2009 February Events-Capital Hill Day 2009

Capitol Hill Day 2009

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***DrinkerBiddle Press Release***

***Captial Hill Day Press Release Template***

Thank you for registering to attend Capitol Hill Day 2009. We are looking forward to a very exciting and powerful event. We are confident that this will be our best effort yet and look forward to making an impact for NATA’s legislative efforts. Here are some details that may help make your trip easier and more productive.

Attire:

Check the weather before you depart, it has been very cold lately, and you will be outside some.

Sunday – business casual.

Monday – business. Suit and tie or equivalent. There will be a lot of walking, so I suggest you wear comfortable shoes.

Gifts:

New legislation bans members of Congress and staff from accepting gifts. Please do not bring any tokens (caps, pens, jerseys, t-shirts, etc) as gifts for your meetings.

Business Cards:

Please remember to bring extra business cards to take on your official visits, as well as to exchange with your colleagues from across the country.

Name badges:

If you have an official name badge for your school, place of business, or NATA, please wear it to the official visits. We will provide stickers to identify you as an athletic trainer.

Student groups:

We are very excited to have several student groups taking part in Hill Day. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the legislative process and get students involved in this aspect of the industry at the beginning of their careers. All students will be paired with athletic trainers from throughout the country – especially where the state delegation is very small. We hope that if you are paired with a student, you will help them get the most out of the experience. If you are a student, please be aware that you may not be paired with someone from your state and may not be grouped with other students from your group.

Agenda:

You will be receiving a separate e-mail with your appointment times as soon as all of your appointments are booked. Your final appointment notice will be included in your registration packet on-site.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

3:00 pm	Check-in and registration	Gaylord National Resort	Foyer of Potomac C/D

4:00 pm	Legislative Briefing	Gaylord National Resort	Potomac C/D

Please be prepared to sit with your state delegation in designated sections. Due to the large number of delegates in some states, we will be initiating a new process this year for select states. For those dates with large delegations, it is impossible for all members to visit one office at the same time. In those cases, we will designate a team captain for that state. The team captain will determine who will be attending which meetings in the Senate. Each member will still visit their House member, but it may be that they only do one Senate visit.

7:00 pm

Optional NATAPAC fundraiser.

See below.

Monday, February 23, 2009

7:00	Continental breakfast opens.	Complimentary for attendees.	Gaylord National Resort	Potomac C/D
	Lobbying role play, last minute questions, etc.

8:00	Buses begin departing hotel to Capitol Hill.
	Buses will be available to store your luggage during your meetings.

9:00	Arrive at Capitol Hill.	Group photo on steps of Rayburn House Office Building.

9:30	House of Representative meetings start
	Appointments- House visits first, followed by Senate visits

After your meetings are complete, you can pick up your luggage from the buses at Union Station. Any luggage not picked up by 5:00 will be returned to the Gaylord.

Buses depart:
4:00		Bus to Reagan National Airport
4:30		Bus to Reagan National Airport
5:00		Bus to Gaylord National Resort

NATAPAC Fundraiser “A Nighttime Tour of our Nation’s Capital”:
This event to raise money for NATA’s political action committee is completely optional. NATAPAC allows the NATA to support federal candidates who support athletic trainers and our profession. This year’s event will be a nighttime tour of the Washington, DC monuments. Highlights of the tour include the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, Washington Monument, Vietnam, Korean, and WWII Memorials, and Iwo Jima. Bargain cost is $50. Attire is warm and casual. To register, please visit www.natapac.org.

Talking points and reference materials:
We’ll discuss in detail at the briefing how to lobby, answers to pertinent questions, important points to make, etc. You’ll also receive your “leave behind” packets at that time. We will also provide you with maps and a debriefing form. There are also some instructional videos on how to lobby posted to the NATA web site.