1-6 Months Ahead of Showtime
* Set your organizing goals
How many people do you want to have at the show? What organizations do you want to network with? What is your fundraising goal? How will you capture the energy generated during the show and use it in local organizing efforts? This might sound basic, but goal-setting is crucial to pulling off a successful event.

* Invite other organizations to co-sponsor the event
This involves calling, emailing and visiting groups/people in your community who are likely to already have an interest in the issue. Churches, universities and unions are good places to start, along with community organizations that work on drug policy reform, anti-racism, Latin America solidarity (the show has a heavy Colombia focus), environmental justice (the US has spent over $1 billion on an environmentally devastating aerial fumigations initiative in Colombia), prison reform, education, peace-building/war-resisting etc. You get the idea! Co-sponsorship of events by at least three organizations is strongly encouraged to help generate a diverse and representative audience!

* Cover the logistics
DWR asks you to secure:
- A room big enough to fit all the people you want to come (but not too big!)
- 4-5 tables including two long tables that will be used for the stage
- Chairs for all attendees
- LCD Projector, screen and computer to show a Power Point slideshow

We understand that all of the above resources may not be at your disposal—don’t worry! We are extremely flexible, but it is easier to be accommodating with advance warning. Please let us know ahead of time if you will not be able to provide any of the above items and we’ll figure out an alternative plan.

Local sponsors are also involved in:
- Making sure our volunteer facilitator gets fed and has a place to sleep while in your town. On this tour cycle, Liza will be your facilitator. Local sponsors often like to put us up in their homes, which suits us just fine.
- Helping with transportation. The degree of “helping” depends on where our volunteer facilitator is coming from to do the show for you. You may need to arrange for transportation to/from an airport or bus station and will almost always need to provide transportation for shuffling to/from events, dinners, lodging etc.

* 1 Month-1 Minute Before Showtime—Organize, Organize, Organize!
- Post flyers in cafes and libraries, at bus stops and on street poles. Wherever you go, hang a flyer. Chances are, people who shop at your grocery store or wash clothes at your laundry mat care about the Drug War just like you. Use the flyer template we provide you (it’s a separate document—let us know if you don’t have it) or make your own.

- Use appropriate email listserves to advertise the show.
Sample Text:
JOIN THE DRUG WAR ROADSHOW ON (DATE)
Are you concerned that the US currently has the largest prison population in the world (including half a million people imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses)? Ever wondered why the US has sent over $5 billion dollars to Colombia since 2000 as part of the War on Drugs if it hasn’t brought about a change in the price, purity or availability of cocaine on America’s streets? Want to check out a really cool popular-education-style show with puppets, skits and digital images?

Join us for an evening/afternoon of fun and education DATE , TIME, PLACE.

The Drug War Roadshow is Interactive Educational Theater exploring the “Drug War” in Colombia and the US. DWR believes the Drug War is serious, but learning about it should be fun! DWR believes we all should have a say in how we approach drug and crime reduction in our communities and our foreign policy.

See you at the show!
Co-Sponsored by [list sponsors]
For more information, contact: [list contact info] or liza@igc.org

* Contact local media
Make sure the event gets advertised in newspapers and on the radio. Ask a reporter to do a story on the event. Our facilitators will be happy to be interviewed by the press corps either before or after the show. Let us know if you need help writing a press release or doing media outreach.

* Identify potential volunteer puppeteers
We usually ask local sponsors to provide us with three aspiring actors/puppeteers (though anyone capable of theatrically reading a script behind a screen will work) to fill the following roles:
Camilo the Campesino Coca Farmer (knowing Spanish or being able to speak English with Spanish accent a bonus)
Babbling Babs the Bureaucrat
Strugglin’ Stan the Street Dealer

Normally there will be no rehearsal, so you should choose people who can annunciate clearly, improvise on the spot if necessary (though there will be a clear script to follow), and get “in character.” We like to meet (often over dinner if it’s an evening time event) before hand with the volunteers to talk through their role.

You don’t have to have had any prior experience to participate as a puppeteer volunteer! That is the nature of popular theater! Our puppets and our scripts are community resource tools; we believe our show is much more powerful if local people star in the show. We purposefully create our scripts so that any participant can jump in and take on a role. Anyone can help with this job!

* Start thinking about next steps
It is your job to provide flyers and outreach material for the audience about upcoming local events and local organizations to keep folks involved. DWR will bring resources that focus more on national and international policy. If a speaker from your group wants some time to plug an upcoming campaign, event, or issue, we’re happy to work them into the show.

* Check in with us
Let us know how your organizing efforts are going. We are happy to help you strategize and dream, and love hearing how the event is coming together. Knowing roughly how many people are expected and what their background interests are gives us a better idea how to plan our curriculum. Good luck and we’ll see you at showtime!