Welcome to the block walk host team! Face to face contact from neighbors is THE MOST EFFECTIVE way to mobilize and persuade voters. And in today’s media environment, it is increasingly becoming the only way to cut through the noise. We are going to need to have hundreds – if not thousands! – of block walks over the course of this campaign.
Important Resources & Quick Links
| Resource | Link |
| Slack Account | JOIN SLACK |
| Training Agenda & Script | TAP HERE |
| Block Walk Training Guide | TAP HERE |
| MiniVAN Training Guide | TAP HERE |
| MiniVAN Training Video | TAP HERE |
| Questions? How to get in touch. | Joseph Krenek – DFW Folasade Fashina – Travis County Laura Silvia – San Antonio Coby Nguyen – Houston Dalia Zamora – RGV |
Step 1: Planning & Creating Your Event
Planning Your Event
Anyone can host a block walk with a little bit of planning! We think it helps to first map out some basic details:
1. Attend a Host Training: This is a great first step. We’ll walk through everything you need to know!
2. Set a Date & Time: The best time is when volunteers are available, as well as when voters will be receptive to visitors! Weekend mornings/afternoons and weekdays late afternoon are a good place to start, and block walks typically last 3 hours (but 2 is possible if time is an issue). Make sure that it will be light out for the entire block walk—we never want folks out after dark!
3. Pick a Location: The campaign maintains a list of priority neighborhoods to walk. Pick a suitable launch location: a local park, a coffee shop, a library, or another community space all work great. Then, the campaign team will try to find and assign priority doors near your location.
Creating Your Event
We host events on Mobilize, an event hosting platform, which makes it simple for other people to sign up to attend events all over Texas. When you’re ready, follow these steps to create your event on Mobilize:
1. Event Creation Page: Tap the button below to be directed to our event creation page.
2. Event Details: The following details will be required for your event:
- Title: Team Talarico: Block Walk in [Your City]
- Photo: This is provided automatically.
- Description: We provide a default event description for you.
- Visibility:
- Public: Listed on our public feed and on select partner feeds. Anyone can view the event page.
- Private: Only people with a link can view the event page.
- Location: Select “In Person”
- Add a location to help supporters find this event: Type in the address for the launch location for your block walk.
- Only attendees can see this location: Check this box so only those who sign up can access the full address.
- Date and time: Enter a single timeslot of 3 hours. If you wish to host another block walk, please create another Mobilize event.
- Capacity: If you’d like to limit the number of people who can attend your event, set a maximum capacity after each date and time. This is optional, and more typical for in-person events with limited space. But remember: there is always a “flake rate” of people who RSVP but don’t show up, so consider setting your capacity limit a little higher than it actually is!
- Communications:
- Phone Number: Allows us to contact you about this event. This number is NOT shown publicly, only to our campaign.
- Sent to supporters in the event confirmation email: These are the private details you want to send to people who sign up, such as links, arrival instructions, and more. We provide some default information on what to bring and expect, but please edit this section to include anything useful specific to your event.
- Let attendees know if the space is ADA compliant, and/or describe the location’s accommodations. It’s OK if you don’t know the answer to the question – you can leave the box unchecked.
- Group chat: The group chat feature will be automatically toggled off. We recommend you keep this disabled and find other means to communicate, such as a group chat, Slack channel, or direct Mobilize email. Group chats can clutter your volunteers’ inboxes and make important information hard to find. However, you may still enable it if you find the feature useful.
- Who else is hosting this event with you?: Will someone be supporting you with the management of the event? Add them here, if so!
- Click “host this event”!
3. Our team will then review your event, and you will be notified once the event is published on Mobilize. You won’t need to worry about turf cutting, script building, or anything like that – we’ll handle it all for you! But if you would like to help our turf cutting team, please let us know on Slack.
Step 2: Recruit Block Walkers!
Once your event is live, publicize your event link far and wide. Get creative! The more people who join, the better. Consider recruiting people by:
- Posting a message in your regional chat inviting other volunteers in the area!
- Posting on social media
- Calling and texting your friends and family
- Sharing with your book club or volleyball group
- Sharing on your neighborhood listserv
- Reaching out to local clubs, networks, and groups that may be aligned with our campaign’s values
One day before your event: text, email and/or call attendees to confirm and let them know you look forward to seeing them on [Event Date & Time].
- This increases attendance significantly!
- For first-time block walkers, let them know you’ll be running a training at the beginning of the event. And remind them to review the Volunteer Block Walk Guide shared with them by Mobilize after they signed up!
Step 3: Secure Your Materials
Turf + Literature
- At least 48 hours before your block walk, fill out the Turf Cutting and Literature Request Form so our team can cut the turf in time for your block walk. This form will also determine how much campaign literature you need based on the number of block walkers you’ll have.
- Once we receive your form, your ROM will reach out to coordinate getting your literature to you, either via pickup or delivery.
- After your turf is requested and cut, you will receive your List Numbers: print out slips of paper with these list numbers provided by the turf cutting team for easy distribution to volunteers.
- If you would like to take part in the turf cutting process, please let us know on Slack, and we can add you to our turf cutting team!
Other Materials
- Turf Maps and Lists: you may want to print out copies of your turf maps and lists in case a volunteer isn’t able to get their MiniVAN functioning properly
- QR Code to sign up for next block walk
- QR Code to sign up for block walk host training
- Scripts
Step 4: Leading Your Block Walk
Arrive at least 30 minutes early to get set up and to “reserve seats” if you launch from a cafe. Wear your Talarico shirt (or otherwise make yourself visible), and ask your volunteers to arrive 5-10 minutes early. Volunteers who arrive early can review the Volunteer Block Walk Guide, set up MiniVAN if they haven’t done so already, and brainstorm what motivates them to volunteer for Talarico!
Block Walk Agenda
- Welcome: 10 minutes
- Welcome
- Intros: go around the circle and have everyone introduce themselves and share what motivates them to volunteer for Talarico
- Overview: training, block walking, debrief
- Training: 20 minutes
- MiniVAN overview (If a couple people need more time setting up their MiniVAN, have them stay at the launch location after you’ve finished the training for troubleshooting. This allows others to get started knocking on their doors!)
- Cover tips and things to remember
- Block Walk!!
- Block walking should last until each volunteer has completed their turf, or until there are 20 minutes left in the scheduled shift. Let everyone know that once they are done with their turf or once there are 20 minutes left, they should return to the launch location for debrief and next steps.
- While people are out on their block walks, you should remain at the launch location in case something comes up or people finish early.
- Debrief + Next Steps – 20 minutes
- Debrief: recap all of the amazing work you did!
- Share stories about successful conversations or interesting interactions
- Sign up folks for the next block walk
- Sign up folks to HOST their own block walks!
Welcome Script
Welcome! Thank you so much for joining us to block walk for James! I’m really excited to have you here and to be doing this work together to grow our movement, take on the billionaire class, and transform the great state of Texas!
Research shows that face to face contact from neighbors is THE MOST EFFECTIVE way to mobilize and persuade voters. And in today’s media environment, it is increasingly becoming the only way to cut through the noise. I’m really grateful that all of you were able to get out here and volunteer, when I know that there’s a million and one other things that you could be doing. So again. Thank you.
Let’s start today by doing some introductions to get to know one another. Please share your name, where you’re from, and a quick story of a personal experience that brings you to this fight!
I’ll get us rolling first, for an example: my name is [NAME] and I’m hosting this block walk because [share your own story and why you support James!]
Go around the circle. Make sure this is a happy, energetic moment – we want people to be excited and building a community!! Keep this quick, only around 5 minutes total.
Amazing, it’s so inspiring to be in this fight together. Before we begin the training, just by a show of hands, who here has never block walked before? Amazing! Great to see so many new people excited to get involved. And don’t worry if it’s your first time. Block walking can be nerve wracking at first, but once you really start getting out there and talking to your neighbors about the things that matter to all of us, the nerves wash away, and it becomes really fun.
MiniVAN Walkthrough
We’ll be using an app called MiniVAN to map our routes and to determine which doors to knock on. Does anybody NOT have MiniVAN downloaded on their phone already? If you don’t, please download it now from the app store and create an account. It looks like this [show a picture of the app on your phone].
For those of you that have downloaded the app and created an account, you’ll see that it is asking you for a List Number. I have for each of you a List Number that you will enter there, and what that will do is download a list of houses that you will knock on. [hand out list numbers, and pair people up—experienced with inexperienced—if necessary]
Once you’ve entered your List Number to download your list of houses, click on “My List” in the lower left corner. You’ll see a split screen with a map on top, and a list of all addresses (in alphabetical order) on the bottom. As you work through the list and record your data, the map will populate with color coding:
- Blue outline means “Not yet attempted.” This is your to-do list!
- Filled in blue means that you have Canvassed this house successfully
- Filled in orange means that you Attempted to canvass them, but they were not home
You’ll automatically see each voters’ name, age, and gender identity. Before you knock, click on the “Notes” and “History” tab for more background on the voter. This is information left by canvassers who have been there before you. For example, Notes might tell you something about how to access the property (like “porch under construction, knock on side door”). In the History tab, you’ll find the last time the person was canvassed, and what their survey responses were (if they were home).
After your entry, return to the map and move to the next house. Now, a couple quick definitions for options you’ll see, and scenarios you might encounter:
- Inaccessible: Mark this when the location is physically impossible to reach. A locked gate, something obstructing the door, etc.
- Refused: If a person opens the door and you make contact, and then they say no, this is Refused!
- Not Home: If no one answers the door. Mark this even if you see someone through a window and they wave you away! No door answer = not home.
What Ifs
- What if you talk to someone else in the house, not the person on your list, and they tell you how the person is voting? Mark as Not Home! We do NOT record vote preference for a voter unless that voter tells us directly!
- They have a yard sign or bumper sticker for Talarico, but don’t answer their door? Do not mark support – we can’t assume, even if it feels obvious! Log as Not Home.
- You’re looking for Person A, but Person B answers the door and IS a supporter? Do not mark support for Person A! Ask Person B, “Great! Are you registered to vote at this address?” If yes, find them in MiniVAN, and record support on THEIR voter record. If they don’t want to share, mark Person A as Not Home and move to next door.
Remember to sync your data! Select the cloud icon in the top right corner or select the same logo in the menu. Try to sync as you go so the data you’re adding is captured immediately. If you don’t have good cell service during your shift, make sure to hit sync again when you arrive back at your event location!
Does anybody have any questions about anything I went over so far? [Listen and and respond to any questions]
Okay amazing. Last thing I want to say about MiniVAN, Alternate view option: You can also view your list in order of proximity. Select the “Next Door” option on the toolbar at the very bottom of your phone screen. This will sort the addresses from closest to farthest away. But keep in mind, this is based on physical distance, so this view isn’t necessarily the best route to walk—use your judgment! The default view includes all doors, the ones you’ve been to and the ones you haven’t; to only view the remaining un-canvassed doors, click the settings wheel at the bottom left and toggle off “include canvassed doors.”
What about if you don’t want to keep going to the nearest house, where you might have to cross the road many times. Maybe you want to walk one side of the street, and then return on the other side? In the “My List” view, click on “All Households” and then select either “even” or “odd” houses to display only one side of the street at a time.
To see your progress, use the “Progress” button on the bottom toolbar to see how many houses you’ve done, and what’s left to go! You’ll see helpful stats from your full list.
Okay. Great. Now, I want to run through some best practices.
- Be enthusiastic and authentic! Making people care about James is more about your energy and enthusiasm than the words that you say.
- Remember: many people won’t answer their doors, and many won’t be interested in talking! That’s normal. Sometimes it can take knocking on many doors to get to a good conversation. The wait is worth it!
- DO NOT enter anyone’s home for any reason. Safety is top priority. There is no reason to enter someone’s home.
- Respect peoples’ yards and property. Don’t touch their decorations or walk over their grass. If a home has a “no soliciting” sign, skip it.
- You may enter a gated community if the gate is open, but if it is closed, don’t struggle to find a way to open it. Canvassing is protected under the 1st Amendment Freedom of Speech, but remember that your actions as a canvasser reflect on the campaign as a whole.
- Record your conversations in MiniVAN. The data is crucial to let us know who to target for getting out the vote!
- Don’t drag it out. Keep the conversation to a reasonable amount of time. If you meet someone who is obviously opposed or is hostile, cut the conversation short, wish them a good day, and move along.
And I’ll remain here at the launch site in case there are any questions or in case anything comes up. Please come back to the launch site once you are done with your houses, or when it’s 20 minutes till [End Time]. We’ll do a debrief, share successful and interesting conversations we had, and get yall signed up for your next block walk. Any last questions before I release you all into the wild? Does everyone know where they are going?
Amazing! Thank yall so much for volunteering your time, have fun, and I will see you all back here at [20 minutes before End Time]!
Final Debrief and Wrap-Up
That’s a wrap folks! Amazing work!
How did it go?
- What was your best/ worst/ funniest conversation?
- What tactics were successful / what top tips would you give each other for next time?
- What phrases did people respond to?
- What issue did folks seem most eager to talk about?
Amazing!!! Well, we have a LOT more voters to reach in our big state. We have many more voter contact events coming up: Scan this QR code to sign up for your next block walk, or scan this one if you think that you’re ready to step up and host your own block walk! It’s really easy and fun, trust me!
We’ll need to keep talking to voters all the way through March. I’ll give everyone about 60 seconds to sign up for another event time now!
[This is a crucial step – make it weird! Give them a full minute of silence to sign up. The moments before your guests depart are when they feel the most accomplished, and it’s when they’re most likely to sign back up, so we want to convert them here.]
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This was an amazing event! Thank you so much for showing up and doing this critical work. I’m so inspired and excited to keep this momentum going with you all.
We’ll see you at our next one, and in the meantime have a great day/night!!