So, after all your e-mails, you now hopefully have a group of 3-10 interested Steering Committee members – congratulations! Now you need to bring them all together for the first Steering Committee meeting. There are a few details to think about as you set up this first meeting:
Materials to Hand Out at the Steering Committee Meeting
As soon as you’re at the point where you’re ready to setup your steering committee meeting, please contact us and we’ll send you a Steering Committee Meeting box via priority mail with lots of goodies (AIDemocracy literature, clip boards, etc.) for your first meeting.
When to hold the Steering Committee Meeting
We suggest you propose several times in the early evening to have your Steering Committee meeting and let people respond to you to let you know which meetings they can attend. People like to be consulted and if you set up the meeting through such a consultative process, people will be more likely to attend. This is just one idea that we’ve based our template on, but feel free to change the information to whatever time/food ideas you think are best for your group!
Where to hold the Steering Committee Meeting
Since it can be difficult and time-consuming to reserve a room on campus, we suggest that you hold your first meeting in a quiet common space on campus that does not require a formal room reservation. Cafes, dorm lounges, student centers and cafeterias have all be successful meeting spots for “Steering Committee” meetings in the past. If you pick a common space on campus to meet, try to get there at least fifteen minutes early to claim the spot!
E-Mailing Steering Committee Members: First E-mail
So, you’ve signed up your Steering Committee meeting online and thought through when and where would be best to have it… now, you need to e-mail all of the interested students to see what time is best for them. Below is a template you can use – and we strongly suggest making the subject line of your e-mail “Steering Committee Meeting – Reply Requested”:
Template
Hello all –
Thank you all so much for your e-mails! I’m really excited to see all of the interest in forming an Americans for Informed Democracy (AIDemocracy) chapter on campus!
I’m writing now because I’m hoping we can all meet sometime soon to begin discussing our vision for the group on campus and planning our launch event. I have a lot of materials from AIDemocracy to share with you and I’m really excited to hear your ideas.
I’ve proposed several times below for the first meeting. Please let me know by tomorrow night which of these meetings you can attend. Of course, we’ll try to pick the time that works best for the most people.
By the way, you’ll notice that most of the times I’ve proposed are around dinner. This is because AIDemocracy is really excited about our plans to set up a chapter and they’ve offered to buy free pizza and drinks for our first meeting! (So, please plan to bring both your appetite for ideas and food to the meeting.)
The potential times for meeting are:
Next Monday @ 5:30 p.m.
Next Monday @ 7:30 p.m.
Next Tuesday @ 5:00 p.m.
Next Tuesday @ 8:00 p.m.
Next Wednesday @ 6:00 p.m.
Next Wednesday @ 9:00 p.m.
Next Thursday @ 7:00 p.m.
The meeting should last 45 minutes to an hour… let me know which work for you.
Thanks,
INSERT NAME
Sample Agenda for Steering Committee Meeting
I. Introductions
a. Everyone tells a little about her/himself and says why they’re interested in global affairs
II. Brief Overview of AIDemocracy
a. Mission of AIDemocracy
b. History of AIDemocracy
c. National Organization
d. Chapter Organization
III. Information on Chapter Setup Process
a. Registration process for student groups
b. Resources available from the Central Organization
IV. Plans for AIDemocracy This Term
a. Collaboratively discuss the events you are interested in bringing to campus
b. Discuss the long-term vision for how the group can be integrated into and recognized on campus
V. Divide Up Roles and Responsibilities for the Launch Event
