If you don’t look forward to working your neighborhood, if you dread doing your Precinct Chairman duties - then for heaven's sake, change the way you are doing them. 

  Here are 7 ways to make your activism much more fun:

   1.) Never perform any of your Precinct Chairman duties alone!  

  What are you, a self sadist or something? Blockwalk alone? Phone Bank alone? You might as well be at your job!

  Everything is easier and more fun when you have someone to do it with. The time goes by faster, the tedious parts are less tedious, and the pleasant parts are more pleasant. Always get at least one person to help you.

   2.) Don’t recruit volunteers for jobs – Invite friends to events! 

     How many people usually show up when you advertise a phone bank? Yep, that’s what I thought. Oh, you even promised pizza? Wow, I feel special now.

  Try this instead: Have your friends over to a hot dog, popcorn, and movie night, and just tell them everyone will make 20 calls each, before the food. Now, before you judge, tell me which one you would rather attend!  …Okay, then add ice cream sundaes to the hot dogs and popcorn, NOW, which one would you choose?

   3.) Always add a party to your event! 

  You know, there is a reason you have a swimming pool in your backyard. There is a reason you have a putt-putt golf course in your living room. There is a reason you have a built-in cotton candy maker in your kitchen.

  …What?

  Anyway, the point is, we all like to do fun things with others, and we all have some sort of way to accomplish this in our lives. Put those things to use in your activism! Clean out the pool, get the croquet set out of the attic, dust off that badminton chest, and find that hacky sack somewhere under the bed! Put them to use after that phone bank or that block walk or that pamphlet campaign!

    4.) Invite and schedule a VIP to visit your event!   

  Think about it, don’t you think a VIP present at your event would attract more volunteers? Wouldn’t you be more apt to attend if you knew you would get to meet Drew Carey or get to have your picture taken with Henry Winkler? Okay, me neither, but that’s not the point. If you could get the Governor or a Senator or Chuck Norris to stop by, even for a moment, it would attract more people.

   5.) Create a fun mascot for your Precinct!

  This one sure can spark some interest and plenty of people to do a double-take during your block walking events. It might even bring folks out of their homes, especially if your mascot is handing out candy or toys to children. Have a really tall guy dress up as Abraham Lincoln, or get an Elvis impersonator, or George Washington, or Ben Franklin; there is an endless list of possibilities waiting for the person who doesn’t mind adding a little offbeat creativity.

   6.) Put on Contests and offer Prizes!

  Yes, I know prizes cost money, especially if they are good enough to attract volunteers, but here is the real deal: You are trading the costs of the attractions for having to do all the work yourself! In order to make it fun for the folks doing the work for you, you are spending a little money. Let me see which one I would rather do: Do all the work myself and be bored to tears, OR have a big party, spend a little money, and have all the work done for me. 

I can’t imagine which one I would do. Sarcasm.

   7.) Go to an offbeat location when you can!

  Public forums don’t have to be held in a stuffy hall. An Open House doesn’t have to be in the house. Phone banks don’t always have to be done indoors. Block walking doesn’t always have to be done….never mind.

  If I got an email that was titled, “Phone Bank in the Park,” it would immediately get my attention. If someone told me we were having a forum where the candidates were debating from the deep end of the neighborhood pool, I would go just to see it.

  Guys, make it fun – fun is where the win can be found.

I’m not exactly amazing at small talk. Starting conversations is hard and scary and it sometimes feels impossible to land on the right icebreaker. Which is probably how I found myself starting a conversation at a social event by asking “Are you registered to vote?” I am, unfortunately, not exaggerating.

After getting clarification that I was, in fact, asking about his voter registration status over fajitas, my conversation partner got surprisingly animated. He told me he was registered, where he was registered, and that he planned to vote. We talked a little bit about some of the issues we cared about and then segued into more traditional conversational topics like work, school, and how delicious fajitas are.

While my voter registration icebreaker was purely reflexive. Studies have shown that talking about voting makes people more likely to vote. People are social creatures that want to join in when everyone else is doing something. Talking about voting can make your conversation partners more likely to vote because they know that other people are voting. Voting becomes what all the ‘cool kids’ are doing.

The good news is, you don’t even have to talk to strangers over fajitas. Ask your friends, parents, friends’ parents, and parents’ friends if they plan to vote. Encourage them to double-check their registration. Gently remind them when Election Day is (it’s November 6th by the way), or offhandedly mention that you’re mailing in your absentee ballot. Post selfies with your “I Voted!” sticker and make everyone jealous of how cool you look. Gentle nudging texts are also on the table.

As a completely unscientific example, I talk about voting a lot and most of the people I know are regular voters. In the months leading up to elections, in between getting excited about our favorite television shows and stressed about deadlines for school and work, my friends and I swap links to information about candidates and issues. While I can’t take full credit for my friends’ voting behavior and the sample is small and unrepresentative, the collection of post-voting selfies I get texted around every election suggest that my poking and prodding has at least had some impact.

Talking about voting is one of the easiest ways to get involved because it’s a tactic that can be added seamlessly into your daily life. Just drop a quick “Are you planning to vote?” in your next conversational lull or make plans to grab a bite after hitting the polls. It’s a small, subtle way to help someone make a commitment to get engaged in the process. And remember, the next time you have to make small talk: asking about voting probably won’t make things any more awkward than they already are. And, if all else fails, you can talk about how good fajitas are.

Pct 6 Anne Deem, Pct 14 Marta Oliveira, Pct 15 Lisa Phillips, Pct 16 Vacant, Pct 17 James Stuer, Pct 18 Daniel Schall, Pct 19 Christi Bradley,  Pct 23 Crysta'le Smith, Pct 30 Vacant, Pct 33 Vacant, Pct 36 Danaca Fraunberger, Pct 37 Gabriel Moore, Pct 45 Nova Olson,  Pct 50 Vacant

Comm Pct 1 Map

Pct 1 Henry Teich, Pct 2 Debbie Kilen, Pct 3 Vacant, Pct 4 Quannah Diffee, Pct 5 Bryan Parker, Pct 31 Camden Percifield, Pct 32 Dustin Sensky,  Pct 34 Vacant, Pct 38 Donna Newsham, Pct 39 Jacob Wernette, Pct 40 John Belloma, Pct 48 Vacant

Comm Pct 2 Map

Pct 7 Mark Ellenberger, Pct 8 Wes Powell, Pct 10 Trey Hickman, Pct 11 Tina White, Pct 35 James Minmier, Pct 41 Sean Goins, Pct 42 Vacant,  Pct 43 Vacant, 

Pct 44 Vacant, Pct 33 Vacant, Pct 36 Danaca Fraunberger, Pct 37 Gabriel Moore, Pct 45 Nova Olson,  Pct 50 Vacant

Comm Pct 3 Map

Pct 9 Tom Borton, Pct 12 Maggie Wright, Pct 13 Larry Trammell, Pct 20 Richard Gaurkee, Pct 21 Johnny Kirk, Pct 22 Gina Balderrama, Pct 24 Rick Murray,

Pct 25 Vacant, Pct 26 Mary Baker Sarver, Pct 27 John Wood, Pct 28 Michael Percifield, Pct 29 Everett Percifield, Pct 46 Vacant, Pct 47 Vacant, Pct 49 Vacant

Comm Pct 4 Map