Wanted: Democracy University and Kerry College.

We're desperately in need of training and testing materials that prepare writers, speakers, hosts, media relations pros, local endorsement seekers, et al. These come in two subjects:

"Product knowledge"

• the candidate's biography
• the first lady's biography
• accomplishments on 20 issues, and the 100 day action plan
• the 300 questions most asked on the street, and answers
• how to debunk the 25 most common lies or misunderstandings
• power phrases and language of this campaign
• 6 elevator pitches for Kerry and how to deliver them

"Field skills"

• The volunteer lifecycle: How to recruit a volunteer, and slowly move them up the ladder of involvement
• Recruiting skilled talent for projects
• Managing burnout
• Resolving personality conflicts
• Working with minors: special concerns
• How to budget your local committee's activities
• How to communicate effectively within your committee
• How to lead an effective meeting
• Raising money for local operating costs
• Grassroots and Volunteer fundraising - basics, intermediate, advanced
• Debating skills
• Local press relations
• Leading a writers bureau
• Leading a speakers bureau
• Leading a new media (blogs, forums, videos, audio) bureau
• Working with local labor
• Working with local elected officials
• Working with church groups
• Leading a street team
• Leading affinity groups: X for Kerry

Why?

We need to improve the quality of grassroots representation and leadership in a way that:

• Doesn't cost volunteers much beyond copying costs
• Keeps knowledge modular, so volunteers can learn just in time
• Provides common ground for volunteers
• Supports both Spanish and English

So that:

• We are effective advocates for John Kerry and the Democratic Party
• We are effective organizers of local volunteers and donors
• We provide a smooth "career path" within grassroots ranks
• Our grassroots organizations can grow as fast as volunteers come aboard

We need these in the form of training kits. Some combination of instructor guides, student workbooks, quizzes, audio tapes/mp3s, video tapes/dvds/quicktimes. We'll need editions for printing out and others for interactive instruction via web.

It's not just the content, it's the structure and pedagogy. There's a whole practice of curriculum development that puts knowledge into formats that work, that take advantage of the psychology of adult learning. I'm sure we can recruit a dozen volunteers, corporate trainers and professors of education, to put this together. There's also the profession of Instructional Technology that specializes in the software for delivering the curriculum.

The branding could be fun: Democracy University. Kerry College.