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Obama for America

"The Neighborhood Team Model" +
  3:55 web video from June 11, 2012.

[Music] Male Announcer: Unlike other presidential campaigns our strength resides in the thousands of volunteer leaders already organizing themselves into teams across the country.  This is an introduction into the leadership roles that keep our organization running.  This is the Neighborhood Team Model.

    TEXT: The Neighborhood Team Model   

Cheryl Ellis, Neighborhood Team Leader: I am Cheryl Ellis.  My title is Neighborhood Team Leader.  I just try to do the best that I can so that we can grow and build as an organization.

We need to make sure we're getting more volunteers involved and continuing to grow the electorate, and it's urgent that we start now.  I've been able to recruit volunteer team members who are now experts, and now they're acting as coordinators.

    Cheryl Ellis (nat. sound): Who is planning to come to tomorrow night's phone bank?  Awesome.


Laura, Phone Bank Coordinator
: One way that I have seen this campaign empower people is just watching them learn to phone bank.

    Laura (nat. sound): Okay, we're going to be focusing on two main things this evening.  We're going to be signing up volunteers and then we're also going to be moving undecided voters.

Laura, Phone Bank Coordinator: One of the most important things I do as the phone bank coordinator is train new people. 

    Laura (nat. sound): And when you run across an undecided voter, give them a chance to express their concerns.

Woman (audio): If we can relate to them and tell them how we've been impacted personally, that is what's going to make the difference. 

Laura, Phone Bank Coordinator: Every phone call I make, that could be the phone call that re-elects President Obama.


    Woman (nat. sound): The goal today is to register four people per person.

Chrissy, Canvass Coordinator: I actually love being the canvass coordinator.

    Woman (nat. sound): Over here we're doing canvassing, knocking...

Chrissy, Canvass CoordinatorWe're going door to door and we're going to community events to find new voters... 

    Woman (nat. sound): Alright, woo...

Chrissy, Canvass Coordinator: I'm out in my community, people know me.

    Chrissy (nat. sound): Hey young man, how you doing?

Cheryl: Chrissy's such a good canvasser because she has a passion for this.

    Chrissy (nat. sound): We can definitely get your contact information to give you a call.

Cheryl: I think it's wonderful when neighbors talk to neighbors because you know that person is invested in your community.

    Woman (nat. sound): Oh, look at you, you have on my hat.

Chrissy, Canvass Coordinator: I'm responsible for training people to go out and arm themselves with the proper knowledge to go out and canvass their neighborhoods.

    Woman (nat. sound): Chrissy, we just got somebody at that house...


Billie, Data Coordinator: Since it's a team we're doing so many different tasks all the time, we really need a system to track all those activities.

    Man (nat. sound): Billie, I've got two sheets for you here.

Billie, Data Coordinator: Data really equals winning, and that's why it's really one of the most important parts of the campaign.

As a data coordinator we record everything that the volunteer does.  That data is used to generate more call lists, canvass packs so that we're the most efficient we can be in contacting the voters so that when the time comes we can get out the vote, and that's really what data entry is all about.


Cheryl: Now that we have these team members who are leaders they're now training other people to be experts and it just continues to snowball and snowball and that's the beautiful thing about Neighborhood Teams.


Hanna, Core Volunteer: I've volunteered in presidential elections for many, many, many years.  You're given your script and you go to your cubicle and you make your phone calls and at the end of your time they say thank you very much and you leave and that's about it.

Working in this campaign is totally different from that.  I feel connected to the neighborhood people who I work with, like I'm part of something larger.


Cheryl: The story that's happening here is happening all over the country and it's just inspiring.

This campaign is about us.  President Obama is the inspiration but he lit the fire and now we've just run with it.  Once you feel that, there's nothing that can stop it.



Notes: This is a rather complex video that weaves together clips of Neighborhood Team members talking about their work and scenes of them in action.