Eleven important things to consider at book signing events

I have one word for the experience last night in Los Angeles: “Wow!”

We got to meet Al, speak with Al, speak with his staff and get him to autograph our The Assault on Reason books. But we also understand that Gore, himself, came away with his own “wow.”

Because of the fact that we handed out signs to many attendees and 90% of the attendees were wearing buttons or lapel stickers, I’m pretty sure that Gore had a very good sense of how many people want him to run. We started a chant “Run Al Run” at the conclusion of his talk and whole auditorium joined in. He signed every book and interacted with every person in a truly genuine way. Most importantly, nearly every person who went before him had been provided a personal form letter which basically contained the words on our national petition. Each person personally signed it and handed it to him. His staff told us that everyone who put an address or email address on their letter would receive a thank you from Al.

The experience made everything we’ve been doing, all the time and money that we’ve been sacrificing, so worthwhile. I’m even more committed to Al Gore, having looked into his eyes and gotten a deeper sense of who he is. It was neat to get to work with our AGO groups from LA, Massachusetts, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Northridge. It was clear that the work we are doing is getting through to the media and more importantly to Al Gore. Each of you was there with us last night as we interacted with AGO members, the crowd and Gore, himself. So thank you! And keep up the good work.

Eleven important things to consider for the other book signing events:
1. Smaller, inactive groups located near the book signing: get involved – this is your chance to work with the members of the larger groups and have a deep sense of making a difference. The LA event had members from LA, San Diego, Massachusetts, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Northridge…perhaps more that I don’t know about. Each of them made a significant contribution to the success of the evening.
2. Get volunteers to the site early – attendees begin lining up as much as 2 hours before the event, when there is general seating. They are standing in line with nothing to do. We need to interact with them, get them to sign the petitions, sell them buttons or give them lapel stickers and answer their questions. The common questions are “do you think he will run?” and “don’t you think he’s doing a good job doing what he’s doing? Running for president might screw it up.”
3. Everybody wear T-shirts, hats – go online and purchase your own or buy them as a group
4. Lapel stickers and book markers can be self-made, rather than purchased; signs can also be self made, although the professionally made ones really stand out. Use both.
5. Have lots of clipboards, petitions, lapel stickers, rally signs and buttons for before the event - In LA we used 12 clipboards. Some of the volunteers carried two clipboards at a time to speed up the process.
6. Some volunteers hold signs and stand on the street in front of the venue waving the signs to passing traffic
7. Get some of the volunteers to the front of the line to go inside first and block out some seats - The Ventura group printed up “Reserved AlGore.org” seat signs. Get an accurate count of the volunteers needing seats. This way, the volunteers don’t have to worry about when to go inside and can concentrate on the job outside.
8. At the time that Al Gore was to arrive at the venue, we moved the rally sign people from in front of the venue to the back where Al would be arriving. He saw the signs and heard the cheers and put his hand over his heart and gave us a nod of thanks.
9. Agree on the chant – We used “Run Al Run.” It’s simple. By having our volunteers together, we created a coordinated chant and soon the entire theatre had joined in.
10. Get someone inside with one or more banners – In LA the banner was attached to the balcony facing so that when Al faced the crowd, the most prominent thing that he saw was the banner.
11. Work the book signing line – at the conclusion of his speaking, Al goes to the lobby and signs everyone’s book and interacts with each person. The LA group made 1,900 copies of a personalized letter to Al Gore asking him to run. Every individual in line was given an opportunity to sign the letter and then hand-deliver it to Al while he signed the book. Al handed all the petition letters to a nearby assistant. We were later told by Gore’s staff that every person who gives them one of these with their email or mailing address included, will receive a thank you card. I understand that some groups are planning to hand out book marks in the signing line. This is a good idea, but the personal petition is definitely a “homerun.”