How to Take Advantage of April 15th

This is the "Post Office Push" that worked great for us in 2008, our first year in Wis Dist-3. We began by setting up a table at ONE post office in Eau Claire, Wis., population 60,000. We had some information on hand that I printed off the FairTax.org web site and copies of both FairTax books to show people. We taped a few sheets on the front of our table that had the FairTax.org logo. The post master did not want us on post office property so we set up on the sidewalk and they did not say anything to us. We put it together just days before April 15th (felt more like hours). We also scheduled a FairTax Rally for one week after (Tax Free Day would work great if timing is right). We printed up 100's of 1/4 sheet invitations to the rally and passed them out that day at the post office. It was fairly crude, but it worked. We talked to a lot of people that evening. We were there for about 4 hours. They were very interested in what we had to say. Let's just say they were in the mood to listen, which was key. We also passed the invites out to neighbors, coworkers, friends and family. Pretty much anyone who would take them and take extra to pass out on their own.
The rally was held a week later at a local town hall. Typically you can reserve them for free (with a deposit) by telling them you are a not for profit, civic organization and not affiliated with any political party. We invited Minnesota's State Director, Dennis Madden to come over and give a short presentation and then took questions. From that first meeting we found a core group of about a dozen people that have helped spearhead our efforts in our first year. We had about 75 people show up for that first rally. But I figure we had 100 or so register at FairTax.org during that period. Not a bad start!
With the fiscal and political climate being what it is, I think we will do even better this year. We will be advertising more in local papers and radio (We are hoping to use the Ad currently set up at FairTax.org). We plan on being at more of the local post offices and having more volunteers. We have the DVD's to pass out and developed a business card that we also hand out to anyone we can. We'll have stamps to give away this year, since the location we were at ran out. Can you imagine- no stamps on April 15th at the postoffice. And this time we will be pushing FairTax Nation and Zap, as well as FairTax.org. We will also make sure we have a donation bucket available. There are always those that are greatful for our efforts and want to give, just not of their time. We might also have a laptop available to sign people up on the spot. We may try to work in the Tea Party/ march on Congressman Kind's office (who coincidentally is on the W&M committee).
So if this is something you might like to try, go for it and please let us know if it was successful. If you have any comments or further ideas for us, we welcome them.