Registration Deadline: Fall 2009 Mentoring Program

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

The Democratic Communicators Network is launching the Fall 2009 Mentoring Program for House and Senate communications staffers.

If you are new to the Hill and would like to take part in the program, we welcome your participation. If you have participated in the program as a mentee and would like to continue with a new mentor, or if you would like to now serve as a mentor, we encourage you to sign up again. If you have worked in communications on the Hill for two or more years, please consider volunteering to serve as a mentor to new staff.

For those that are unfamiliar with the program, the Democratic Communicators Network (www.democraticcommunicators.net) mentoring program was created to help new communications staff become familiar with resources, learn about additional tools of the trade, and make connections with senior communications staff on the Hill. Essentially, the mentoring program provides a link to pass knowledge from more experienced communications directors to new press staffers.

After four successful classes of graduates, (the Spring 09 session had over 110 mentees and mentors from House and Senate offices!) we are ready to move forward with the next class of participants. Please note that previous mentors are welcome (and encouraged) to participate again.

About the Program:

This program is a three month commitment. Below is a link to a short survey for you to complete. Mentees will be matched to mentors based on the answers you provide us.

Each month focuses on a central discussion theme with questions/exercises that the pairs are encouraged to review. These cover topics like your media plan, press events, and even advice on office politics. These topics are just suggestions to get discussion started; often pairs end up talking about a variety of other issues. You and your partner are asked to meet periodically throughout the month (approximately 4 hours a month is expected) and the DCNet team will follow up with each of you throughout the program to see how things are going.