How To Get Attention and Get Noticed With Fisheries Managers

I recently had the opportunity to attend a meeting where a few State Representatives attended and gave us an education on how to properly communicate with Bureaucrats and get things done, or at least, get yourself heard.

Before I get started on it though,
I would like to share with you (in my experience) of what goes on with a troublesome client – The reason I want to do this is because I want you to think of it as you read the article and think to yourself how do you handle troublesome clients.

First off, for those of you readers that do not know me, I literally “grew up” in the passenger fishing business and have been dealing with the public most of my life.

Looking back, what I would do with troublesome customers,

was to try and appease them and make them happy. Many of the customers we has would come fishing with us every weekend. Once and a while we would get a guy that knew it all and had something to say about everything. Nothing we did would be good enough, and he would constantly berate us or complain. What we would do is, after a while, turn a deaf ear to him and hope he would eventually go away. If he didn't we would do little changes here and there. Furthermore, the service we to him would wane, and after a while, they would simply “Go-away.”

They were “Un-welcome Pests”

On the other hand, 

we had clients (still do) that would come every weekend, be somewhat helpful and understanding if everything didn't go just right, and were appreciative of what we were doing and trying to accomplish. No I have to tell you .. these people got all the little “extras” we would give and we looked forward to their business.

They were and still are “Welcome Guests”

Think about this when you read the rest of this article.

Because we are nothing more than clients to the politicians, and if we all do our part in being “welcome guests” instead of “Un-welcome Pests,” I believe we could accomplish all we set out to do when it comes to fisheries management.

Now I know you are probably thinking “I am the tax payer here and they work for me .... while true, you and I are no different than a client.

Standing room only was the order of the evening at a recent State License Fee meeting in Connecticut.

Six or Seven (6 or 7) state representatives were there, along with over 100 other interested Sportsmen and Women.

Kudos for the Representatives for showing up.

They did a spectacular job of listening and educating us on how things work in government.

A few of the Representatives really “told it like it is” and the effect was immediate, thought provoking, and more than a little alarming.

The Representatives were there because they are on “our” side 

and really attempting to do their jobs .... they also informed all of us that without our input, they cannot do their jobs effectively.

All of the Representatives had an opportunity 

to give their opinions, and remarkably, ALL of them gave the same advice. I feverishly took notes, (next time I bring a small recorder and have it transcribed) and the next day I broke them down into categories. Surprisingly, it came down to only Two (2) categories which are listed below.

The advice they gave also was a request for help.

As I see it, if we do as they say, we will communicate more effectively, enhance out own credibility, and create a way for them to do their jobs better and help us!

Here are the Two categories:

1.      Introduce yourself to local representatives and legislators. Educate them about your business.

Invite them out for a day, build a relationship.

·         By building relationships with the representatives,

o    You put a face to the voice

o    Create an emotional bond

o    Create a friendship – and who doesn't want to help friends?

o    You become a trusted advisor to your occupation. They will “seek you out” for advice when a piece of legislation comes out that may affect you.

... Remember – Its Not What You Know .... It's Who You Know ...

2.      You absolutely, positively, most definitely need to attend regulatory meetings.

·         With regular attendance, you

o    “See” the representatives on a different level. Because you did the work previously and built a relationship, they will naturally seek you out looking for your input , and you have much better chance of a positive outcome.

o    Get to learn more about how the process works, and can ask more intelligent questions on a more friendly basis when you have the representatives out to your place of business again.

o    Have something to talk about of which you both have participated in. This builds the relationship more, and you both will appreciate one another more.

o    Learn who the players are and get to know them via introductions from the relationships you built previously. This will become self perpetuating, and you will gain more and more influence!

One of them said 

“It's easy to complain about anything. Anybody can do it. Anyone can play Monday morning quarterback. 

Complaining gets you no-where. If you do some work, like attend meetings, write letters and emails, along with creating relationships with legislators, you will have earned the right to voice your opinion. If you don't do any of the work, all the complaining in the world falls on deaf ears.”

Another one said, “If you don't go to meetings and get involved, you are just as guilty and are as much to blame as anyone.”

These people are swamped with bills on their desks. They all asked when submitting something, please make it short and easy to read with bullet points.

Identify the pain, (what you are against), followed by your ideas on how to correct it. These people cannot possibly know about everything ... that is why the relationship is so, so important. Then you need to identify what is wrong or what you don't like, why it won't work, etc, and close your argument with how you think it should be or could be fixed and why. (this makes you look like you know what you are talking about and gives them a way out of their position – lets them save face)

Personal Story: Years ago, I sat on the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. I was an offshore fishing representative. At times, I had to vote on shellfish ground leases, shrimp trap regs, crab trawl regs, etc. While I know plenty about fishing offshore, I knew nothing about the inshore fishery. When someone from the meeting would get up and holler and call us names and insult us, let me tell you, we had one thing on our mind ... “how do I get rid of this guy” and it happened more than once.

On the other hand, we would have a guy get up, edify us and himself, tell us what was wrong with the plan and why, followed up with what he thought would work and why. Without exception, that person was invited to the “hospitality room” after the meeting for an informal discussion. This guy was always listened to, called for advise, and most of the time he got what he wanted.

Three P's 

P.1) Policy:

what are you concerned about –

communicate in precise points,

keep it pithy in an easy to read and absorb format like bullet points.

P.2) Personal relationship:

who are you talking to?

Are they in your district?

Do you know them?

Have you met with them or attended a meeting with them?

P.3) Process: 

Where is the thing you are concerned about in the process?

It takes a long time to get a bill passed

You must know your enemy!!

For example: The licensing fees being raised in the state of Ct and NY ...

The enemy is the budget deficit.

In other words, you must address the enemy in the fight –

·         Do Not resort to calling names

Stick to the subject - Stay highly focused! Pick your target, lock the laser scope on it and keep it there!

·         Do not talk about irrelevant subjects.... you must identify and target the exact enemy.

·         Bring strong facts and figures .... be ready to back them up. The Stronger the Facts and Figures, the bigger the bullet

Push back! Become the squeaky wheel. It is true that the squeaky wheels get the grease. Never stop contacting them ALL THE TIME on the issues! 
Hold them accountable. That squeaky wheel stays on top of the pile and after a while they need to grease it!

Remember .. you built a relationship with them, and if you did it right, you created a friendship. Everyone wants to help a friend.

·         “Stinky Stuff” rolls down hill and the quiet ones are on the bottom ... therefore they get the “Stuff” that runs down the hill.

·         Become a “Squeaky Wheel.” Squeaky Wheels get the most grease, which is ATTENTION!

You absolutely must bring strong facts and figures to the fight. That is the ammo which is needed. The stronger the facts and figures, the bigger the bullet.

Be the squeaky wheel! Just be nice about it.

·         We all need to build relationships with all representatives

·         We all need to become part of the solution – not part of the problem

·         We all need to become “Welcome Guests”

·         We all need to attend as many meetings as possible

·         We all need to write snail mail letters

·         We all need to write email letters

·         We all need to speak as one voice .... if the fishermen in Alaska are having a management issue, we should all support them and they do the same for us.