by Lunell Haught, LWVWA President

A humorous take on some lessons learned from candidate debates…

• There’s more than one way to skin a cat and there are many ways to let the public meet candidates
• Cash is king - remember to bring a coin to flip to decide the order of questioning
• Gremlins are everywhere - make sure to do a sound and light check earlier on the same day as the event.
• Nobody moves – once you get the angles and lighting set don’t let anyone "help" or just move one sign
• We’re running late - run through timing particularly if it is filmed for broadcast
• Gate crashers – be prepared and have a plan to deal with people who don’t have credentials or tickets
• Candidate late crashers – know the rules about write-in candidates
• Devil in the details – document who greets candidates, tells them where to sit, helps them when they’re finished, deals with photo ops and interviews
• It’s my party - we are the hosts and we have rules; make sure to know and use them
• Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt - the League has been doing this for decades and just about everything has happened at least once, so answers and resources are likely already available on the LWVWA and LWVUS websites
• Be prepared - yes, a candidate did use prayer in the response

If you haven't already had a post-election review, it's worth pulling your voter services volunteers together to chat about what went well, what can be improved, and what changes you want to implement for the next election. While leadership and volunteers may change in between then, having this documented will help everyone involved.