In an effort to cultivate local leaders while simultaneously working to educate the public on the various critical issues facing American Citizens today, the Liberty Restoration Project has developed the Topic Expert Program. The objective of the Topic Expert Program contains the following points:

1. Foster and support local leaders within the liberty movement.
2. Educate the masses, starting in Kansas City, one person, one group at a time.
3. Minimize the burden of research and duplication of research/education efforts for the liberty movement.
4. Provide the movement and our community with a set of informed, peer reviewed, speakers available to present all over the country.
5. Serve as a bridge, or point of collaboration, between LRP chapters in various cities/states.
6. Provide a rally point for groups who span across the entire political spectrum.

After extensive research and planning, Topic Experts will make presentations on their issue in a variety of settings. For people who have a basic understanding of their issue, the Topic Exerts will provide an in-depth lecture that will ALWAYS end with a clear plan of action for citizens interested in contributing their time, energy or finances to that particular issue. For citizens or groups who have little to no knowledge of the specific issue, the Topic Experts will provide an introductory level course which, too, should end with a call to action. Courses can be designed to last over multiple sessions or to fit into a one-time slot. Once the program is in full swing, Topic Experts will be available to speak to groups all across the country. A list of all topic experts from all cities and states will be made available on our website, speaking requests may require financial assistance for travel in order for the request to be fulfilled.

Topic Experts will:
1. Choose an LRP “issue” (http://www.libertyrestorationproject.org/issues/ ) or submit their Topic expert Idea to the Executive Director for approval.
2. Blog about their topic of interest (current events, interesting historical facts, etc..)
3. Create and maintain a resource page on our website. This should have a very easy to understand explanation of the topic and how it impacts citizens in our city, state or country (lets try to keep it as local and focused as possible) and should also include an in depth resource list for people interested in doing their own research on the topic. If there are multiple topic experts for a specific issue, they will work together to develop and maintain this.
4. Produce, or help produce, informational fliers about their topic to be used at booths, events, etc…. If there are multiple topic experts for a specific issue, they will work together to develop and maintain these.
5. Develop a beginner and advanced educational curriculum regarding their topic. If there are multiple topic experts for a specific issue, they will work together to develop, update, and improve these training courses.
6. Before becoming an official Topic Expert, trainees will practice their training course(s) in front of representatives of LRP and toastmasters and use their constructive criticism to improve their course in anyway possible. Depending on the clarity of the course, there could be anywhere from 1-5 critiques before the trainee is graduated to an official Topic Expert position.
7. Commit to providing their course to the public at least three times per year.
8. Utilize creative forms of communication, such as You Tube, to reach out to all learning styles.

April 1st is the deadline to submit courses to the communiversity schedule through UMKC ( http://www.umkc.edu/commu/) for their summer schedule. I would like to see at least three topic experts signed up to provide a training course during the summer of 2009.

Here is my proposed timeline to make that happen:
1. Immediately: First round of Topic Expert Trainees begin blogging.
2. January 31st: First round of Topic Expert Trainees complete initial drafts of their resource page for the website by.
3. February 15th: First round of Topic Expert Trainees complete initial drafts of their first informational pamphlet/handout/flier.
4. Month of March: First round Topic Expert Trainees will present their training courses to members of LRP and/or toastmasters.
5. April 2009: First round of Topic Expert Trainees who graduated to Topic Experts will sign up on the communiversity schedule and their information will be listed on the website as a Topic Expert available to make presentations!
6. May 31st: Second round of Topic Expert Trainees will complete their resource page (or have begun collaborating with existing experts if there are multiple people working on the same issue)
7:June 15th: Second round of Topic Expert Trainees will complete initial drafts of their first information pamphlet/handout/flier.
8. Month of July: Second round of Topic Expert Trainees will present their training courses to members of LRP and/or toastmasters.
9. August 2009: Second round of Topic Expert Trainees who graduate to the Topic Expert level will register to teach in the Fall 2009 communiversity schedule.

As this program grows, the research and materials developed during the initial stages (now) can be shared with individuals and groups across the country to utilize in their own local educational efforts. This will have many benefits, including a reduction of duplicate efforts and building cross-country activist coalitions.

Please let me know your feedback on this proposal. I would like to have it approved at the next meeting, if possible.

You can discuss this on our bulletin board here: http://www.libertyrestorationproject.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=58 Or, you can comment directly on this blog at: www.libertyrestorationproject.org

To anyone interested in becoming a topic expert, please contact me asap to get the ball rolling. You don’t have to live in Kansas City to participate in this program. My email address is: Catherine@libertyrestorationproject.org.

If you have previously contacted me, and I have not set you up at this point, please contact me again. Holidays have been hectic

Thanks everyone for your time, energy and feedback on this proposal!

peace and lots of love,

Catherine Bleish
Executive Director
Liberty Restoration Project
816-868-8806
Catherine@libertyrestorationproject.org
www.libertyrestorationproject.org

Freedom reaches across party lines.

Tags: Topic Expert

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Kansas City, Topic Expert Program. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.