Join SPARC for the first ever OpenEd Advocacy Day before the 11th Annual Open Education Conference (#OpenEd14)
- Date: November 18, 2014
- Time: 9:00am - 3:30pm
- Place: Russell Senate Office Building, Room 188
- All participants must be registered! Please contact Nicole Allen with questions.
Taking advantage of the 2014 OpenEd Conference's Washington, D.C. location, the OpenEd Advocacy Day will give participants a unique opportunity to engage face-to-face with policymakers and advance OER awareness in one of the world's most politically powerful cities. Coordinated by SPARC, the event will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm on November 18, the day prior to the start of the conference (which runs November 19-21, 2014).
The Advocacy Day will begin with a training run by professional advocates to prepare participants for successful meetings, including effective talking points, answers to tough questions, and etiquette. Then, participants will spread out across Washington, D.C. for pre-scheduled meetings at key political institutions, including Congressional offices, Federal agencies, inter-governmental organizations, and foreign embassies. Each participant can expect to attend 1-3 advocacy meetings with relevant targets.
Advocacy training includes:
- Talking points and tips on making effective arguments for OER
- How to address common questions from policymakers
- Tips on Washington, D.C. etiquette
- Printed handouts to bring to meetings
Advocacy meetings may include:
- Members of Congress and/or staff from their offices
- Officials in Federal agencies, such as the Department of State or Department of Labor
- Key IGOs and NGOs, such as the World Bank
- Officials in relevant embassies and foreign missions
The Advocacy Day will also occur back-to-back with OpenCon 2014, a conference for students and early career researchers on Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data on November 15-17. Select OpenCon 2014 attendees will join the OpenEd Advocacy Day to lend their important voice as the next generation and share their newly-improved advocacy skills. Click here to sign up.
Registration for the conference is separate and available here.
For more information contact Nicole Allen at [email protected].
