  • Advisors and chairs in the academic departments,
  • Any alumni or faculty members active in mentoring or other student development programs,
  • Student Groups,
  • Student Government Association,
  • Office of Student Affairs,
  • Office of Student Activities,
  • Office of Community Service,
  • Office of Student Life,
  • Office of Career Services,
  • Office of Religious Life and
  • Residence Life Office
  1. Email the appropriate officer in each organization you contact. Sample email included in the back.
  2. Call to follow up and schedule a meeting time if necessary.
  3. Prepare your pitch and appropriate materials. Make sure to package the ask appropriately depending on who you are asking for money. The Re-Energize Texas Summit is focused on fighting global warming, but you could emphasize the leadership training element, P.R. value for the school, etc.
  4. Follow up until you get an answer.


Arranging Travel and Housing

Getting your 55 peers housing is definitely do-able. The easiest way to offset housing costs is to identify friends and family in D.C. that can host a couple of extra people for the long weekend. The first thing to do is check what Austin connections your group or school might have in the Austin area. We will also be posting information about Austinites willing to host students for the weekend on our website, http://www.reenergizetexas.org/, so check back regularly for updates.

The next step is to find housing for the remaining people in your group. Remember to think creatively with housing. The Re-Energize Texas website, www.ReEnergizeTexas.org, is a great resource for ideas for different housing options including:

  • 1. A list of hotels with “special” rates for us
  • 2. Hostels in the Austin area (a set of beds have been reserved for Re-Energize Texas participants)
  • 3. Local campsites in the area

And more….

Keep in mind that the sooner you look into housing, the better rates you’ll find.

The The Re-Energize Texas Summit website (wwww.ReEnergizeTexas.org) is a great resource for different housing options, and has tips on how to make all this happen!

Also, always feel free to contact our organizing team at climatechallengetx@gmail.com for more help. More contact info is on the back page.

High School Outreach

Most of our high school outreach for ReEnergize Texas will be done centrally, but you can help, too! High schools love giving their students opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, and high school kids think college kids are fantastically cool.

You should limit your outreach to your hometown high school and those schools in the area of your college. Get online and look up the high schools. Some will already have established environmental clubs, in which case all you have to do is get in touch with them and offer to come meet the students to talk about ReEnergize Texas. Be sure to take flyers with you as well as a sign up sheet for anyone who wants to receive more information.

If the high school you want to outreach to doesn’t have a student environmental group, you should contact the secretary, the individual in charge of community outreach, the principle, and try to look up some teachers in the science and/or social studies departments. Write a form letter expounding the great virtues of our conference and our approach to talking about climate change. Mention that high school students are often overlooked by programs like ours, but we believe in their ability now as well as their potential for the future. Send it out to all the contacts you can at the school, and then follow up every few days until you start getting some responses. By casting a wide net there’s a good chance you’ll find some faculty member who wants to help you reach the students and get them to our conference.

Sample email to student org

Dear [NAME],

Hi, my name is [NAME], I work with [NAME OF YOUR GROUP]. I am writing to ask for your

help getting the word out about an amazing student conference in Texas about global warming. The conference is called the Re-Energize Texas Summit and it will teach an expected 300 participating high school and college students about the many issues that intersect with global warming such as faith, social and environmental justice, the economy, health, solutions to global warming and how to effectively put those solutions into practice on campuses, communities, and the political and corporate arenas.

Keynote speakers include professor and author of IPCC reports Dr. Camille Parmesan, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg, commentator Jim Hightower, Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip-Hop Caucus, Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, Tom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen, Arlington mayor Robert Cluck, and Ted Glick of The US Climate Emergency Council.

Re-Energize Texas will be held this February 8-10 at the University of Texas, Austin. You can register and find the agenda at www.ReEnergizeTexas.org

Our goal is to send 20 [SCHOOL] students to Re-Energize Texas and I’d love it if students from [NAME OF THEIR GROUP] came! I’ve pasted an email that you can forward to your group listserv and Facebook group. We’re trying to fundraise to help send as many people as possible for free, so if you have any ideas about that, let us know! Thanks!

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME, GROUP, EMAIL ADDRESS AND PHONE]

Sample email to professors, student government or administrators

Dear Professor,

Hi, my name is [NAME], I work with [NAME OF YOUR GROUP]. I am writing to ask for your help in sending [SCHOOL] students to an amazing student conference about global warming at the University of Texas, Austin, February 8-10.

The conference, called The Re-Energize Texas Summit, will teach an expected 300 participating high school and college students about the solutions to global warming and how they can put those solutions into practice on campus, in the community, and in the political arena. Re-Energize Texas’ agenda includes a mixture of issue briefings from the nation’s leading scientists and policy experts, trainings on organizing and advocacy from some of the most successful practitioners, and built-in networking opportunities for attendees. The agenda can be found at http://www.climatechallengetexas.org/.

Keynote speakers include professor and author of IPCC reports Dr. Camille Parmesan, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg, commentator Jim Hightower, Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip-Hop Caucus, Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, Tom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen, Arlington mayor Robert Cluck, and Ted Glick of The US Climate Emergency Council.

Our goal is to send 20 [SCHOOL] students to the Re-Energize Texas Summit and I’m hoping you can help with any or all of the following:
- Sponsor one or more students to attend the conference. It costs about [COST PER STUDENT] to send one student, including travel, lodging and registration, or about [TOTAL COST] to send 55 students (a bus-full).
- Forward the email below to any class, group or department listservs.
- Make an announcement in your class.
- Ask your colleagues to do any or all of the above as well.

Are you able to help? You can contact me at [PHONE] or [EMAIL]. Thank you so much for your help!

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME, GROUP, EMAIL ADDRESS AND PHONE]

Sample Press Release

[YOUR SCHOOL] Students Heading to Austin to fight Global Warming
[YOUR MASCOT]s join 300 high school and college students from around Texas on February 8-10

Contact: [YOUR NAME, PHONE, EMAIL]
For Immediate Release: [DATE]

Just months before the presidential elections, hundreds of young people from across the country will converge upon Austin for the largest conference on climate change ever held in Texas. At the conference, young people will learn from the nation’s leading scientists, advocates and organizers about the many issues that are connected to global warming, solutions to global warming and discover how young people can make their voices heard in the Presidential election and in federal and state level legislatures.

The conference, called The Re-Energize Texas Summit, will teach an expected 300 participating high school and college students about the solutions to global warming and how can put those solutions into practice on campuses, communities, and the political arena in Texas. The Re-Energize Texas Summit’s agenda includes a mixture of issue briefings from the nation’s leading scientists and policy experts, trainings on organizing and advocacy from some of the most successful practitioners, and built-in networking opportunities for attendees. The agenda can be found at http://www.climatechallengetexas.org/.

Keynote speakers include professor and author of IPCC reports Dr. Camille Parmesan, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg, commentator Jim Hightower, Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip-Hop Caucus, Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, Tom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen, Arlington mayor Robert Cluck, and Ted Glick of The US Climate Emergency Council.

[YOUR SCHOOL] students can register today at http://www.climatechallengetexas.org/. [YOUR STUDENT ORG] has set a goal of bringing 20 [YOUR SCHOOL] students to The Re-Energize Texas Summit, and is working to raise funds to send as many students as possible. Students can contact [YOUR NAME] at [EMAIL ADDRESS] to learn more.

Sample OpEd
We all know that global warming is a huge problem. But when I realized that it was actually an issue threatening our national security, our economy, and my own future, I knew I had to act.

Fortunately, when I started looking into it, I realized that we have almost everything we need to solve global warming. We can already make cars that get 100 MPG and we already have technologies that can vastly improve how efficiently we use our energy. We, Texans, have the highest potential for wind and solar power combined in the entire country. We also have the technology to harness the wind and solar power and the legacy of being energy leaders in the country.

We can prevent the worst impacts of global warming if we just get enough people involved, putting these solutions into action.

That’s why I’m going to The Re-Energize Texas Summit. And that’s why I want as many [SCHOOL] students to come with me.

The Re-Energize Texas Summit is a huge conference on global warming, to be held at the University of Texas, Austin, this February 8-10. 300 high school and college students from across the country are coming together to learn about the solutions to global warming and how we can put those solutions into practice on campus, in the community, and in the political arena.

The Re-Energize Texas Summit’s agenda includes a mixture of issue briefings from the nation’s leading scientists and policy experts, trainings on organizing and advocacy from some of the most successful practitioners, and built-in networking opportunities for attendees.

Keynote speakers include professor and author of IPCC reports Dr. Camille Parmesan, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg, commentator Jim Hightower, Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip-Hop Caucus, Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden, Tom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen, Arlington mayor Robert Cluck, and Ted Glick of The US Climate Emergency Council.

Trainings and workshops at the Re-Energize Texas Summit will be led by the Sierra Student Coalition, Public Citizen, Restoring Eden, the National Wildlife Federation, Oxfam, Texas Impact, Climate Counts, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Interfaith Mindfulness Ministries and others. The trainings will include how to reduce your campus climate footprint and energy costs, how our energy impacts communities, what Christians bring to the climate movement and how we can work together, how to develop an organizational strategy, spiritual practice in sustaining activism, how to convince politicians to become global warming champions, digital organizing and more.

We’re also doing a bunch of cool things on campus – we’re working with students and the administration to make our campus climate neutral, we’re having a forum to discuss the potential for green jobs in Texas, and we are also organizing a Clean Car Show to highlight all the cool technology that’s out there. We’ll be using all these events to educate the campus about all the ways that we can solve global warming, and we’re getting our politicians to do their part to stop global warming too. The bottom line is that we’re not waiting around, we’re starting right here, right now, and we need your help.

[YOUR STUDENT ORG] has set a goal of bringing 20 [YOUR SCHOOL] students to The Re-Energize Texas Summit, and is working to raise funds to send as many students as possible. So register for The Re-Energize Texas Summit today at http://www.climatechallengetexas.org/ and contact me at [EMAIL ADDRESS] to learn more!

Sample Letter to the Editor

We all know that global warming is a huge problem. But when I realized that it was actually an issue threatening our national security, our economy, and my own future, I knew I had to act.

Fortunately, when I started looking into it, I realized that we have almost everything we need to solve global warming. We can already make cars that get 100 MPG and we already have technologies that can vastly improve how efficiently we use our energy. We, Texans, have the highest potential for wind and solar power combined in the entire country. We also have the technology to harness the wind and solar power and the legacy of being energy leaders in the country.

We can prevent the worst impacts of global warming if we just get enough people involved, putting these solutions into action.

The Re-Energize Texas Summit – is an exciting student global warming conference happening at the University of Texas, Austin February 8-10. Please join me and 20 other [YOUR SCHOOL] students to what is looking to be an amazing conference! Register at http://www.climatechallengetexas.org/ and contact [YOUR EMAIL] to coordinate fundraising and rides.

Getting Help

Getting 300 students to Austin to fight for global warming is a big job! To help you out, we have a couple of great resources for you:

First, you’ve got some great conference staff. Call or email us anytime you need anything and we’ll help you out.

Second, we’ll be organizing weekly conference calls. Look for emails soon announcing when we’re doing them. These calls will be a way to share updates and ideas with the other coordinators, troubleshoot, etc.

Lastly, check out the Re-Energize Texas website. We will be constantly updating it with tips and ideas for ‘filling your bus.’

Bottom line, always feel free to contact the organizing team! Good luck recruiting and we’ll see you in February!

Contact Info

Anna Pierce anna.pierce@gmail.com

Campus Environmental Center, UT o: 512.232.7840

Fundraising, trainings, overall coordination c: 214.212.1033

Tabby Spence tspence@mail.utexas.edu

Campus Environmental Center UT o: 512.232.7840

Conference logistics, room reservations, speakers

Trevor Lovell trevorl@mail.utexas.edu

Public Citizen – Texas o: 512.477.1155

Off-campus events, lodging, transportation c: 512.470.6572

Praween Dayananda dayanandap@nwf.org

National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology o: 512.610.7761

Power Shift 07, Re-Energize Texas Organizer

Matthew L. Morris matthewrtx08@gmail.com

Re-Energize Texas Summit Organizer o: 512.610.7761

Catherin Clemons catherinertx08@gmail.com

Re-Energize Texas Summit Organizer o: 512.610.7761

[1] This does not include a driver, which is a substantial part of the extra cost for a bus. Your school may have rules prohibiting untrained students from driving groups to conferences, making this option more difficult, but not entirely impossible.