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How To Contact Your Reps Circus Workers - Circuspreneur Podcast
30 Plays4 months ago
#WashingtonDC #Congress #Senate #CircusArts
U.S. Capitol Switchboard operator for the Senate office:
( 202) 224-3121
U.S. Capitol Switchboard operator for the U.S House of Representatives (Member of Congress) office:
(202)-225-3121
Find Your Representative:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Do you need support in contacting your State and Local Representatives ? Unsure about what to say, and how to say it? Inside of this Circuspreneur Podcast episode, host Shenea Stiletto provides a template for Circus Workers to use when contacting their Reps. in Washington D.C. Follow this step by step guide to emailing and calling your government offices with confidence and Circus specific language.
Please Sign & Share our @changeorg petition to support the Circus Arts Industry in a Historic way ! 🎪
Tell Congress to Support the National Endowment for the Arts in Recognizing the Circus Arts As An Official Art Form 👇🏽
https://www.change.org/CircusArtsRecognition
Recommended
Transcript
Importance of Contacting Representatives
00:00:03
Circuspreneur Podcast
ah with pre It's your host, Sinead Stiletto, and I am speaking to you today about something that we've discussed quite a bit on the podcast and something that I feel is epically timely from the feedback that I am getting out in the sphere, in the digital sphere, in the feedback of of our circus industry environment and along the advocacy train and that sphere. And that is contacting your reps.
00:00:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
Now, um this is something again that we explore consistently on the Circuspreneur podcast. And there is even a template that we have crafted quite some time ago and update.
00:01:03
Circuspreneur Podcast
ah you know, periodically, depending on how the message is shifting or changing around advocating for the circus arts industry. And I know that I, you know, speak a lot about calling your reps, knowing who your reps are in your state, in your city.
00:01:19
Circuspreneur Podcast
Do you know who your senator is? Do you know who your member of Congress is? Do you know who your local assembly member is or local council member is?
00:01:32
Circuspreneur Podcast
you know who is the governor of your state?
How to Contact Representatives
00:01:36
Circuspreneur Podcast
do you these... these very, you know, these very important ah names and contacts because they are easy to find. They are easy to find online and to ah Look up.
00:01:57
Circuspreneur Podcast
All you need is just to Google your rep or to, I'm sorry, if you do know your rep, Google your rep and you'll be able to find easily how to contact them on their website. And there will be a template that's usually provided for you.
00:02:12
Circuspreneur Podcast
to put in some type of
Advocacy Efforts in Washington, D.C.
00:02:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
message. They will also give you their direct phone number on a local level and a DC level, Washington DC that is, where you can call their office and either leave a message or one of their staff will actually answer the phone and talk to you. They will ask you, what comment would you like to leave?
00:02:32
Circuspreneur Podcast
And you can leave a pretty lengthy comment and it does work. I have said this many times to the circus arts industry that our numbers are so robust, but they are so underrepresented in Washington, DC. When I am going into meetings all day, every day behind the scenes for our industry, because that's the work that it takes to create relationships and establish rapport and also to teach our representatives about our industry state to state, essentially, and bringing in other advocates on a local level but advocates that I advocate with on a consistent level because we have a specific message that we've choreographed at this point that we've got down and that is very important when you're having meetings of this type
00:03:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
where you are doing them either virtual or in person and you don't have very much time to make your point, especially on behalf of the circus arts industry, which they most oftentimes have not heard very much about.
Teaching Advocacy Techniques
00:03:38
Circuspreneur Podcast
Maybe they know about the circus, obviously, but in terms of advocacy, in terms of policy and rights and concerns and and and and things that we need help with, I have discovered that that most offices are pretty green or in the beginning phases of not knowing very much about the policies that affect our industry.
00:04:01
Circuspreneur Podcast
And so I'm excited to recite and to teach this template that you can use in emailing and writing to your local or state rep.
00:04:16
Circuspreneur Podcast
And you can also use this as a template to call them And just read the template verbatim. We're going to plug in The only thing you'll have to do is plug in your personal information. And we've left some flexibility within the template for you to be able to do that because certain things are particular to you.
00:04:37
Circuspreneur Podcast
And i want to, ah you know, give you the confidence and the courage to contact your reps on a regular basis ah about our initiatives for the circus arts industry.
00:04:51
Circuspreneur Podcast
We, and there's no better time to do it. Than right now. And, um you know, in the midst of this, where I am getting so much feedback of obviously folks are making phone calls and emailing and um there's a whole host of issues that many of us are being bombarded with um to to to speak upon, to speak on behalf of others. Yeah.
00:05:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
in in terms of the legislation that we see that's, you know, maybe getting blocked or needs to be passed or needs to be supported. But remembering that the specific legislation for the circus arts will impact your life directly if it is passed in innumerable ways. And we go into how that could affect your career in our change.org petition, which will be in the show notes of this episode. It is
Impact of Circus Arts Legislation
00:05:40
Circuspreneur Podcast
in all of the show notes of every single episode. where we break down what circus arts recognition could mean and what circus arts legislation and policy could look like and how would that affect your career as a circus industry professional because it's about a well-rounded approach of who it supports and how it supports the industry. So...
00:06:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
This won't be a terribly long little episode or a little training. i wanted to provide the template. So here is the template to connect and to communicate with your reps on behalf of the circus arts industry.
00:06:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
So dear insert rep, I hope that you are well and thank you for your time. My name is, insert name, and I am contacting you in an effort to meet with your office regarding initiatives for the circus arts industry on behalf of the Circus Arts Guilds of America.
00:06:37
Circuspreneur Podcast
I'm hoping that we can work together to pursue important agendas for the circus arts industry in insert state or city and at large. My role in the circus arts industry is insert sentence of personal circus history.
00:06:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
I am passionate about advocating and working with Washington, D.C. on behalf of the circus arts industry, which very much needs legislative power and policy support.
00:07:04
Circuspreneur Podcast
I believe that the recognition of the circus arts by the National Endowment for the Arts would be such an important achievement for our country. I believe that with your assistance, support, and ideas, we could achieve historic representation for the circus arts industry.
00:07:22
Circuspreneur Podcast
It would be a pleasure to partner with you by connecting with your staff in an effort to introduce policy and supportive initiatives like the Circus Workers Act or the Safe Art and Safe Circus Act.
00:07:36
Circuspreneur Podcast
Thank you very much for your time, effort, service, and response. Very best, insert name, Circus Arts Guild of America member.
00:07:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
And even if you don't want to put that you are a member of the Circus Arts Guild of America, that is also fine. You don't have
Strategies for Effective Advocacy
00:07:56
Circuspreneur Podcast
to put that. We just need as many folks as possible in the industry, outside of the industry, connected to the industry in support or in love with the industry to write and to call in en masse about these initiatives to get it in their minds so that when we go into a meeting,
00:08:17
Circuspreneur Podcast
And we start off in a meeting, we don't have to start from scratch every single time we we speak to them. They'll say, we have heard from our circus constituents. Yes, we actually have.
00:08:28
Circuspreneur Podcast
Yes. um Could you tell us a bit more about the Circus Workers Act or your idea for circus arts recognition by the NEA? How can we support that as a member of Congress, which they can? How can we support that as a senator or on a particular oversight committee, which we can? How can we you know support a safe art or a safe circus initiative ah through an act of Congress and congressional funds, which we can. How can we connect you to other offices that actually might be more supportive or able to help you because they are on those particular committees in government, whether it's in the House or the Senate?
00:09:05
Circuspreneur Podcast
Or, They are working as a local local council member or assembly member. And they are working, you know, um on arts initiatives and arts and tourism and entertainment policy. So you don't know how it can connect the dots for what we need.
00:09:23
Circuspreneur Podcast
And this is something that we've been doing now for the past several years. It's turned into several years at this point. We've, again, like I said, we've updated this template. This is actually a new version that I've just updated for everybody. I've whittled it down and changed some wording a little bit ah inside of that.
00:09:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
And so again, there is not a more, even more precious time to contact your reps. in support of your industry, not just necessarily saying in support of the arts or in support of my art form, reminding yourself and then that this is your industry. This is your career. This is your your profession, if it is that for you, or if it's someone that you know that's worked really hard to have a robust circus arts industry career, and you want to see their career continue to you know have value and the support that it needs and, um you know, so that they don't go through crises because we don't want to fall through the cracks. And these initiatives are so important to assist us as an industry in not falling to the wayside so that we are a priority in the eyes of governments, that we we are a priority in the eyes of those that represent us. They are there to represent what you want. And i continue to make this clear and to
00:10:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
you you know, say this over and over and over again, especially with respect to, you know, what you think you need to make your life better, which is connected to your career because read most of the things that you're going to get out of life are coming almost 100% from the job that you have and from the career that you have in terms of how it's impacted by by policies outside of your particular industry, right?
00:11:13
Circuspreneur Podcast
And even though we don't think that on a day-to-day level, We know that that is true and this is the
Support and Resources for Advocacy
00:11:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
reminder for that. This is the kind and friendly reminder for that, for you to remember how important it is amongst all of the other things that you are advocating for that are absolutely essential and important. Sometimes I think You know, folks think, well, you're just going on and on not about the circus and the industry and there's all these other issues. Well, they're all connected.
00:11:41
Circuspreneur Podcast
They're all connected. And if you listen to the Circuspreneur podcast, you'll see how I connect those different facets of things happening in the world to our industry.
00:11:53
Circuspreneur Podcast
Everything that's happening in the world will affect your career. Whether you agree with that or whether you acknowledge the reality of that, it will. So, you know, the pointed focus, though, is very important because if you're not advocating for those things, then those members...
00:12:10
Circuspreneur Podcast
ah yeah of your state do not understand that they need to continue to include and articulate our industry in the process of dealing with all of those other things, because we don't, we don't, we shouldn't fall to the wayside. You know, our lives are affected every single day.
00:12:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
um And, you know, even in terms of like the, you know, the hardest things happening in the world right now, you have to remember as well. Well, my essentially like my ability to ah fight those things or advocate for those things or be, you know, or, or, or push the needle on those things.
00:12:46
Circuspreneur Podcast
is the most encouraged by how well my own work and my own life is doing, because it is very difficult to advocate for years for others or in in support of a cause when your life isn't working out well, when your life is difficult, when your career is off, when the industry is you know is is is all over the place.
00:13:06
Circuspreneur Podcast
And so you know this comes back to seeing where we can get a solid baseline for our industry and continue to level it up. So if you have questions for me, I'm your host, Shanae Stiletto.
Power of Storytelling in Advocacy
00:13:18
Circuspreneur Podcast
I'm always available online on social media. Just message me at Circus Preneur Podcast or at Shanae Stiletto, and i will respond. Again, if you submit and you get a meeting and you don't desire to do that meeting by yourself, ah please message me and I will join that meeting with you and I will support you in that meeting. We are doing that all over in all sorts of states and cities.
00:13:47
Circuspreneur Podcast
So it's you know a privilege and an honor for me to support you in your meeting with your rep. And I maybe have already met with them. And so have at maybe at least one meeting with them, which those of us that know how long it can take, that's not an easy task sometimes. Sometimes it could take a year to get a meeting with an office. Sometimes it takes a day to get a meeting with an office. You don't know what kind of workflow they have. And also too, if your initiative is on the top of their list. So they're very excited to speak with you because it supports policy that they're going to maybe be drafting soon or policy that they have drafted or you know or a committee that they're on that they can use you know the the influence of you as a constituent in their city and state, which is so important for them to hear.
00:14:36
Circuspreneur Podcast
from those that live in their city and in their state. And if you don't feel comfortable doing the meeting by yourself, invite invite a few circus friends into that meeting with you. You can invite anyone you want. There's no rules around who you can invite into a meeting with you. You can invite whoever you want that you feel like is going to bring that message on home. And most oftentimes too, and you know in addition to obviously policy, because we want these meetings to you know be about something tangible for folks so that you don't just feel like you're spinning your will sharing stories that, you know what is what what is that doing? You want to pinpoint them and set them in a direction of something that's tangible in the way that they can help you, something on paper and on record.
00:15:19
Circuspreneur Podcast
And, but Creating and crafting and speaking speaking that story is like the easiest thing that you can do. Just telling them about your experiences as a circus worker, industry worker, hobbyist, enthusiast, from your perspective is it is the most essential thing to do inside of that meeting. It doesn't have to be all of this Washington, D.C. language.
00:15:39
Circuspreneur Podcast
Or you don't have to go into policy language. You don't have to go find statistics and, you know, find stats and numbers. You don't have to do all of that. And the important thing is that that's something that actually I would do or, you know, a group of us or a couple of us from the Circus Arts Guilds of America would also come into that meeting to assist you with and say, you know, speak on that side of things of a certain particular bill that would affect us.
00:16:05
Circuspreneur Podcast
um And again, if they're asking for a specific bill ah yeah and you're like, well, I don't have a specific bill that I know that it's being drafted or is like, you know, is trying to get pushed through somehow. That's where it comes back to.
00:16:18
Circuspreneur Podcast
i want to discuss the Circus Workers Act, the Circus Arts Rights Act, or a Safe Art or a Safe Circus, which would increase regulatory efforts for the circus arts industry as a branch of the U.S. Center for Safe Sport, which I believe that or three of those or you know, one of those is possible. And also to the recognition by the National Endowment for the Arts, if you're someone who wants to stay on the arts policy side, you know, that is an amazing effort and something that we need to continue to push for. So if you want to go more leaning towards, you know, just the arts side, you don't feel like you want to get into the regulatory side or the
00:16:56
Circuspreneur Podcast
or the labor rights side with the other types of policy, then go towards the NEA, the National Endowment for the Arts recognition, which you know we are so praying and hoping that that is something that we can achieve as a historic achievement for the circus arts industry. And then additionally, these other policies that would be so beneficial and helpful to continue to support this industry in so many different ways that we have outlined again in our petition, which is in the show notes.
00:17:26
Circuspreneur Podcast
So if you would
Role of Representatives' Staff in Advocacy
00:17:27
Circuspreneur Podcast
you know like a copy of this template, just message me on social media at Sinead at Circuspreneur Podcast. And i will i will just send it to you I can email it to you I can put it inside of a quick...
00:17:42
Circuspreneur Podcast
social media message. That's usually the easiest way to do It doesn't have to be overly official. And we just want to get that done. And you'll feel really good about yourself, I promise, after you've spoken to your rep staff and their office. and remember, the staff is where it's at because they are the ones that decide that this is important enough to take to their boss, their senator or their member of Congress or their assemblyman.
00:18:10
Circuspreneur Podcast
or their mayor, or their governor, they are the really important ones. If they're excited about it, if they get it, if they understand it, they are the ones that will pass
Local-Level Advocacy and Feedback
00:18:20
Circuspreneur Podcast
it along. Because if it's not that interesting to them, or, you know, they're thinking like, what can we really do or whatever, like, it won't make it to the next stage, it won't make it to the person that it needs to get to, um which is your representative so that they can actually look at it and take a serious look at it and seriously consider it because they get so much feedback and they have so many meetings and they have so many industries fighting for a seat at the table and for, you know, eyes to be on
00:18:50
Circuspreneur Podcast
their initiatives and on what they are wanting to succeed and getting accomplished in Washington, DC, or again, on a local level, because this doesn't all have to be about on a federal level and nationwide.
00:19:03
Circuspreneur Podcast
It can be very powerfully done on a local level. And I love everyone's feedback. I love the messages that I get and the questions that I get. And again, I always try to come back with something. Maybe it's something I haven't spoken about in a while, or maybe you haven't seen an episode in a while, so you haven't been picking up on these particular themes that I've put in other episodes.
00:19:26
Circuspreneur Podcast
you know That's why it's great. you know I decided
Conclusion and Acknowledgments
00:19:29
Circuspreneur Podcast
to put out you know different episodes that are shorter and um specific to you know one topic because some folks you know want to hear things just on one level and singularly focused.
00:19:43
Circuspreneur Podcast
And I'm so happy to do that. So I'm your host, Shanae Saletto. This is the Circuspreneur Podcast. Please like, subscribe, comment, and please reshare the podcast. It helps us so much to create this high-end and valuable content and bring this to you. it is available on stagelink.com, the official sponsor. of the Circuspreneur podcast.
00:20:05
Circuspreneur Podcast
And we are so grateful and thankful for our support and our sponsorships. And also too, for everyone that tunes in and listens to the podcast and spreads the message of the circus arts industry, which we think is so valuable. And we are so honored to do that here on the podcast.
00:20:25
Circuspreneur Podcast
Until next time.