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ResourcesFull-day trainings: Full-day trainings: (Spanish language materials) Entrenamiento del día completo: (materiales en español) Half-day trainings: Half-day trainings: (Spanish language materials) Entrenamiento de medio día: (materiales en español) Need help? email: support@the99spring.com. News articles and videos: |
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Thank you for organizing a 99% Spring training! This guide will provide you with everything you need to make sure your training is successful. Please read carefully to plan a successful training!
Toll-free hotline for tech and training assistance:
A toll-free help hotline will be available to answer your questions about either training or tech support. Please call this number to reach the hotline: 1-800-831-6703. You can also get tech support by emailing: support@the99spring.com.
Hotline days and hours:
Sunday, April 8: 5-8:00 p.m. ET
Monday, April 9 to Friday, April 13: 12-9:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, April 14: 9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. ET
Sunday April 15: 12-9:00 p.m. ET
Join upcoming host prep calls:
Click here to get a recording of the March 28 host call.
Click here to get a recording of the April 3 half-day host call.
Facilitation tips for difficult situations:
Your trainings will likely be a positive space where people will engage in thoughtful and spirited conversation. But, sometimes there are people who show up who are only interested in disrupting and creating a scene. Here are some tips on how to deal with difficult participants:
- Be prepared by having a plan beforehand. Before your training designate one or two people who will be empowered to handle any difficult situation, from agitators to someone who is not respecting the norms and boundaries of the training.
- Diffuse conflict. We want our trainings to be peaceful and respectful. We will train more effectively if we don't engage with negative comments or behavior. Rather than engaging in a debate with agitators, we should take a moment to de-escalate tension. So, if someone is attending the training with the goal of stirring up trouble, this is a great time to practice our de-escalation skills.
- If the situation can't be resolved, ask the person to leave. We want everyone to feel like the trainings are a safe space to share thoughts and feel respected. However, if you've tried to diffuse the conflict, and reminded the person of the norms, the final step would be to ask the person to leave the training. At this point, the folks who are designated to 'diffuse conflict' should take over, escort the person outside, and ask them to leave.
In this guide:
Before your event
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Training GoalsLearn about our current economy. We'll learn about how we got here, who is responsible, and what we can do about it. Learn about nonviolent direct action. Knowing our movement history will help us tell the story of the 99%. Take action together. We'll learn how to take action by developing and preparing for tactics that will help build our movement power. |
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1. Set your date and time, and post your event online.
The 99% Spring trainings are from April 9 to 15. All events should begin no earlier than 10 a.m. and end no later than 9 p.m. Please make sure that you choose a start and end time when you post your event online.
- Decide if you are hosting a full-day (7-hour) or half-day (3-hour) training. We're encouraging as many hosts as possible to organize a full-day, 7-hour training—it provides more time to learn the skills we'll need to take action this spring. If you plan to have more than 30 people at your training, we recommend the full-day training. However, if you only have time to host a half-day, 3-hour training, that's also great!
- If you haven't already, please post the event online right away. Click here to post your event.
- Don't delay! Even if you don't have your date, time, and location nailed down, you can post your event and make a note about which details are still to be determined. When you are deciding on your time be sure to encourage participants to arrive at least 30 minutes before the training begins.
The person who posts the event will be listed as the host. They can mark other people who are helping as co-hosts, once they've RSVP'd.
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TechnologyThe curriculum for both the half-and full-day trainings includes a video presentation, which you can download before the training. Be sure that you'll be able to play the video at the venue. There will also be a Prezi slide show presentation which will be available for all full-day (7 hour) trainings. |
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2. Reserve a venue and think through logistics.
Things to consider in choosing a venue for your event include cost (free or cheap is best), seating capacity, accessibility, parking, and proximity to public transportation (if your city has it). Suggested venues include community centers, union halls, libraries, and schools.
Here are some logistical considerations related to your venue:
- Equipment: Does the venue have Internet access? You'll be able to download the training video and other presentations before the training so you won't need Internet access, but it might be helpful. Is the venue wired for microphone use or projectors? Do you need equipment for simultaneous translation? Make sure to check the equipment beforehand to ensure that everything works properly.
- When guests arrive: Where will they park? Should you have greeters at the door? Will it be easy for them to find the event venue? Should you post signs anywhere?
- Seating: Do you have enough seats for all of your guests? Are your rows big enough to allow for accessibility?
- Information table(s): Is there a place for an information table? Is there space for partner organizations to have a table? Do you need to bring a card table?
- Food: If you intend to have food at the event, do you have permission from the venue? Do you have plates and utensils? For the full-day training, you may want to remind attendees to bring food for lunch and snacks for the breaks. Remember that hosts and attendees are responsible for the cost of the food.
3. Develop your training team.
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Training for TrainersOn March 24-25, more than 1,000 people were trained to lead the full-day trainings. These trainers will be paired with hosts like yourself to help train during the week of April 9-15. Once trainers have been matched with your training, you'll be able to contact them directly. |
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Being the host doesn't necessarily mean you organize the training by yourself. It means you're the person responsible for making sure a plan moves forward. Organizing a training team can be as simple as asking a friend to co-host or organizing a group of people who can take point on the following pieces. If you are organizing a full-day (7-hour) training, it's best to make sure you assemble a trainng team.
- Venue and logistics: Delegate the responsibility of finding the venue or if you have already located a venue, assign the venue coordinator to follow up on all the venue logistics.
- Identifying trainers: As host you are more than welcome to train, but it's also good to have two or more people on hand to train.
- Promotion and attendee recruitment: You want to create a buzz about the training in your community. Assign someone to be the point person for attendee recruitment. Make sure that there is a plan in place to flyer the community, and invite friends, family, and neighbors.
- Media: One of the goals of this event is to tell the story of how and why the 99% is rising up this spring. Assign someone to be the point person for the media. A press release is forthcoming.
- Action coordinator: The role of the action coordinator is to organize and plan the action your training team will be taking in the spring. There will be time set aside during your training to plan your spring action.
4. Training for Trainer.
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Training Materials and TipsTo help you prepare for your training, read: The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action. . |
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Based on your capacity, you should plan to have two trainers per 50 attendees.
- Who can train: It's important to have trainers who are able to dedicate time to prepping beforehand so that the training goes smoothly.
- What if I don't have trainers?: If you have contacts who would be interested in being trainers, great! If not, we may be able to provide trainers for you.
For full-day trainings: On March 24-25, more than 1,000 people were trained to lead the full-day trainings. These trainers will be paired with hosts like yourself to help train during the week of April 9-15. Once trainers have been matched with your training, you'll be able to contact them directly.
For half-day trainings: There will be an online video training to use during your 3-hour training. The online training will guide you through each step of the training. The training will be available for download soon, and we'll let you know when it's ready. Make sure you'll have a way to show the video at the training.
During your event
1. Set up early for your training.
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What's the difference between a trainer and a host?A host is the person who created the event in the online event system and secured the venue for the training. Many hosts are also signed up as trainers or for other training roles. Nearly 1,100 people were trained as trainers the weekend of March 24-25. These trainers will be available during the week of April 9 -15 to help lead the full-day, large trainings. Smaller, half-day trainings don't necessarily need a trainer—the host will have all the resources to lead the training. |
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Arrive at least an hour and a half early to set up. Everyone from your training team, including trainers, should plan to arrive early. Make sure the sound system, screen, computer, projector, and video are working.
Set up a registration table to greet participants as they arrive. Be sure to have a list of the names of all of your trainees so that you can check them off and give them a copy of their participant agenda. You may also want to provide nametags for everyone to fill out.
Make signs and write up the agenda. Write the agenda on a flip chart so that participants know what to expect throughout the day. Post signs that lead to the bathroom and designated smoking/nonsmoking areas for breaks.
2. Welcome and give introductions.
3. Begin training.
A detailed agenda and curriculum for the full-day and half-day trainings are coming soon.The full-day (7-hour) training is more comprehensive than the half-day (3-hour) training. The training design provides many opportunities to engage in both large-group and small-group sessions. We'll also build relationships with other participants in small groups and pairs.
Full-day training. Around the country, more than 1,000 trainers have been trained to lead a full-day training. If you are hosting a large, full-day training, you'll get matched up with some trainers. Here is the outline for the full-day training:
- We Are The 99%—We will have the opportunity to share our stories with one another about what motivates us and why we are organizing and taking action for the 99%.
- What Happened to Our Economy?—We will explore how our economy was dismantled by the 1% and create a vision for a new economy.
- Nonviolent Direct Action: When Communities Rise Up—We will learn about movements that have used nonviolent resistance as a tactic to win campaigns.
- Nonviolent Direct Action: Vision, Goals, Strategy, Tactics—We will learn how to develop strategic tactics to help us win our goals.
- Nonviolent Direct Action: Personal Preparation—We will personally reflect on the importance of nonviolence in our lives.
- Nonviolent Direct Action: Planning and Practicing Action—We will take time to practice some important skills having to do with strategic nonviolence.
- What's Next—We will plan and discuss local campaigns and actions.
Half-day training. If you are hosting a half-day training, you'll be able to download a video to play during the training to walk you and your guests through the key concepts and exercises. You'll still need to prepare to lead some in-person exercises during the 3 hours, but the video will act as a co-trainer for you. Here is the outline for the half-day training:
- We are the 99%—We will have the opportunity to share our stories with one another about what motivates us and why we are organizing and taking action for the 99%.
- What Happened to Our Economy?—We will explore how our economy was dismantled by the 1% and create a vision for a new economy.
- Practice Nonviolent Direct Action—We will learn new skills and strategies for practicing nonviolent direct action.
After your event
When your training is over it's time to take action. During your training, the action coordinator should lead your group in a dicussion about which actions to participate in. Here are three tool kits to choose from to help you decide which type of action to take:
1. What banks and financial institutions are doing to our economy
The 99% is fighting back against what the banks are doing to our economy. This tool kit will help you learn how you can be part of campaigns working to hold banks and financial institutions accountable for bankrupting our economy and hurting our communities and families. This tool kit includes tips for planning actions to:
2. Corporate tax dodging: how corporations are bankrupting America
Corporations are not paying their fair share but the 99% is fighting back. This tool kit will help you learn how to make sure corporations pay their fair share. This tool kit includes tips for planning actions to:
3. Money in politics affects the 99%.
The 99% is fighting back to get big money out of politics. This tool kit will help you learn how to build a movement to get money out of politics. Our elected officials should be accountable to the 99%. This tool kit includes tips for planning actions to:
For more information about the toolkits, click here. Once you've decided on an action, register it at actions.the99spring.org.
The following organizations have called for a 99% Spring: Jobs With Justice, United Auto Workers, National Peoples Action, National Domestic Workers Alliance, MoveOn.org Civic Action, New Organizing Institute, Movement Strategy Center, The Other 98%, Service Employees International Union, Rebuild the Dream, UNITE-HERE, Greenpeace, Institute for Policy Studies, PICO National Network, New Bottom Line, United Steel Workers, Working Families Party, Communications Workers of America, United States Student Association, Rainforest Action Network, American Federation of Teachers, Leadership Center for the Common Good, UNITY, National Guestworker Alliance, 350.org, The Ruckus Society, Citizen Engagement Lab, smartMeme Strategy & Training Project, Right to the City Alliance, Pushback Network, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Progressive Democrats of America, Change to Win, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Campaign for America's Future, Fuse Washington, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, Citizen Action of New York, Engage, United Electrical Workers Union, National Day Laborers Organizing Network, Alliance for a Just Society, The Partnership for Working Families, United Students Against Sweatshops, Presente.org
MoveOn.org Civic Action is hosting the online event registration process but is not responsible for the content or programming of the trainings or for the planning or organization of any specific actions. The 99% Spring is a collaborative effort between many organizations to train over 100,000 Americans in the basics of nonviolent direct action--not an electoral campaign.
