LI’s Monthly Campaign Management School Welcomes more than 50 conservatives
The Leadership Institute hosted more than 50 conservatives at its rigorous four-day Campaign Management School, part of LI’s monthly  campaign training series. 


Lectures ran eight to 10 hours Monday through Thursday, covering everything from political research to buying and developing effective paid media.

Adrian Guillory, who recently worked on the Ron Paul 2012 campaign in Louisiana as an intern, was one conservative who attended.  The budding activist said, “This was a fun training from leading conservative campaign experts who provide invaluable lessons to achieve election victory.”

Day One:

Topics included: campaign research, writing a campaign plan, campaign finance, developing a message, polling basics, and campaign structure/organization.

Jason Torchinsky, a partner at Holtzman Vogel PLCC, lectured on campaign finance.  The lecture explored concepts such as finance-related steps to building a successful campaign, limits, rules, reporting, record keeping, and handling filed complaints.

Fred Mullner, an environmental engineer with Eastman Chemical said, “Jason’s experience was very obvious and lent a practical aspect to an otherwise very dry subject.” Fred hopes to use the teaching to gain knowledge on how to raise campaign funds successfully.

Day Two:

Topics included: vote targeting, handling negative information, building coalitions/recruiting volunteers, and contacting voters with phones.

Shannon Burns, CEO of Victory Solutions, has dedicated himself and his company to developing technology that empowers conservative causes.  In his lecture, Shannon demonstrated the essential nature of phones, how to set up a phone bank, and how to write scripts for volunteers to use when making campaign calls.

Governor John Kasich’s Regional Liaison Sandra Brasington, a training attendee, found his lecture helpful.

“Shannon helped the audience understand clearly the power of phones and voter contacts in campaigns – an aspect that cannot be ignored no matter the size of the race,” Sandra said.

Day Three:

Topics included: fundraising with events, building a fundraising machine, writing a finance plan, funding a campaign with direct mail, voter mapping, developing a get out the vote effort, and door-to-door strategies.

Dan Morgan, president of Morgan, Meredith & Associates, a full-service fundraising firm he founded in 1987, delivered the lecture titled, “Writing a Finance Plan.” 

During his lecture, Dan emphasized the importance of creating event committees, who to invite (as donors) to a fundraiser, and ways to make a campaign stand out.

Day Four:

Topics included: latest campaign technologies, compelling voter mail, new rules of paid media, hiring and firing consultants, basics of paid media, tips on handling earned media, and fine tuning a campaign strategy.

Tim Wesolek, an executive account manager for NBC25/WHAG-TV, lectured on buying paid media and advice on how to do candidate versus issue ads.

Tom Grimes, a Tea Party affiliate from South Bend, Indiana, is no stranger to LI trainings.  “This is my fifth LI workshop,” Tom said. “I’m looking forward to building my knowledge to increase my credibility when working with candidates.”



Another attendee, Jim Knowlton, said, “This is probably the best training available.” Jim plans on using what he learned to help local state senate and house campaigns.  

If you are interested in taking LI’s monthly campaign trainings, please contact Political Training Coordinator Heather Homan at Heather.Homan@LeadershipInstitute.org

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