Parliamentarian:
Joe Giambrone
Most Important Duties:
The Parliamentarian has two primary duties: managing the next election and maintaining the constitution. On the election side of things, you will be responsible for publicizing nomination forms, making your own Campaign Corner, and answering questions about national office. At NJCL, you run the Nominations Committee meeting and other election events. For the constitution, you will work with the Constitutional Advisor to propose amendments and ensure that things are happening according to parliamentary procedure. Unlike other officers, the bulk of the Parliamentarian’s work is behind-the-scenes. But the best part in my opinion is running the next election. It is the grand culmination of the year in office, and is vital in allowing the organization to continue. Also, I am a bit of a constitution nerd. :P
How to Prepare for Office:
Make sure that you do not underestimate the time and effort required to make a great campaign. You need to be ready to answer any question about your platform at the drop of a hat, and delegates will approach you outside of election events to chat about your campaign. A very common (and usually expected) qualification for national office is to hold or have held the equivalent office at the state and/or local level. For the office of Parliamentarian, talk about amendments you have proposed that improved your state constitution, or a local election you ran that had some sort of obstacle to overcome. If you have parliamentary experience outside of the JCL, highlight that, too!
Campaign Analysis:
My campaign had a very specific brand image of “4”. The slogan was “Joe G 4 Parli”, and I had a 4-Part Platform. This provided voters with a very identifiable idea that could get them interested in the campaign. If your name can rhyme with the office you are seeking, take advantage of that! In any case, try to have a slogan or acronym that is instantly recognizable and associated with you. Think about ways to contribute to the JCL in a parliamentary context that involves something else. For example, Part 1 of my platform was an NJCL Constitution Podcast. This was still related to the position (the constitution is the parliamentarian’s duty) but had not been done before. If you find yourself running a second time, take note of what people thought of your previous campaign. When I ran for national office the first time in 2021, I received a lot of feedback that many delegates disagreed with one part of my platform. While preparing my campaign for 2022, I made sure to keep what worked but changed what did not.