Some Thoughts On Organizing A Good Rally ' There are lots more protests going on than usual in this country, and that's a very good thing. . . . . But those who have attended them usually have the same complaints. You've probably heard them. I know it's not a simple task, but here are some thoughts on how to make things better. First of all, what's the point of having a mass rally? As I see it, there are three main objectives. 1) To demonstrate to the government that there is a massive opposition. This is largely accomplished by having a large rally. Size and frequency are the main things here, and some thoughts on organizing any event can be found in the booking section of my website. 2) To educate people about the realities of the situation. Having speakers is a fine thing, but when you have a large audience this is a real opportunity to educate people, rather than just to share the same feelings and slogans that everybody already agrees with. People can and should leave a rally knowing more about the situation than when they got up that morning. 3) To inspire people to action and help everybody feel like we're part of something. Having large and frequent rallies can accomplish this to some degree regardless, but here are some other thoughts on how to do this: Protest is theater. Style is as important as content. People may think this crass, but I'd suggest that organizers of rallies should think of themselves also as directors of a play -- no, a musical. The biggest complaint of people attending most protests is that they're way too heavy on speakers (and the speakers tend to rant too much -- see point 2). I know there are issues with every conceivable group being represented on stage and all of that. That consideration notwithstanding, here is a simple measure of whether a rally succeeds or fails in inspiring the people in attendance: 50% music. All staged rallies should be 50% music (and/or theater or other performance art forms). As much effort should be spent on picking good performers as on picking good speakers. Don't take any musician who wants to play, any more than you'd take any speaker who wants to speak. Know the musicians, their music, whether they'll move people one way or another. They don't have to be overtly political, but that's a definite plus. If you only have a few to choose from for whatever reason (timing, geography, etc.), use them repeatedly throughout the rally rather than having bad musicians or less music. Ruthless stage management. You need a stage manager in addition to an MC. Through no fault of their own (usually), if you tell a speaker to speak for 5 minutes, he or she will most likely speak for 10. If you tell a musician to play for 10 minutes, he or she will sing for 15. So tell them to speak/perform for less time than you really want them to, and have someone with signs (that can only be seen from the stage) saying things like "1 more minute," "30 seconds," "time's up," etc. Another trick is if you want a musician to sing for 10 minutes, tell him or her "2 songs or 10 minutes, whichever comes first." (The tendency of musicians is to think that their songs average 3 minutes long, so they think they can fit 3 songs into 10 minutes, but 99% of the time they're wrong and the songs really end up taking up 5 minutes each.) Good sound. If you don't have a decent sound system, nobody will be able to hear and none of the above will matter. Consult a local labor union about setting up an appropriate sound system for the number of people you expect. Maybe they'll do it for free. If not, you probably need to hire a professional sound company. Don't rely on a local rock band or some such well-meaning entity if you're trying to do sound for thousands of people, it will be a mess. Doing sound for thousands of people is totally different from doing sound for a room that seats several hundred. All kinds of problems will arise unless professionals are running the sound. Professionals will elevate stacks of speakers on big platforms, make sure they have enough electricity to power the operation, know how to prevent feedback, etc. So David, you may ask, using your criteria who organizes the best rallies in your opinion? SOA Watch. The worst? ANSWER (aside from point 1). I hope my advice may be taken in the constructive spirit in which it is intended. In no way do I mean to dishearten the hard-working activists who are, with limited time and resources, organizing protests and other events. I just want to help them to do the vital work they're doing better, for the sake of all of us. Created March, 2003 Updated February, 2004