Building a team

Past experience shows that Trick or Vote has amazing potential to bring in new people and drive significant, effective voter contact. You can blow this bad boy up. But to bring it to the scale that it can reach, you won't be able to pull off this event on your own. You're going to need help. The first thing you'll need is a dedicated crew to help you plan your event. When recruiting your team, here are few things to look for:

• Diligent and Committed. There's nothing worse than counting on someone's help, only to have them flake out. Be clear up front with your volunteers about your expectations and needs. Look for poeple you can count on. One super-committed planner is better than 25 flakes. Much better.
• Cool and Creative. Creativity and fun are at the very heart of this event. Look for people who'll contribute creative energy. This kit includes some suggestions for ways to make your event cool and innovative, but the best innovations will come from your planning team. You'll know your audience a whole lot better than we will. And what's cool in rainy, coffee-riddled Portland may be waaaay lame in Austin or Minneapolis. Probably is.
• Connected and Networked. That girl your friend works with who has 7,000,000 MySpace and Facebook friends? Probably an asset. That dude that seems to organize every other event on your campus? Yeah, Probably good to have around. Your friend who works for a booking agency? Nah, forget that guy. He probably doesn't know any bands or anything.
• Smart. Smart people are never bad to have around.
• Advice from Good to Great, by Jim Collins: First figure out who you want on the Bus, then decide where you want to drive.

Get Started

1. Take a look around this wiki. You're already here, so that's a good step. Get acquainted with Trick or Vote, watch the videos, send them to your friends. Root for the Red Sox. (Entirely irrelevant, but important.)
2. Convene your planning crew. Meet somewhere fun. Eat. Drink. Be Merry. Go over the basic case for the event, answer people's questions, get your people bought in. Adopt, then adapt.
3. Check in with the Central Haunted House, here in Oregon. Let us know you're on board. We'll be excited, and we'll want to help out however we can.
4. Pick a Date. You'll need one. Halloween is not a bad choice. It's going to be on a Friday this year, so take that into consideration. Will people in your target demographic be home? If you're on campus, will they all be out partying? If Halloween doesn't make sense, choose another date. The Sunday before Halloween also works well.
5. Set Your Goals. Check out our Goals and Objectives in the Overview section of this wiki, then think about your own goals. Here are the  Here are the big ones
   • How many doors do you want to knock? 5,000? 10,000? (This will help inform your volunteer goals) We're shooting for 30,000 in Portland.
   • What kinds of voters do you want to talk to? Young voters? Students? Disenfranchised communities?
   • How many volunteers do you want to engage? 50? 100? 500? (Trick or Vote Birmingham is aiming for 500. Hot Damn.)
   • How many first time volunteers do you want to engage? If one of the things we love about this event is its capacity to bring in new people, why not set a goal around that?
   • How many voter guides do you want to distribute?
   • How many press hits should you get? Trick or Vote tells a great story. It should be told far and wide.
   • Do you want to raise money for your event? (psst. yes!) If so, how much?
6. Set your schedule. Timelines help stuff get done. Plan backwards. Schedule deadlines for things like: Volunteer yesses, venue confirmation, band booking, press contact, trainer recruitment.
7. Get to work! Because this is where it gets fun.