At the Campaigning Forum, you set your agenda and we help you find others who share it. Speakers and panels are there to provoke thought. Result: you learn more and connect with more people. This is the way events should be.

Theme: Campaigning against the current

2016 has seen a dramatic change in tone in countries around the world as political leaders are elected who may undermine decades of progress. One analysis of this is that growing numbers of people have been left behind and are expressing their frustration via the ballet box. Most campaigning groups have also be content to engage those already converted to their causes. This needs to change. At the 2017 Campaigning Forum we'll be exploring how to get better at engaging the rest!

Who should come?

21st campaigning is increasingly shown to be successful not because a team of campaign experts run it, but by project teams with diverse expertise, often campaigners, fundraisers, volunteer managers, media officers, policy experts, digital experts/innovators and beyond. The Campaigning Forum is one of the few events that brings this mix of people together to connect, share and learn from each other on how to influence change.

The Campaigning Forum runs on ‘Chatham House Rules’ (= nothing is attributed without permission) so everybody can freely talk about their failures and successes.

If there is a topic you’re itching to learn about or to share, come along and suggest the session. The Campaigning Forum is the place to find others who share your interests.

Draft Agenda

Mon Mar 20	Digital Leadership Forum (DLF) Day One + Trainings
09:00-17:30 London	DLF Day 1: Digital Leadership Forum led by Branislava Milosevic Trainings eCampaigning Overview by Duane Raymond, FairSay How to recruit new supporters by Amelia Showalter and Glyn Thomas
19:30	Dinner: Kick-start connections and conversations with workshop/training participants (Location TBC)
Tue MAR 21	Digital Leadership Forum Day Two + Trainings
09:00-17:30 London	DLF Day 2: Digital Leadership Forum led by Branislava Milosevic Trainings How to change the world with content strategy by Julius Honnor and Laura Robertson (Contentious Ltd) Story of theory of change by Brian Fitzgerald (Dancing Fox) Planning effective campaigns by Chris Rose (Campaign Strategy)
18:00-19:30	'Open Space Leadership' briefing This informal pre-dinner session will offer the chance to get the ball rolling and start to gather ideas and proposals for Open Space sessions. Join us to: share ideas and tips on successful Open Space groups review the potential agenda topics and themes that emerge from the participant questionnaires with a fun topic-sorting exercise help start to shape the Campaigning Forum agenda, working in groups to start developing session proposals. Open to all, though a working knowledge of Open Space methodology will be assumed.
19:30-20:30	Dinner: Kick-start connections and conversations with Campaigning Forum participants (Keble College dining room)
21:00+	Connect to kick-start connections and conversations (Keble College pub)
Wed Mar 22 Oxford	Campaigning Forum 2017 Day One
Sponsored by
Time	Summary
07:30	A morning walk or run for early risers in beautiful Oxford or Oxford University Parks. Meet at Keble College main reception
08:00	Participants in on-site accommodation: Breakfast & registration & discussion (dining room)
08:45	Participants in off-site accommodation: registration, coffee/tea, informal discussions
09:00	Welcome, introduction and agenda review (Room: Arco)
09:15	Warm-up activities and speed networking
10:00	Introduction to Open Space
10:15	Open Space Knowledge Exchange A
11.15	Coffee/tea break
11:45	Plenary speaker (Room: O'Reilly Theatre) Talking to ourselves? Thinking differently to persuade a broader audience in challenging times. Nicky Hawkins, Equally Ours
12:30	Lunch (dining room)
13:30	Peer Presentations VR and storytelling - theory and practice Pete Speller, Greenpeace International and Mary Matheson, Macondo Films From auto-pilot to attack formation (when sleeping citizens wake up) Robin Paoli, Bibliosol International What the Sydney Opera House can teach us about supporter journeys and engaging audiences Glyn Thomas and Amber MacIntyre Engaging people with differing views: practising difficult conversations- workshop  Delyth Jewell, Citizens Advice (NB This session will run through to 15.30, and will be repeated on Day 2) Could your name go here? More speakers to be added as participants come forward.
14:20	Open Space knowledge exchange B
15:30	Coffee/tea break
16:00	Skills marketplace
17:00	Ignite talks (7 minutes each): Fake news, alt facts, and the backfire effect: The science of changing someone's mind Brian Fitzgerald, Dancing Fox Upstream campaigning; striking the right tone & activating the right people for your advocacy targets Chris Gee, WWF UK Activism needs introverts Sarah Corbett, Craftivist Collective Helping supporters help themselves with simple digital tools Adam Gillett, Which? #Switchthestick Natalie Fee, City to Sea A fun way to break silos and unite teams Rachel Collinson, Donor Whisperer Activists not parrots: why there’s no such thing as a social media campaign Julius Honnor and Laura Robertson, Contentious Care2 Impact Awards winner presentation.
18:30	Speed Pitching & Apero Service providers and consultants tell you what they offer, answer your questions and/or take your feedback. 5 minutes per table then rotate. Free drinks (wine, beer, soft drinks) Engaging Networks Care2, Rhiannan Sullivan more onion, Florian Engel and Claire Donner BetterNow, Jesper Juul Jensen ControlShift Labs, Nathan Woodhull Forward Action, Alex Lloyd Dancing Fox, Brian Fitzgerald Hands Up, Ben Clowney The Shop, Sam Jeffers Rachel Collinson, Transformational Index Julius Honnor and Laura Robertson, Contentious campaignfilm, Andrew Davies Eugene Flynn, 54Degrees
20:00	Dinner (Dining room)
21:00+	Keble College Pub
Thu Mar 23	Campaigning Forum 2017 Day Two
Time	Summary
07:30	A morning walk or run for early risers in beautiful Oxford or Oxford University Parks. Meet at Keble College main reception
08:00	Participants in on-site accommodation: Breakfast & registration & discussion (dining room)
08:45	Participants in off-site accommodation: registration, coffee/tea, informal discussions
09:00	Day two agenda review, pulse check and agenda setting
09:30	Peer Presentations Beyond the echo chamber: Using social media to engage with target audiences Craig Dwyer, Yes Equality Campaign/ Social Change Initiative Which nonprofits are exceeding digital expectations? Keira Roth, Engaging Networks Campaign accelerator: a new approach to campaign planning Michael Silberman, MobLab Young working Britain: collective action for the Brexit generation Ali Torabi, TUC Engaging people with differing views: practising difficult conversations- workshop  Delyth Jewell, Citizens Advice (NB This session will run through to 11.15, and is repeated from Day 1)
10:15	Open Space knowledge exchange C
11:15	Coffee/tea break
11:45	Plenary speaker (Room: O'Reilly Theatre) Packing for the journey ahead - 7 essentials campaigners need to have to journey into the future, Tom Baker, Head of Mobilisation, Save the Children UK
12:30	Lunch (dining room)
13:30	Open Space knowledge exchange D
14:30	Teach In: share skills or knowledge with others. Writing the Unthinkable - a Technique for Extracting Compelling Stories from Your Organisation (and Also From Your Own Brain!) Jean O'Brien, Dochas/Irish Charity Lab CRM clinic - sort out your supporter engagement and data woes Branislava Milosevic, Digital Leadership Influencing corporate targets - workshop Rosie McKearney, Age UK Content strategy for campaigners Julius Honnor and Laura Robertson, Contentious Could your name go here? More presentations to be added as participants come forward.
15:45	Coffee/tea break
16:15	Ignite Talks Changing the law through cross-party campaigning - an insider view Delyth Jewell, Citizens Advice Some tools for breaking down 'the public' audience Andrew Davies #OrigamiMigration Lindsay Smith, WWF UK Free help for your campaign Simon Williams, Cardiff University Campaigning: not just for millennials Mary Milne, Traidcraft How digitally mature is the UK charity sector? Branislava Milosevic, Digital Leadership I signed up to 100 charity email lists, and this is what happened next... Glyn Thomas Closing Session (Room: O'Reilly Theatre)
17:30	Event formally ends
19:00+	Dinner and drinks in Oxford: Self-organised for those staying around

How the agenda works

Many times when you reflect on the conference you realise that the best bits were chatting to people during the coffee break or in a pub. So at Campaigning Forum, slots (time and room) are provided to have your own discussions with other people at the conference without feeling that you are missing scheduled sessions. In fact, that is the majority of the event. Its called open space (see the methodology).

2017 Participants

Campaigning Forum History

Campaigning Forum started as the eCampaigning Forum (ECF) event in 2002 organised by Duane Raymond, then Oxfam's eCampaigning Manager. It evolved a highly anticipated and influential annual event plus a dynamic and highly active ECF global community that grows daily and has inspired similar events around the world like ECF Europe in Berlin, re:campaign in Berlin, Fwd in Australia and Camp15 in The Netherlands

Over the last decade, digital has shifted from a specialist role and an essential tool in campaigning and organisations. Campaigning Forum has constantly been ahead of this shift, and in 2017 is organised around key aspects of modern organisations: digital leadership, campaigning, fundraising, volunteering, media engagement and policy research and looking to the emerging trends. The aim is to bring together increasing diverse participants who share broadly similar goals around improving our world and connect them, help them learn from one another and inspire them to think beyond their current practices, roles and plans.

At the Campaigning Forum, you set your agenda and we help you find others who share it. Speakers and panels are there to provoke thought.

The result: you learn more and connect with more people. This is the way events should be.

Theme: Campaigning against the current

2016 has seen a dramatic change in tone in countries around the world as political leaders are elected who may undermine decades of progress. One analysis of this is that growing numbers of people have been left behind and are expressing their frustration via the ballet box. Most campaigning groups have also be content to engage those already converted to their causes. This needs to change. At the 2017 Campaigning Forum we'll be exploring how to get better at engaging the rest!

Who should come?

21st campaigning is increasingly shown to be successful not because a team of campaign experts run it, but by project teams with diverse expertise, often campaigners, fundraisers, volunteer managers, media officers, policy experts, digital experts/innovators and beyond. The Campaigning Forum is one of the few events that brings this mix of people together to connect, share and learn from each other on how to influence change.

The Campaigning Forum runs on ‘Chatham House Rules’ (= nothing is attributed without permission) so everybody can freely talk about their failures and successes.

Have we missed something that you’re itching to hear about? Come along and suggest the session you want.

Agenda

What next...

Your ECF Nordics 2017 application will be reviewed (and likely approved) within 24 hours. At that point you will be sent a confirmation email and an invoice. If you don't hear back, it is OK to chase Duane at duane@fairsay.com.

Join the ECF email discussion list

If you aren't already on it, join the ECF community online. This is the community of past, current and future ECF event participants and discussion there influences the event and the learning of members.

Lead 'Gold' Sponsors

We provide a powerful platform for campaigning, fundraising, emailing and more. Proud to have been supporting the ECF event and community since 2002.

Silver Sponsors

Nicky Hawkins, Equally Ours

Nicky has worked in UK charity communications for fifteen years, campaigning with organisations like Friends of the Earth and Save the Children. She now leads the Equally Ours programme identifying how we can change hearts and minds on inequality, human rights and social justice. Her work draws heavily from research into how people think, feel and respond to their world.

Nicky works in collaboration with a wide range of UK organisations to introduce an evidence-based approach communicating some of the most important issues of our time. In her spare time she works with the Catsnake, a storytelling agency that makes audiences care, share and act.

She'll be sharing some of the data she's collected - and some that she's shamelessly borrowed from others. More importantly she'll be looking to stimulate discussion and ideas about how we make sense of, and respond to, the interesting times we’re in.

She also presented via webinar a "Post truth survival guide" which compliments her presentation at the 2017 Campaigning Forum.

Tom Baker, Save the Children UK

Tom Baker is Head of Mobilisation at Save the Children UK. Tom was previously Head of Campaigns and Engagement at Bond UK and has also worked for Tearfund, Christian Aid and Micah Challenge International. Tom is one of the co-founders of Campaign Bootcamp and blogs at Thoughtful Campaigner.

At ECF 2017, Tom will talk about "Packing for the journey ahead - 7 essentials campaigners need to have to journey into the future." He asks:

"As we look back at the last year, and look ahead, what are the tools, tactics and approaches that as campaigners we need to pack for the journey ahead? How do we ensure that our campaigns can continue to be relevant in 2017 and beyond."

In this talk, Tom will drawing on his experience, the questions he's been thinking about since Brexit and reflections on the campaigns that have emerged in the last few months to ask how as campaigners do we effectively navigate the new political landscape we face.

To be confirmed

Attending the Campaigning Forum is a great way to connect with peers and potential clients and showcase your expertise through the contributions you make in the small group sessions.

Many of the agencies who participated in the past found the event to be a fantastic way of getting to know the sector, potential clients and issues they grapple with. However, a space in the programme was needed for them to talk about their company and services as well as how they can help not-for-profits and union participants with campaigning, fundraising or technology.

That's is why in 2014 we introduced a special 'speed pitching' session before dinner on day 1 (18:30-19:30) to give sponsors and other service providers the chance to quickly showcase what they have to offer in a fun, high-energy format.

Based on the idea of speed dating, this optional pre-dinner session gives you the chance to pitch your service or product in just 5 minutes to small groups of participants. Groups will move around the room to catch as many pitches as they can in just one hour. It will be loud, it will be chaotic, and it will be fun.

You'll get table space and wall space or flip chart, you can bring a laptop or tablet, but your pitch is up to you. We'll lay on the drinks and the crowd control(ish).

Who? Costs?

The Campaigning Forum sponsors (Engaging Networks, Care2, more onion, Campaign Film) and host FairSay will be there. If you'd like to join them, here are the costs:

• Companies/NGOs 3+ people: £250
• Companies < 3 people/Individuals: £125
• Anyone not participating in the event: £400

The figures above help cover the room hire and drinks.

It works well because it provides a great chance for suppliers to connect with clients without disrupting the peer-led ethos of the event.

Are you in? Email duane@fairsay.com if you wish to book a space (space is limited)