Attending a CWA Canvassing Meeting

I had the opportunity to actually attend a canvassers meeting. These meetings are held for many reasons: to train new canvassers, to garner support within the group before going out to do the canvassing, to update everyone on how everyone is doing out in the field, etc. For this meeting, the CWA canvassers gathered together before separating into small groups to go canvassing in different areas near Austin.

They talked about so many different things.

While sitting in the room with them, I remember seeing posters and signs on the wall. One board had the names of all the canvassers and their ranks. Next to their names was a tally of their total points.

On the very top of the wall it had signs that said: keep it short and simple, clip board control, confident language, targeting, and eye contact. These were their exact tactics/tips for canvassing door to door. Daily reminders of their techniques of persuasion were obviously positioned for them to see.

So at the very beginning of the meeting, they pointed out the top canvassers and gave applause for each person. The large amount of support that they had for one another was amazing! They all seemed to be so genuinely happy and proud for one another on a job well done. Encouragement is an important factor to emphasize in social change groups. Sure, people need to feel mad and passionate enough to make change happen. But what makes social change groups continue and last? Anger can help fuel a cause, but I feel like the positive is what keeps it going. People need to know and feel like what they are doing is good and successful. By pointing out individual successes and supporting one another, this brings about more fervor for the cause and greater connection within the organization. It always feels nice to be recognized for our accomplishments. We feel appreciated and this can be a powerful means to encourage us to do more.

They even talked about socials and mixers they would be having in the future. These people really hung out with each other. They had relationships with one another. They were friends. They were like a family, even. Once formed, I feel like these bonds are the hardest to break. At this point, people are emotionally intertwined with one another. It's hard to go back to a state of neutrality like the acquaintance state.

Even before the meeting started they were talking to each other about what they did over the weekend, concerts they went to, movies they wanted to see. I was so impressed by the depth of their relationships. When I think of other social change groups, I think that a lot of them are so large that most of the members are unrecognizable. It was different at change water.

Their group was just the right size so that everyone knew each other. They called each other by their own names. The importance of calling others by their names is very effective. It puts us down when someone forgets our names after just meeting them, or if they don't even try to know our names and get our attention by saying "Hey!" The dynamics were so deep rooted, and this was something I definitely admired in CWA.