The Neighborhood Team Model

[Narrator] Unlike other presidential campaigns, our strength resides in the thousands of volunteer
leaders already organizing themselves into teams across the country.
[Narrator] This is an introduction into the leadership roles that keep our organization
running.
[Narrator] This is "The Neighborhood Team Model".
[Cheryl Ellis-voiceover] 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.
[Cheryl Ellis-voiceover] I've been able to recruit volunteer team members who are now
experts, and now they're acting as coordinators.
[Cheryl Ellis] Who was planning to come to tomorrow night's phone bank? Awesome.
[Laura-voiceover] One way that I have seen this campaign empower people is just by watching
them learn to phone bank.
[Laura] Ok, 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-voiceover] One of the most important things I do as the Phone Bank Coordinator
is train new people.
[Laura] And when you run across an undecided voter, give them a chance to express their
concerns.
[Cheryl-voiceover] 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] Every phone call I make, that could be the phone call that re-elects President
Obama.
[Chrissy-voiceover] The goal today is to register four people per person.
[Chrissy] Oh I absolutely love being the Canvass Coordinator.
[Cheryl] Over here, we're going canvassing, knocking…
[Cheryl-voiceover] We're going door-to-door, and we're going to community events to find
new voters.
[Chrissy] Let's go Barack-and-roll!
[Cheryl] Alright!
[Chrissy] I'm out in my community. People know me.
[Chrissy] Hey, young man. How are you doing?
[Cheryl] Chrissy's such a good canvasser, because she has a passion for this.
[Chrissy] We'll definitely get your contact information, and give you a call.
[Chrissy-voiceover] I think it's wonderful whenever neighbors talk to neighbors, because
you know that person is invested in your community.
[Canvasser] Oh, look at you! You have on my hat.
[Chrissy-voiceover] I'm responsible for training people to go out and arm themselves with the
proper knowledge to go out and canvass their neighborhoods.
[Canvasser] Hey, Chrissy. We just got somebody at that house. Yep.
[Billie] Since there's a team, we're doing so many different tasks all the time; we really
need a system to track all of those opportunities.
[Man] Billie, I've got two sheets for you here.
[Billie-voiceover] 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 a 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.
[Billie] So that when the time comes we can get out the vote. And that's really what data
entry is all about.
[Chrissy-voiceover] Now that we have these team members that 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] 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. That's about it.
[Hanna-voiceover] Working in this campaign is totally different from that. I feel connected
to the neighborhood people who I work with. I feel like I'm part of something larger.
The story that's happening here is happening all over the country, and it's just inspiring.
[Cheryl-voiceover] This campaign is about us. President Obama is the inspiration, but
he lit the fire, and now we've just run with it.
[Cheryl] Once you feel that, there's nothing that can stop it.