Looking Back at LEGcon21

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original CMYK: 60/6/85/0 RGB: 114/182/91NARFE Members Agree: LEGcon21 Virtual HEX: 72B65BEvent Proves to Be a Success

NARFE headquarters staff is celebrating the success of its legislative training conference, LEGcon21, which took place June 21-23, in an all-new, fully virtual format. This accomplishment could not have happened without the continued support of NARFE members who recognize this biennial conference as a pillar of NARFE’s advocacy efforts.

NARFE formed strategic partnerships with two specialized providers of virtual platform services for events, allowing for simple, user-friendly, efficient applications. The association also hosted two preconference webinars to prepare attendees for successful engagement in the conference. Through the virtual platform eShow, attendees were able to not only watch the conference but also visit sponsor exhibits, access conference resources, interact with speakers during Q&A periods and communicate with each other. Similarly, Advocacy Associates' AdvocacyDay platform hosted the lobby day in its entirety by providing individual lobbying schedules and access to resources like issue briefs, talking points and other documents. Participants were also able to access lawmakers’ biographical information and research the status of legislation. Lobbying groups were assigned unique Zoom links for each legislative meeting, ensuring effective meeting execution between the group and congressional offices.

NARFE National President Ken Thomas kicked off the conference on June 21, and then attendees began tuning into the general program, participating in intensive advocacy training sessions and exploring sponsor exhibits. They heard from almost a dozen members of Congress and agency representatives who offered their perspective and outlook for NARFE-related issues. Among them were Rep. Rodney Davis, R-IL, the sponsor of the Social Security Fairness Act—NARFE-supported legislation that would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)—as well as House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, who oversees a variety of issues important to NARFE; she pledged to ensure that postal reform wouldn’t adversely affect the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.

Pam Coleman, the associate director of performance and personnel management at the Office of Management and Budget, spoke about the value of supporting, protecting and revitalizing the federal workforce. The conference program also included a report from NARFE’s lobbying team on the status of NARFE’s legislative priorities and the goings-on of Congress and the administration, in addition to

a panel discussion with congressional staff on the value of understanding congressional offices and how to be more effective in constituent meetings.

Stephanie Vance, CEO of Advocacy Associates and known to many as the “grassroots guru,” presented the top grassroots strategies constituents can use to execute successful meetings with their lawmakers. For example, by using the following formula when planning meetings with members of Congress, NARFE members can be better prepared and more persuasive when advocating for policy changes: knowing what you want, knowing who you are talking to, knowing how to talk to them and following up (more details on this strategy appear in Vance’s article in the August 2021 issue of NARFE Magazine).

As NARFE’s premiere advocacy training conference, LEGcon helps members improve their advocacy skills and enables federation and chapter leaders to develop more effective strategies to recruit, train and sustain member engagement in grassroots activities. This year’s program was no different. The curriculum was divided into beginner and advanced training tracks that were tailored using responses from surveys conducted earlier this year. The responses helped presenters understand the specific challenges, needs and concerns of NARFE advocates.

Participants new to advocacy learned how to begin their advocacy efforts, while more experienced advocates learned strategies for building and sustaining relationships with lawmakers and staff. Advocates at both levels learned how to communicate more effectively with lawmakers by tailoring their ask, a technique that helped them execute virtual meetings with legislators on the lobby day. Training sessions were

followed by live Q&As, allowing attendees to interact with presenters and get their questions answered in real time.

LEGcon21 wrapped up on June 23 with the conference’s highlight—the lobby day. More than 230 NARFE advocates participated in 248 virtual meetings with lawmakers and congressional staff to discuss repeal or reform of the WEP and GPO, more accurate COLAs for seniors, and the new postal reform legislation. It was one of the best lobby days in the conference’s history, as the virtual platform allowed for more meetings to take

place than in 2019. Many attendees submitted lobby day evaluations, sharing details about their discussions with lawmakers and providing valuable information to NARFE’s advocacy team for future legislative discussions.

High ratings from conference participant evaluations at the conclusion of the event highlighted its success. Ratings for the overall conference program, advocacy training sessions and lobby day were predominantly in the “good” and “excellent” categories. Comments like, “I was impressed with the event. It was organized and easy to participate,” and “Overall excellent experience. Liked being able to participate virtually. Could not have traveled to DC for a live event,” confirmed that when faced with new challenges, NARFE members rise to the occasion.

NARFE sends a big thank you to LEGcon21 participants and looks forward to engaging with you and with new attendees in future conferences. If you have any questions, please write to us at advocacy@narfe.org.

—BY MARSHA PADILLA-GOAD, GRASSROOTS PROGRAM MANAGER, AND SETH ICKES, GRASSROOTS ASSISTANT