3. Hold A Town Hall Meeting
Question: What is a Town Hall Meeting?
Answer: A town hall is a meeting place in a community (constituency), where family, friends, neighbours and business people gather.
Question: What is the Purpose of Holding a Town Hall Meeting?
Answer: To hear what the local folks have to say about issues that matter most to them, their children, families and businesses. Local MLAs, Mayors and MPs are invited as well.
With a looming provincial election, within the next year and a half, the local towns people can ask questions of their elected provincial representatives, on matters that are important to the community. These days, the issues may be extensive; like vaccine mandates, heath care, education, economy, drug crisis, housing, gasoline prices, and inflation, etc. These issues will reflect what is on the minds of the people in the constituency, not from some external body or authority or party.
The the people will have a choice between voting for the current political parties, or voting for an independent of their choosing.
Question: Who Organizes the Town Hall Meeting?
Answer: Anyone within the community. Talk to friends and neighbours. Someone has to get the ball rolling. The town hall meeting can be held at a church or community center. Someone can donate the use of the premises, within which to hold it. The organizers would also have to secure a sound system. An MC ought to be chosen to chair the meeting.
Question: Who Pays for the Town Hall and Insurance?
Answer: Usually the person or group organizing the event. Then, a donation box and an appeal for donations to pay for expenses is mentioned at the beginning of the meeting.
Cookies, baked goods, coffee, juice and refreshments go a long way towards the town hall meeting expenses. This is your meeting.
Question: How is a Town Hall Meeting Advertised?
Answer: Getting the word out through an invitational printed poster campaign, social media posts, and around the community on notice boards, results in a successful town hall meeting.
Town Hall Meeting Prep
- No special skills are required.
- When you have a date finalized for a Town Hall Meeting in your riding, inform us via email (hello@independentns.net), to confirm your meeting’s date and time. Put ‘Town Hall Meeting in [your town]’ in the subject line, replacing [your town] with the name of your town, riding, community, district or city.
- Once we receive your email, confirming the details of your Town Hall Meeting, we will post a notice on this website, on the Events page.
- Rent space in your community, or talk to your friends about possibly setting up at their home.
- Invite people through Telegram, Signal, Facebook, Instagram, email, or any other method with which you’re familiar. This step really depends on what social media you are familiar and comfortable with.
- Invite your local newspaper, mayor, MLA, MP, etc. But, please consider the timing of this invitation. You don’t want your rental cancelled last minute, just because your mayor disapproves. Yet, you also don’t want to set up an exclusive meeting that is shrouded in secrecy.
- NOT YET AVAILABLE - Click / Tap here to download a Town Hall Meeting Invitation Template, if you wish to use it.
- You may also want to put up some flyers on community boards throughout your area, to promote your Town Hall Meeting.
At The End Of The Meeting
Encourage the interested attendees to schedule a follow-up meeting, to take place within two weeks, at someone’s home.
Collect the emails and phone numbers of attendees at your Town Hall Meeting. Use the provided sign-up sheet. NOT YET AVAILABLE - Download it here.
After The Meeting
Write a summary email to your attendees. Include in your message that you are looking for a couple of people who are good at administration and delegation, unless you’d like to take on an admin role yourself.
