Meeting and protocol Joseph Zennamo
Your goal • Our goal in DC is two fold: • Advocate for High Energy Physics • Make a good impression of our field • The first is driven by the second, if you make a bad impression they will often times not listen to your message no matter how flashy or well polished your pick is • Remember to always always be thankful of the time you are being given and for the members • Little things matter… (business cards, changing in the o ffi ce, being polite, etc.)
Types of meeting • Be prepared for meetings to take many many forms • Standard sta ff er meeting, 20mins • Hallway meeting, 5-45 mins • Closet meeting • Meeting member (unlikely over our trip) • “Walk and talk” • AAAS fellows
Thanks Louise
Terminology and topics of interest • As you go into these meetings remember our main goal is to convey the enthusiasm • This can be by discussing your research and or a neat aspect of physics • Remember to tie it back to the P5 report • If the sta ff er has little interest in science don’t push it find a topic that their member is really interested in or pull it back to the grants and procurements in their district • e.g. I find talking about how WATCHMEN (neutrinos from nuclear reactors) really helps national security o ffi ces • Last year discussing the people that left the field and entered the “innovation economy” was a massive hit!
How to begin a conversation • In general this isn’t too hard, use your materials and have a set strategy for easing in • If you get cold feet and don’t know what to talk about bring it to the personal • What brought you to science? • Why do you do what you do? • Remember that we are allowed to study science thanks to the support of congress and the taxpayers • Let them know how much that means and then ease into how that transfers to the broader community
Reading cues • Remember that these people are busy and you are not their only meeting today • Watch their face and their body cues, if you are losing them and can’t get them back don’t prolong the meeting • It makes a worse impression to be unnecessarily long winded • If the meeting is less than 20mins that’s OK • Secondaries can play a strong role in observing the body language
Primary-Secondary dynamics • Primaries, as the name suggests, are the primary person for talking at this meeting • They have done the research and know the member and the o ffi ce best • Secondaries are there to reinforce the message of the primary, letting them catch their breadth and helping them to keep an eye on the sta ff er • It is always good to get to a meeting a few mins early to discuss a strategy for the meeting so that you both can help build each other up
Advocacy do’s and don’ts • Don’t enter an o ffi ce without your secondary • Don’t change your shoes in the o ffi ce • Don’t make jokes about current events or news • Do be excited • Do remember that we get to do what we do thanks to congress and the taxpayers • Do have a good time
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