Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1280285
ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION AUGUST 19, 2020 Page 6 Winning Hearts and Minds…continued from page 5 Continued on page 15 One of the classes that I took in my most recent quarter at University of California, San Diego was titled "Interest Group Politics," and was exclusively about the formation, proliferation, and engagement of public and special interest groups in our political system. While most American citizens might possess the preconceived notion that interest groups seek to only interact with and lobby government decision makers with sleazy tactics, the reality is far more complex. In fact, one of the most common and successful tools utilized by interest groups is interacting at the "grassroots" level, and effectively lobbying the people. Interest group researcher Anthony Nownes asserts that at their core, interest groups seek to influence others (notably decision makers vital to their interests) by providing information. At the grassroots level, this take on two primary forms: grassroots lobbying and grassroots mellowing. Grassroots lobbying entails interest groups attempting to spur popular support through action to pressure the government. An example of this would be if the US Congress were looking to pass a law regarding gun regulation. The NRA would contact its members via the Internet, email, or snail mail to urge them to do things like contacting their representative or engaging in a protest. Again, as previously mentioned, this effort hinges on the provision of information. In this example, it could be something along the lines of, "Nancy Pelosi and far-left politicians are trying to pass an anti-2nd Amendment bill. Call your representative and tell them to vote NO." The goal with this strategy is to orchestrate an outpouring of support or opposition with the hope that decision makers (i.e. the US Congress) will acknowledge this and react in a way that favors the interests of the group in question. Grassroots mellowing is similar to grassroots lobbying in its audience and methods, but it has a broader, more long-term goal in mind. While the goal of grassroots lobbying is to encourage action on a specific issue at the moment, grassroots mellowing is angled more toward cultivating an environment that is generally favorable to one's interests over the long run. This strategy is essential to winning over hearts and minds, and is a vital answer to the question, "How can we change portable sanitation into a respected alternative in the minds of the public?" Convincing the public that the interests of the PSAI and the industry as a whole are both benevolent and in alignment with the interests of the public at large, is the essence of my proposal of grassroots mellowing. So, what would this look like? In truth, grassroots mellowing looks a lot like standard advertising, but the key difference between the two is in the messaging. Advertising is always trying to sell a product, whether it be a new car or a new type of cereal. On the other hand, grassroots mellowing is more about trying to sell an idea, rather than a product. Messaging from a standard advertisement often goes like: "We're a company that makes this cool product. Here's why its cool. You should buy this product!" Conversely, the messaging from standard grassroots mellowing is: "We're a company that is doing all these good things. We're on the same team! If you support us, we'll keep doing things that make you better off."