Ten attempts towards a nutshell explanation for Campaign Organisers

As we gear up this week for opening applications for Campaign Organisers, I'm keen to really get our pitch - my 1 minute nation of what the essence of the project is - absolutely nailed. I've just drafted a letter to local group coordinators which I think does that for local groups pretty much. 

I expect that I'll share that here next week when it's run the internal gauntlet because it will be in the public domain by then and hey, it'll be (mostly) my writing.

The one missing element as far as I'm concerned is what I call the 'nutshell explanation'. The one-liner, which by metaphor, analogy or straight-talking takes it out of the realm of Friends-of-the-Earth-speak, tells the listener what the project is about and gives them something to chew on.

Here are some latte-length personal thoughts:.

• It's a training programme for the next wave of kick-ass Friends of the Earth campaigners
• It's giving local groups the third point of the grassroots holy trinity - we've had the campaigner and the group coordinator; now we have the organiser as recruiter and empowerer
• It's like giving every starship captain their own Deanna Troi (too geeky?)
• It's giving local groups a toolkit for growth.
• It will mean more, bigger and better groups.
• It's a 21st century take on the county network
• It's bringing nurturing to the centre of local group culture.
• It's the biggest potential evolutionary step of local groups since the 1990's, BUT we'll be giving them the tools to do it on their own terms.
• It's about helping local groups achieve a more even distribution of the best of what they do now.

And finally, once more with kittens!

Who could resist such a tempting offer? Although if I'm reduced to LOLcats it's probably a sign I should take a break from brainstorming...