1. Communications Update
George Strout
Communication Coordinator

2. Communications Briefing
Regular Results
On average, 12,000 are sent and 1,870 are opened – slightly below industry expectations
Mobile devices now account for 56% of opens
MOM Results
More than 40 Locals received MOM support for March 2016 Elections
Support in the form of postcards, flyers, Facebook pages, surveys, websites, and grants
Messages & Methods
In the current political environment, developing and deploying a pro-education message at the local level is more important than ever before

3. Why Our Message Matters
Brought to you by the fine folks at Prager University whose mission is”
“to spread the ideas that made America great through the power of the internet”
Their five minute videos are “conservative sound bites, providing talking points to over 100 million people a year.”

4. Prager University Video

5. False Messages That Resonate
“Schools are failing”
They have to break something so they can “fix” it
Not happy with current system, so tell everyone its broken, doesn’t work and that the problem is the union, not lack of funding, support, poverty, …
Ask them to be specific – what is actually broken.
“It’s a complex problem, but the heart of it is the teacher’s unions”
Ignores all other causes because they are difficult to understand and correct
Blames a ‘powerful’ group for the problem instead
Takes no responsibility for any role they may have

6. False Messages That Resonate
“I’m not anti-union, but I am an expert”
Saying you’re not anti-union usually means you are. We need to help make the word union desirable again.
Opinion is ‘based on enormous amounts of research which I will not cite since you will not understand it but trust me, I do because I’m the expert.’
“Union Power is out of control”
They need to make their side feel threatened by us
It’s the ‘only’ thing standing in the way of great public schools.
“Insurmountable problems” caused by powerful teacher unions
So show me all the great charter schools …

7. False Messages That Resonate
“Unions only care about their members, not kids”
This guy is good – ‘you shouldn’t expect unions to stand up for kids, that’s not what unions are designed to do” makes us seem powerful, but not truly evil since we’re only doing what unions ‘naturally’ do – we just don’t know any better
Painted as selfish, how can we possibly be trusted to do what’s best for kids.
“There no accountability”
Pointing the finger at classroom professionals removes all expectations that any other party has ‘accountability’ for the ‘broken system’, including themselves

9. Sounds of Silence Silence on our part validates everything he said
Our message needs to:
Undermine his basic assumptions
Center on kids
Come from our personal experiences
Appeal to the values we share with the majority of Americans
Be something our members know and can easily share with the community
Be repeated, reach beyond our schools, and be repeated and repeated. And then repeated again.

10. NEA-NH Full Page Ad We believe in children Not a job – a calling
Student focused – picture and text
Connect, discover, unlock potential
Deserve the time and tools they need to learn
Get serious about what works
Ensure kids have what they need to succeed
Ensure educators have resources, respect to support students

11. MOM is Ready to Help
Messaging, Organizing, and Mobilizing is an effective solution to ‘professors’ like that guy
The key is to start early and involve your local, surrogates and community
NEA-NH can help get it started
Summer Leadership, Local Visits, and conference calls – whatever it takes to get talking about public education in your community

12. Lilly’s Video

13. Every child. Every Chance. Every day.