Clive S. Thomas

300-word description:
This is a guide to the essentials of organizing and implementing a lobbying campaign in Alaska. It will be particularly useful to anyone coming to lobbying for the first time. Besides the novice, it will be valuable to those who’ve had mixed successes in lobbying in the past, as well as professional lobbyists looking for new perspectives on their business. The theme of this guide is that good lobbyists are students of human nature. Lobbying is a communications industry based on personal relationships and the ability to present information in the most effective way. In essence, effective lobbying requires getting the right message over to the right people in the right form at the right time. All lobbyists need to understand the basics of politics, how state government is organized and those who run state government. To provide this, the first part of the book explains: how to think politically; the structure and operation of state government, including the all-important budget process; the psychology and needs of public officials; and where the power lies in Juneau—who’s got the political clout. Then the book it gets into the nitty-gritty of a lobbying campaign. It covers: the basics of group influence, campaign planning and management, the pros and cons of various group tactics, including using a lobbyist, joining a coalition and protests and rallies, tips on face-to-face meeting with politicians and other public officials, and how to deal with the challenges of lobbying day-to-day. Even with all this guidance, like any guide to lobbying, using this handbook is no guarantee of success because at bottom lobbying is an art and not a science. The uncertainties of politics mean that sometimes even the most influential interest groups in Alaska, as elsewhere, lose their lobbying battles, including the oil industry and business interests. Nevertheless, what this handbook does do is explains the factors that can lead to lobbying success. Almost as important, it emphasizes the things to avoid that will undermine, and perhaps destroy your chances of success.
 
100-word description:
This is a guide to the essentials of organizing and implementing a lobbying campaign in Alaska. It explains the factors that can lead to lobbying success. Almost as important, it emphasizes the things to avoid that will undermine, and perhaps destroy your chances of success. This handbook will be particularly useful to anyone coming to lobbying for the first time. Besides the novice, it will be valuable to those who’ve had mixed successes in lobbying in the past, as well as professional lobbyists looking for new perspectives on their business.
 
One sentence description:
A guide to the essentials of organizing and implementing a lobbying campaign in Alaska.