Thread by @studentactivism

So, the second round of Dem debates starts tomorrow night, and I suspect that some folks who follow me may be hosting public debate-watching parties for a campaign, or know people who are. I've got some tips, if you are...

Last month at this time, the kids and I were camping in New Hampshire, and we watched both debates at campaign-sponsored parties—one in someone's home, and one in a restaurant.

For the campaigns, debate parties are ways to build enthusiasm, develop networks of local supporters, bulk up mailing lists, and connect up with potential volunteers. And they're fun, if that's the kind of dork you are.

They're also, if you're hosting one at your home, a great way to contribute to the campaign and get a bit of organizing experience in a structured, safety-net kind of way. So let's start with that situation.

If you do this through a campaign, they'll give you instructions on how it works, and likely send a staffer or volunteer out on the night to assist you and help run the thing. (Really small campaigns may not do this—I don't know.)

But your house is your house, so there's some stuff they won't know how to do, stuff they may not think to ask you to do. For instance: some attendees will likely want to be livetweeting the event, so letting them know your wifi network and password is helpful.

Accessibility is also essential—making sure you've got decent volume on the television, place for people to sit who need it, closed captioning on, room for wheelchairs to get through, access to bathrooms, etc.

Do a dry run, as well, before the debate's about to start—you don't want to realize at the moment it's beginning that you don't know what channel it's on, or can't find your remote, or don't know how to work the closed captioning.

(If you're staffing the event rather than hosting, you'll want to walk through the tech stuff with your host at least half an hour before showtime, to give you all time to fix any glitches before the debate begins without freaking anyone out.)

And yes, as to wifi, as @sdkstl suggests, setting up a guest login is ideal. And you don't want to be trying to figure out how to do that as the clock is ticking down.

One other thing for if you're hosting in your home: You may be used to timeshifting when you watch live television, but you're not going to want to do that on debate night—people who are livetweeting are going to want to be synced with the rest of the country.

A lot of this stuff applies in similar ways if you're hosting a debate-watch for a campaign in a bar or restaurant or similar public place—know how to work the equipment, deal with tech stuff in advance, scope out accessibility. But there's a couple of specific wrinkles, too.

A big one is this: Don't assume that whoever's going to be working at your venue knows how to operate the TV, or that the volume is going to be sufficient for watching a debate.

A lot of bars and restaurants that have televisions typically leave them muted or never put on closed captioning (etc etc etc). If there are likely to be problems, you want to know as far in advance as you can—ideally days or weeks in advance, but at least hours.

At the restaurant-based debate party the kids and I attended last month, they were never able to get the volume loud enough to hear clearly. They fiddled with it for twenty minutes, then gave up. The whole place just gradually cleared out over the course of the next half hour.

It was mortifying for the hosts, of course, and tense and annoying for the restaurant staff. And some folks just wound up missing the debate completely. If you're staffing an event, you've gotta lock this stuff down early.

I've got less to say about how to interact with attendees, either as a host or a staffer—the campaign will likely give you guidance about that stuff, and you should plan on doing pretty much what they suggest. But while I'm up...

One thing that didn't happen at either of the watch parties I attended was a discussion of what volunteering for a campaign looks like—what you can do, how you can do it, how to get your questions answered.

Both campaigns passed sign-up sheets, and both sets of staffers gave a quick (too quick, IMHO) pitch for signing up, but neither did much to get people comfortable with the idea of volunteering in ways they maybe hadn't before.

If someone's going to a candidate's debate watch party, they're probably at least potentially interested in volunteering for the campaign. But the vast majority of Americans have NEVER volunteered for ANY campaign EVER. EVER.

EVER.

Doing stuff you've done before is easier than doing stuff you haven't done before. And doing stuff you haven't done before is easier if you know what you're getting into.

And having a potential volunteer in front of you, face-to-face, is an opportunity to let them get information and assistance from you that's so much easier and more powerful than just having an email address.

Some of y'all will remember that I did a big thread back in October about what door-knocking is like—what your experience is likely to be, what you may encounter, why it's important. So many people DMed me for additional info when I wrote that thread. More than any other.

(I turned that thread into a blogpost, BTW. Here it is:) studentactivism.net/2018/10/16/a-c…

Again, I don't know what advice campaigns are giving for the pitches staffers and hosts give at these parties, and I'm definitely not suggesting that you do anything that conflicts with that advice—you're representing the campaign, after all.

But if they encourage you do give a pitch for volunteering, definitely do that. And if you can (quickly, without interfering with the event or droning on) share a bit of personal experience with campaign work, that seems like a smart move.

And letting people know that you're available to answer questions, or to pass them on to other folks if you don't know the answers, is always a good idea.

And finally, again: MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO WORK THE TELEVISION.

And if you're interested in hosting a campaign debate party—for any candidate—and you'd like my help in figuring out how to do that, and do it well, I'm happy to help and to hook you up with people who can help you more.