Ideas for table top type displays at your capitol

[Marsha Setzkorn-Meyer]

We support Kansas Association of Conservation Districts by attending the Conservation Day at the Capitol and staffing a booth/table.  We don’t have time to canvass the districts and create a state annual report (like South Carolina 2023 – if you haven’t seen it, it is awesome), but we are looking for a creative and attention grabbing idea. What have you used at your capitol that turned out to be highly effective at starting conversations?

[Lisa Knauf Owen]

Oklahoma has done a partnership Conservation Day at the Capitol for a number of years. In the past we have had district displays set up around the Capitol Rotunda. Some of the more popular ones included displays of the equipment we use for operation and maintenance of our upstream flood control dams, stream flow models, and our GIS work.  Timing is everything for this to work. If legislators are in session sometimes the traffic is slow thru the exhibits. Or if another “day at the capitol” for another entity is going on you may get inundated with an unintended audience. This year is the 90th anniversary of the dust bowl; so we will be planning some activities around that. Hope this is helpful.

[Lilian Ruiz]

Hi! I am very interested in the feedback- we are getting ready for Ag Day at the Capitol here in CT and we will be sharing space with the NRCS.

We are trying to design a retractable banner that is permanent (institutional/official, no mention of temporary projects etc.). We were told that if we are to stand with the NRCS we should not use “climate change” or “DEI” in any of the materials or displays.

I am looking here: https://www.vistaprint.com/signs-posters/retractable-banners

I honestly though of wearing a human billboard for a few minutes and walk around to bring attention to the Council.

We have a budget constraint, so designing materials is a struggle!

[Rakel Sanchez]

I haven’t been to a capital day but we recently went to a dinner with our partner association. We brought a fact sheet with a five year overview of our matching grant program and the impact it has had on farmers, ranchers, natural resources, and the community as a whole. The sheet was very impactful and more visual. I can share a copy if you want, but something like that blown up on a poster would be huge.

[Kasydi Lucas]

Much like Oklahoma, Montana does a Conservation District Awareness Day at the Capitol during legislative sessions. Conservation districts and conservation partners come set up tables with displays and handouts for programs they offer. This year we had CDs handing out pollinator mixes, swag with their logos (hats, notebooks, etc.), and posterboards describing projects they’ve sponsored (i.e. willow lifts). Additionally, we offer lunch. Many legislators walk through the Rotunda in-between committee meetings and food is always a good way to get people to stop and talk. Hope that helps!

[Tom Gordon]

When I was director of our state association, I observed that legislators would only visit the table of their local District (we typically had 10 or 11 out of 16 SWCDs that would come to the Capitol for Conservation District Day). So, I switched things up and organized tables by program: Forestry, Agriculture, Water Quality, Urban Issues, Public Education, Envirothon, etc. Legislators commented that it was pretty clever because they had to look at every table to find their own District’s staff or board representatives. MACD had its own table that focused on financial info – the “bang for the buck” number of dollars received for every State dollar invested.

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