Guide to Organizing an NYC Billionaires for Bush Action
or
Billionairing for Fun & Profit

Congratulations on deciding to head up an NYC Billionaires for Bush action! While this guide is intended to help you run a smooth and effective event, every action is unique in size and purpose, so you will need to make judgment calls on what is appropriate for your event. This guide assumes you have at least one week to prepare; if you have less time, you’ll need to adjust as necessary.

This document refers to teams and point people. To obtain names and contact information, see the Executive Team list.

Action Process

1. Propose the Action. Send an email with information about your proposed action to the NYC discuss list (nyc-discuss@billionairesforbush.com) to gauge interest in the event. If a sufficient number of people respond, then get ready! Remember, depending on the event, just a few (3-4) Billionaires are enough to make an impact.

2. Spread the Word. Let everyone who responded to your query know that the action will take place. Make sure the action is on the agenda for the next B4B general meeting by emailing the NYC meeting point person. Have the event added to progressive calendars, if appropriate.

3. Review the B4B basics. Review the Billionaires messaging guide (see a messaging point person), as well as the general Organizing Billionaire Actions guide.

4. Assign roles and gather materials. Start recruiting people, working on the message for the event, and gathering materials needed. See the checklists below for roles to fill, materials to gather, and who to see for help. You might want to scout out the venue area a few days prior to find a good place to meet and set up camp.

5. Remind! Send a reminder email to folks who expressed interest in the action, including where to meet and how long you intend to be there. A cell phone number for people who are lost or can’t find you is also handy.

6. Make it so. Be on time to avoid confusion!

7. Report and Follow-up. Post a review of the action on the B4B Action Blog, and be prepared to share a brief report at the next B4B general meeting. If you obtained contact info from people interested in joining or with questions about B4B, be certain to follow-up with them, or pass that contact information along to the appropriate person. When in doubt, ask the NYC Meeting point person who the appropriate person is. Suggest additions or improvements for this document to Owen Dwight Howse.

Role Checklist
An action requires the coordination of various roles to be effective. When organizing your action, don’t take it upon yourself to do everything. Ask for help to fill these roles. More than one person may fill a role, and a person may play several roles. It’s up to you, depending on the size of the action and the amount of time you have.

Basic Roles to Assign

• Captain: Probably you. Decides when and where the group meets, responsible for assigning and picking up slack on other roles. Also the person responsible for making sure the group stays on message and ensures the group complies any reasonable police requests during the action. This person has attended a few billionaire actions in the past.
• Sloganeer: Someone to come up with some good cheers and slogans for the action. Prints out slogan/cheer cheat sheet for participants. Needs to work with cheerleader and sign-master. (Helpful people: Messaging team)
• Cheerleader: Someone to lead chants and cheers. Miniskirt optional.
• Sign-master: Someone to obtain the “professional” B4B placards from messaging team.
• Banner-master: Someone to obtain the banner and any materials needs to hang it.
• Group-minder: Someone to keep the group together and prevent “Billionaire Sprawl.”

Optional Roles to Assign

• Photo/Video-grapher: Someone to document the action.
• Pamphleteer: Designs handouts for the action. (Helpful people: Messaging)
• Photocopier: Makes copies of flyers for the event.
• Entertainers: Check with our Follies team to find if they can provide some musical amusement.
• Media Stars: If media is expected to be present, have a couple of people on hand who are ready to talk. (Helpful people: PR team)
• Foil: Someone to be out of character to assist with talking to people, carrying signup sheet
• Ministers of Merchandise: Someone to run the bling shop. (Helpful person: K. Ching)
  

Materials Checklist
Except where noted, see Meg A. Bucks for help obtaining these items. Be certain you have approval before spending money if you expect reimbursement.

Basic Items

• NYC Chapter Flyers (Some may already be printed- see Meg)
• Placards (See messaging team)
• B4B Banner
• B4B Info Signup Clipboard
• Camera

Optional Items

• Glasses and Sparkling Apple/Grape Juice (BYO Juice, Dollar store for glasses)
• Petitions on Clipboard (Make your own)
• CDs, T-Shirts, and Stickers
• Velvet ropes