LINKS

Guidelines for Organizers and Hosts

Revised JUNE 21, 2010

There are two general types of speaking engagements – individual events and those which are part of an extended Motor Home speaking tour.  Naturally, there are similarities and differences.  The main difference for organizers will be in the financial requirements.  Most of you are planning events as part of a tour, so you can ignore the first paragraph below.  The great advantage of a tour is that the cost to individual sponsors is very much less.

Financial Requirements:

            (Individual events are those where Dr. Bowman has to fly from wherever he is to the site of the event.  Sponsors of such events are expected to pay all travel expenses plus a donation to the Patriots.  If the event is set up directly through The Patriots, we normally request $3,000.  If set up through a speakers’ agent, the cost may be more like $15,000, depending on the agent.  Dr. Bowman’s policy is that we try to never let lack of money prevent a community from hearing Dr. Bowman’s message.  Still, the cost can be daunting.)

            When Dr. Bowman (usually with his wife Maggie) is on an extended speaking tour, the route is usually planned months in advance.  Unless deviations from the route are requested, the expenses of the tour will not be significantly affected by talks in cities along the route.  Accordingly, we do not allocate specific travel expenses to sponsoring groups, but simply ask for a donation.  We request an up-front donation of $1,000, plus the opportunity to “pass the basket.”  This usually covers the expenses of the tour, hopefully with some left over to help fund our work the rest of the year.  Sponsoring groups can usually cover their costs through ticket sales.  In unusual circumstances, the up-front donation may be reduced substantially or even waived.

            None of the money donated to The Patriots goes to pay salaries.  All our workers are volunteers.  Dr. Bowman has not taken a salary in over 25 years.  But our outreach activities do cost money.  We ask sponsors to do their best to meet our needs.

Collecting Cosponsors:

            Organizers should collect as many co-sponsoring organizations as possible.  This spreads the cost and enlarges the audience.  We are attempting to bring together the peace and justice movement, the anti-war movement, the 9/11 Truth movement, environmental groups, labor unions, veterans’ groups, churches, free speech and civil rights groups, the movement for fiscal responsibility, social justice groups, and various student activist groups.  The common goal we propose is to demand a government which (1) follows the Constitution, (2) honors the truth, and (3) serves the people.  Such a government would make everyone happy, including liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, Libertarians and Greens.  We must no longer allow the big money interests to keep us apart.  We must join together to “Take Back America” for the people.  Our most common sponsors are Veterans For Peace (VFP), Code Pink, Raging Grannies, WILPF, the 9/11 Truth Movement, Unitarian churches, United Church of Christ, Methodist churches, Presbyterian churches, Episcopal churches, Catholic Worker houses, Ron Paul groups, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, labor unions, the Democratic Party, Common Cause, local militias, and (of course) chapters of “The Patriots”.

Selecting a Venue:

            Sponsoring organizations should figure out how many people they can attract to the event and together calculate how large a venue is needed (50 seats, 200 seats, 1,500 seats, ??) and how to sell tickets in advance.  (Generally, selling tickets in advance for $10 or so results in MUCH larger crowds than making the event free.  Often people figure that if an event is free, that’s what it’s worth, unless they’ve heard Dr Bowman before.  NOTE:  This only works if tickets are sold IN ADVANCE, not just at the door.  If they have shelled out $10, they will probably come.)

            If a student group or faculty group is among the co-sponsors, a college auditorium can usually be obtained at no cost.  (Most colleges have a budget for speakers, and should be able to provide a few thousand dollars for the event.)  Other sources of free or almost-free space include churches, libraries, union halls, and book stores.  Many Unitarian, United Church of Christ, Methodist, and other churches have provided their facilities without charge to our events.  DO NOT spend lots of money renting an expensive auditorium.  We’d rather have the money go to our efforts to wake up the American people.

Selecting a Title:

            The sponsors may select a title that they think will draw the largest audience..  The overall theme of the tour is “A Populist Vision for America” or “Take Back America.”  Some possible talk titles are “Demand Real Change, not Chump Change,” “Will Government Serve Wall Street or Main Street?” or “We the People Must Take Back America.”  For church groups, there is “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” “Putting Jesus Back in Christianity,” “Jesus Challenges the War System,” etc.  For veterans groups, we might use “Support Our Troops: But How?” “What is Patriotism?” or “Honoring Those Who Serve.”

            The important thing in selecting a title is to NOT pick a title that will turn off a large segment of the target audience.  For example, while Dr. Bowman is a powerful advocate for 9/11 Truth, he puts it in the broader context and makes it understandable to those who have swallowed the government’s official conspiracy theory.  9/11 Truth sponsors should not bill it as a 9/11 talk unless they want to wind up preaching to the choir.  Many of Dr. Bowman’s talks have been co-sponsored by both the Green Party and the Libertarian Party.  (They have much more in common than they realize.)  This can only happen if the title does not demonize a particular part of the political spectrum.  To be safe, run your title by Dr. Bowman before publishing it.

Contacting Us:

            Organizers should communicate with Dr. Bowman on the details, and also send the venue, its address, and the time to our webmaster.  Dr. Bowman’s home phone is (321) 752-5955 or email bob@ThePatriots.us .  If necessary, you can reach Dr Bowman directly on his cell phone (321) 258-0582.  Once the tour starts, this phone will be our primary means of communication.

Attracting an Audience:

            Organizers and sponsoring organizations are responsible for securing the auditorium or hall, selling tickets, and doing publicity.  We will email you a flyer which you can modify by adding the date, time, and place of the event in your town.  You may also want to arrange for Dr Bowman to be on radio talk shows in your area several days in advance of the event.  This really helps build an audience.  DO NOT spend lots of money on publicity.  Expensive ads seldom bring in more than a few folks.  Mailings don’t do much better.  Use email (which is free).  But by far the most effective way to build an audience is by personal contact.  Still, 90% of those who tell you they will come … will not! … UNLESS they have put out 10 bucks or so for a ticket.  Then they will show up.  The ONLY way to get a big audience is to have several sponsoring organizations and have each of them give all their members half a dozen tickets to sell.  Follow up early and often.  Make sure people are selling their tickets, and collect the money well before the event.  Doing this should bring in several thousand dollars.  Most sponsoring organizations, after paying the basic expenses of the event (including the donation to The Patriots), split the excess raised between The Patriots and the sponsoring organizations.  For some groups, this has been one of their most successful fund-raisers of the year.

Physical Requirements:

            Since Dr. Bowman is 6’4” tall and has Macular Degeneration, the height of the podium is especially important.  A podium or lectern (with the surface about 5 feet above the floor) and a fixed (preferably boom) microphone and PA system suitable for the space will generally be needed.  (Most podiums are too short by about 8 to 12 inches.  Concrete blocks under the podium will raise it to the right level.  As a last resort, a box on top of the podium will usually work.  In addition, most good music stands will adjust to the proper height.)  For some of his talks, Dr. Bowman will show a short DVD as part of his lecture, but it’s not essential.  If you have access to a DVD projector, great.  DON”T spend money renting expensive equipment.

Accommodations for one-time events:

            For most one-time events outside Florida, Dr. Bowman will be flying.  He is perfectly happy being put up in a home to save the cost of hotels.  Transportation from the airport and back are expected.

Accommodations for extended tour events:

            Most events will be evening lectures.  The Bowmans will usually arrive in the afternoon and will want to go to wherever they will be parking their motor home for the night so they can clean up and change clothes.  They will then usually be available for dinner with folks from the sponsoring organizations before going to the event.  A typical schedule will be dinner at 5 PM, return to the motor home around 6:30 PM to feed and medicate Sadie (the German Shepherd) and pick up supplies, and the lecture event at 7 PM.  An alternative, especially for church halls, is a pot luck supper followed by the talk.

            Since parking for a large vehicle is hard to come by in some locations, transportation should be provided for the Bowmans to and from the event.  However, if the location is a church or other venue with a large parking lot, the Bowmans would prefer to park their motor home there, plug in their electricity to a household outlet, and thus have access to the motor home throughout the evening.  Churches usually allow them to stay there for the night.  Otherwise, they will leave the motor home at an RV park or parked in the driveway of a host.  If the latter, keep in mind that the motor home is 32 feet long, 8 ½ feet wide, and 11 ½ feet tall.  A parking place should be level, large enough, and accessible without overhanging trees, etc.  In the motor home will be their German Shepherd, Sadie.  If she is left alone for more than a short time, there should be access to electricity so the air conditioning can be run if necessary (depending on the temperature that time of year in your city).  A normal 20 Amp household outlet is sufficient.  The motor home has an adaptor and a hundred feet of cord.  Even where air conditioning is not required, electricity is used overnight to charge cell phones and operate a laptop computer and other equipment.

            The Bowmans will usually leave the next morning after breakfast to drive to the next city on the schedule.  If they have a long drive ahead, they may even leave early and have breakfast an hour or two down the road.

            Tour details will be updated periodically on the web site: www.ThePatriots.us .  We appreciate very much all the hard work that goes into organizing an event.  We hope that these events will be enjoyable for all involved, will benefit the sponsoring organizations, and will help bring your community together in our common effort to educate the public and to “Take Back America.”  Thank you!

The Patriots 1494 Patriot Dr , Melbourne , FL 32940
(321) 752-5955  c (321) 258-0582