Top Tips from the UMD Obama Protest

In the aftermath of the UMD Conservative Action Coalition's protest against Obama's speech at UMD, there are a few lessons we can all learn from their organization and management. So for future protest organizers, here are a few tips I picked up:

• Make sure there are plenty of supplies to go around. This means bringing water, sports drinks, snacks and whatever else may be necessary (it was overcast so we didn't need sunscreen, but it may be helpful elsewhere).
• Look for the media angle. Find some major story in the news, and set up talking points and one-liners about that news story to use in discussion with media and sign slogans. Find whatever hot button issues there are, controversial quotes or figures, and find an angle you can use for your group. For our protest, we had signs saying "Joe Wilson was Right", and that immediately attracted the attention of the media.
• Bring lots of large, easy to read signs. This is important to set up beforehand, as if additional people come, they can also use the signs. Use the prepared short one-liners, and make sure the words are written in thick lettering so they can be seen from far away. Read more suggestions for signs here.
• Be clearly identifiable as a student group. The UMD students all wore red, the college team color, and were easily distinguishable from the other protesters. There were some other individuals present who were intent on making a scene- as we were all wearing red, we were very clearly our own group.
• Invite everyone. In almost every event, you'll have less people present than promised to be there. So just invite everyone you possibly can to come, and work with whoever shows up. It takes a lot of guts to stand up and protest, so have your core group of people by you, but definitely invite as many as you can in advance.
• Stay in an easily accessible, publicly visible area. We were fortunate enough to have a protest area where we had media access and were close to the line of people waiting to enter the building. If you can, check up with the event organizers and see where the planned protest area will be, and if they have you unreasonably isolated, it may be a good idea to try and negotiate or put out a press release protesting your location.
• Prepare some basic talking points for all your members. Make sure all your members are prepared with statements for the media, and ensure they stay on point. Many times, media will only report the most negative or offhand comments, so make sure your members avoid being sidetracked at all costs.
• Have promotional material ready. If you have any group information, sign-up lists for potential members, handouts about the club, press releases or other such material, have it ready. As our group was recently started and there was less time to make all of these arrangements, this was an area we could have improved on with more time.
• Stay excited! This probably one of the most important, if not the most important things to keep in mind. At the UMD protest, we stayed excited and active throughout the entire protest, despite having all gotten up early in the morning. Keep the mood up, focus on your goals, and stay positive! Just because you're there protesting against something doesn't mean you can't say it with a smile on your face. 

As you can see from Mike Ross' post, we got a lot of media attention and great coverage for the group at the event. With proper application, planning and preparation, future protests can use these lessons to great advantage.