LFMI for the first time held Think Tank School for advanced. On June 25-27, 2014 attendants and lecturers gathered in France, in Faculty of Economics and Management, Aix-Marseille University.
The seminar focused on policy advocacy and communication and was delivered by experienced professionals.
> Day 1 with Matthew Elliott. Policy goals, options and stakeholders: Policy Goals and Finding Optimum Policy; Policy Stages and Stakeholders.
Matthew Elliott is one of the foremost political campaigners working in Westminster, having led the hugely successful ‘No’ campaign against the Alternative Vote in the 2011 referendum. He is also the founder of groups as diverse as the TaxPayers’ Alliance, civil liberties campaign Big Brother Watch and, and most recently, Business for Britain – the leading business group in the UK campaigning for a better deal from the European Union.
Described frequently as a “campaigning genius” (by Evening Standard columnist Matthew D’Ancona) and a “redoubtable campaigner and propagandist” (by former Labour MP Dennis MacShane), Matthew is also sought after as an electoral strategist and has worked with political parties in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ghana, Maldives, Serbia, and Ukraine.
> Day 2 with Veronique de Rugy. Research: Planning a Policy Paper (goals, structure, pre-work); Research Methods; Finding Evidence and Arguments; Quality Control.
Veronique de Rugy is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. Her research interests include tax competition, financial privacy, bioterrorism, and fiscal sovereignty issues. She has testified numerous times in front of Congress on the effects of fiscal stimulus, debt and deficits, and regulation on the economy.
She is the coauthor of Action ou Taxation, published in Switzerland in 1996. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Paris-Sorbonne and previously directed academic programs for the Institute for Humane Studies — Europe in France.
> Day 3 with Peter Botting. Communication: Storytelling in Media; Public Speaking; Sound-bites on TV.
Peter Botting is a corporate, political and personal messaging strategist, professionally qualified coach with over 24,000 hours and 20 years coaching experience. He helps organisations and individuals identify, craft and articulate their stories – their narratives, campaigns, speeches and presentations, etc. Peter has great clients – achievers in business and politics – people who do, and want to do, more. He was part of the NO2AV campaign from the start, have worked with a large number of current Conservative MPs.
