The 2009 Summit to End Prostate Cancer is scheduled for September 23-24 at The Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, DC.  I know - it seems like it is far off in the future, but it's closer than you might think and as of now, there is still some space left in our room block.

Early registration for the Summit will end in two weeks (June 19) and registration all registrations must be in by August 21 for anyone seeking to take advantage of the room block at The Liaison Hotel.

Our topics this year will focus on building grassroot networks and we will discuss activating those networks to accomplish the goals that we set for policy, awareness and outreach.

The Summit is open to anyone interested in being an active advocate on behalf of prostate cancer patients, survivors and families.

Please visit the website below for more information and to download the registration form.  I hope you will join us in DC in September.

Summit to End Prostate Cancer Website

[NOTE:  This was supposed to be in today's edition of AWARE, however AWARE will not be going out until Thursday, but I wanted to let you know how things seem to be shaking up.  Check back soon for action items and how we plan to get a jump on the 111th Congress.]

The Congressional Landscape

After an historic Presidential election, we look at the new Congressional landscape that will certainly have its own impact on determining the direction President-elect Obama’s administration will take.

The big picture is still up in the air with 4 Senate seats and a handful of House races still up in the air (at the time of writing this report).

What we know is Democrats gained at least 5 seats in the Senate and 12 seats in the House and the work to educate the new members of Congress about prostate cancer will begin as soon as possible.

The key races involving supporters of prostate cancer issues should prove to be mostly positive.

In Georgia, Rep. Jim Marshall won handily and will return to fight for research funding and screening for uninsured men.  As for prostate cancer supporter Senator Saxby Chambliss, he currently holds a slim lead in his race, but at this time it is still yet to be called.

Senator Elizabeth Dole has lost her seat to Kay Hagen in North Carolina.  Senator-elect Hagen is an early target to support prostate cancer.

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, a prostate cancer survivor, currently holds a narrow lead to retain his Senate seat, but still faces the felony conviction handed down by a grand jury just before the election.

Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha, chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, has retained his seat and will continue to be a primary target to help increase prostate cancer research funding.

In Florida, while Rep. Tim Mahoney was defeated, other prostate cancer supporters held their seats and the task at hand is to reach out and gain support from the new members of the Florida delegation.

Senator-elect Mark Udall in Colorado has a history of prostate cancer support and solidifying his support in the Senate is also a high priority.

In other key races involving prostate cancer supporters:
Nevada: Jon Porter lost.
Kansas: Nancy Boyda lost.
New Hampshire: Carol Shea-Porter won.
Connecticut: Christopher Shays lost.
South Carolina: Henry Brown won.
Kentucky: John Yarmuth won.

We are still analyzing the makeup of the new Congress and will be setting our sights on initial targeted members of Congress to begin educating them about prostate cancer.  If you have specific questions about your Representative or Senators, please contact Kevin or Marie.

Who Are We Watching?

The expectation today is that sweeping changes will be made to the Congressional landscape, and here is a primer for key Senate and Congressional races to watch for as the results start to trickle in this evening.

In Alaska, prostate cancer survivor Senator Ted Stevens faces an uphill battle after being convicted of 7 felony charges of filing false disclosure statements.  Stevens is the ranking member of the Senate Defense Appropriation Subcommittee.

Senator Wayne Allard (CO) is retiring and will likely be replaced by current Rep. Mark Udall (CO02) who has supported research funding for prostate cancer in the past.  Marilyn Musgrave (CO04) another past supporter for research funding trails in the polls to challenger Betsy Markey.

Tim Mahoney (FL16) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL21) are both supporters for prostate cancer research and also both on the endangered list.  Florida has been a state where support from the delegation has been hard to win, so losing 2 there would be a hard loss to take.  Additionally, we’re losing key support on the House Appropriations Committee in Dr. Dave Weldon (FL15) – probable replacement State Senator Bill Posey is at least familiar with prostate cancer issues having chaired the committee with jurisdiction over the prostate cancer insurance mandate bill before the Florida legislature last year.

Jim Marshall (GA08) is a key leader for prostate cancer in the House as original sponsor of the Thomas J. Manton Early Detection and Treatment Act and a supporter for research funding.  He currently holds a slim lead in the polls, but is a target in a district that voted 61% for Bush and will likely garner higher numbers for McCain.  Senator Saxby Chambliss supports prostate cancer issues and holds a slim lead in the polls against challenger Jim Martin.

Elizabeth Dole, who has been an ally in the Senate on prostate cancer issues and whose husband former Senator Bob Dole is a prostate cancer survivor, trails in most polls to newcomer Kay Hagen.

Vito Fosella (NY13), Michael McNulty (NY21), James Walsh (NY25), and Thomas Reynolds (NY26) are all leaving office for various reasons which takes 4 solid prostate cancer supporters off of our list and leaves us with unknown levels of support in the coming year.

John Murtha (PA12), chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, leads holds a narrow lead in the polls after making disparaging remarks about his district on television recently.  Christopher Carney (PA10) is the Democratic-incumbent in a strong Republican district.  He supports funding for prostate cancer research.  Phil English (PA03) is past supporter for research funding trails in the polls to Democratic challenger Kathleen Ann "Kathy" Dahlkemper.

In Virginia, retiring Senator John Warner, a supporter of prostate cancer research funding, will likely be succeeded by former Governor Mark Warner (no relation).  While then-Gov. Warner signed a proclamation designating September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in Virginia, like other newcomers he will be an unknown initially.  Tom Davis’ (VA11) retirement leaves another hole that will likely be filled by Democrat candidate Gerry Connelly.

Other key races we’re watching today include:

Jon Porter (NV03)
Nancy Boyda (KS02)
Carol Shea-Porter (NH01)
Christopher Shays (CT04)
Henry Brown (SC01)
John Yarmuth (KY03)

Read AWARE tomorrow for a report on today’s results on these and other key races.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” – author Jane Howard in her book Families.

In terms of advancing the cause and reaching our legislative and policy goals, the next step that we need to take is building a large and active grassroots network that can contact elected officials and other decision-makers when called upon, is willing donate money and/or time, and can recruit others to join them in the cause.

We already have very dedicated individuals and groups around the country willing to pour their passion and energy into the cause, but passion and energy have limits.  Even myself and the members of our staff here at ZERO have limits to the amount that we as individuals or even as a team can accomplish.  For example, in terms of outreach, awareness and education of our issues on Capitol Hill this year, by all accounts it was a highly successful year.  Certainly, we wanted to accomplish more, but our sheer numbers of Members on Capitol Hill who either signed letters, co-sponsored legislation or even reached out to ask us questions about prostate cancer increased by about 33% this year.  In 2008, we visited over 150 Congressional offices between January and September – add to that the 90 or so visits by advocates during this year’s Summit and we reached out to over 200 Members of Congress and their staffs.

However, the contacts that we made directly or indirectly this year do not account for even half of the 535 Members in Washington, DC.

So, where does that leave us?  It leaves us at the point where we either have to work at reaching out and bringing more people that will answer our calls for help, or we will continue to make small scale successes.

Now, the real question once you accept this challenge, is how do we build our networks?

The answer is not as hard as you might think because it has to start with those that are closest to you.  For starters, your friends and family are easy targets – asking friends and family members to write letters is an easy request not only to ask, but also to fulfill.  Your next targets are your extended network of business contacts or professional relationships you might have.

It’s important to remember that most of the people you are talking to at this point have varying levels of knowledge about prostate cancer and this is not a fundraising request.  This is simply a request for people to join your cause and learn more about prostate cancer to help you spread the word about the importance of screening and early detection, and why we fight so hard to increase funding for research.  It’s kind of like dating – you probably want to get to know the person your going out with before you ask them to marry you.  If you ask them to marry you on the first date, it will also probably be your last date.

You probably have opportunities to build your network on a daily or at least weekly basis whether you realize it or not.  For instance, the light chatter that sparks up while your waiting for your drink at the bar or even the coffee shop, or the question that comes from the girl checking you out at the grocery store because they noticed your ribbon pin or ZERO pin, which (shameless promotion) you can buy in the ZERO store.

In addition, holiday season is coming up with parties and gatherings which are all opportunities to talk about your cause.  This is not to say that you fill conversations about prostate cancer and the work you do to raise awareness and advocate – instead, prepare an “elevator speech”.  Your elevator speech should be no more than a minute long (so about a paragraph worth of writing), that covers the main points about what you do and why you do it.  Be prepared to leave a card and follow up with people.

I take advantage of as many networking events as I can fit into my schedule – they may be political events, professional events with other lobbyists, or the ones I enjoy the most cross-profession events where I tend to meet a lot of public relations and marketing professionals.

The most important part of building your list is making it active.  A list is just a list, but an active list is a movement.  Keep your members active through regular contact.  The fact of the matter is that you will only have a few opportunities each year to get you members to write a letter or make a phone call, and it is those few opportunities that you must be able to count on them to do so.  Between those moments, be sure to keep them up to date with news, legislative updates or even small gatherings or other events that keep them engaged and interested.

These are only a few ideas and I hope that you will share ideas, successes or other stories that can help us all in our networking endeavors.  Please feel free to contact me with question, comments, complaints or praise.  AND, have a Happy Halloween.

I always think it is difficult to write the first entry of any blog because I never know whether to jump right into things or to lay out my expectations and plans to get my readers thinking.  So, I’m going to ping both sides of the track in the introductory entry of my new and improved blog here on ZeroCancer.org.

Ostensibly, this is the new version of my PCA Inside the Beltway blog, but I hope to take a broader view issues and news as they present themselves, and my hope is that we can generate some discussion and action that will help our advocacy for prostate cancer issues at the federal and state level.

One of the first things I want to cover is building our network.  State legislatures are going to be starting up in a couple of months and we’ve already heard from a number of people interested in ramping up State prostate cancer initiatives.  It is important in all campaigns to have a strong core of dedicated advocates (if you’re reading this, you probably already are one of these).  However, if you are only one person, it can be very difficult – you need help.  There should always be at least two others that can help to strategize, recruit and advocate on a regular basis.  From this group, the network should reach out like an oak tree with branches sprouting from the trunk and smaller stems attached to the many branches and leading out to the great number of leaves ready to fall when the weather tells them to.

This takes time, but it is important to think about how to water your tree when you drop the kids off at school, talk to your neighbors while you wash your car, attend sporting and social events where you inevitably end up meeting new people, or whatever setting brings you to expanding your network.  Your network is the beginning of a movement that will initially bring change in your State, but when added to the collection of networks nationally will help us to affect change at the federal level.

I have plans for the next three entries that I will post in the coming days and I hope that it will spark some interest, feedback and input about how we take the next steps.  The first entry I will post is going to talk about building the network and it’s going to be important to keep in mind that it’s more than just names on a list – the network and the list have to be active on a regular basis, people have to answer the call to let their voice be heard and share concerns with elected officials and decision makers at all levels of government.

The next two articles will discuss what has happened so far and MY view of the current state of grassroots advocacy, and then where we’re going and how we are going to get there with the help of new advocates and more involved grassroots network.

I hope that you will share your thoughts with me and others here on our community pages and together we will work to achieve our goals legislatively, but more importantly scientifically and medically as we fight prostate cancer.