Ambassador Briefing May 13, 2015

Welcome! Laura Keivel Manager of Grassroots Advocacy Thank you for joining the call and participating in the Ambassador Program!

Agenda Social Media Presentation Walk to Cure Arthritis Update State and Federal Updates May Activity Housekeeping

Social Media and Advocacy

Morgan Griffith Senior Director, Web and Interactive Strategy

Sample Arthritis Awareness Month Messaging - Twitter: ~300,000 babies, kids & teens have #arthritis or a rheumatic condition? #ArthritisAwarenessMonth#arthritis #ArthritisAwarenessMonth Arthritis & related conditions account for $156+ billion annually in lost wages & expenses #ArthritisAwarenessMonthhttp://blog.arthritis.org/news/arthritis-awareness-month/ in honor of #ArthritisAwarenessMonth, please support the #arthritis community by joining the Arthritis there are 50 million+ reasons to join the #Arthritis Caucus, we need your help! awareness-month/ awareness-month/

Sample Arthritis Awareness Month Messaging - Facebook: May is National Arthritis Awareness Month! 1 in every 5 adults, 300,000 children & countless families are affected by arthritis. It accounts of $156 billion annually in lost wages and medical expenses. May is National Arthritis Awareness Month and we need your help! 1 in every 5 adults, 300,000 children & countless families are affected by arthritis. It accounts of $156 billion annually in lost wages and medical expenses. Please support the arthritis community by joining the Arthritis Caucus!

Sample Arthritis Awareness Month Imagery to Share: Will be posted/available at:

Social Media Why is social media and advocacy important? Great way to share your story and raise awareness Strength in numbers –30 comments –10 comments Ability to have a conversation with constituents Facebook is #1, Twitter #2, Instagram #3 with members of Congress Ability for anything to go viral

Social Media How to engage on social media: 1.Post a picture and tag your elected officials 2.Make it relevant! Photos at Walk to Cure Arthritis, at the state capitol, Jingle Bell Run, at the doctor, show them your YES! 3.Use the Arthritis Foundation Advocacy hashtag to interact with other advocates #AdvocateforArthritis 4.Tag your friends! Social media is not only fun, but an important way to communicate

Questions? Hit #6 to unmute your line

Walk to Cure Arthritis Update

Over 200 Advocates signed up so far Over 100 note cards completed We Need More Help! Two Options: Option 1 Invite your Representative to your local Walk to Cure Arthritis Collect note cards from WTCA attendees Deliver note cards to appropriate Representative (if they do not attend WTCA) and send the names and contact info to AF staff Option 2 Collect 5 notecards from your friends and family (yourself included!) Deliver or mail them to the appropriate Representative and send the names and contact info to AF staff Walk to Cure Arthritis Update

State and Federal Updates Mark Guimond, Director of State Legislative Affairs

Success in Georgia Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill allowing interchangeable biologic products making medication more accessible for people in Georgia Thank you to Ambassador Kerry Tucker for testifying!

Success in Tennessee Biosimilar law passed – thank you Ambassadors!

New Caucus Members 81 members of the Arthritis Caucus – 45 to go! Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) Rep. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY) Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) Rep. Swalwell (D-CA) Rep. Pitts (R-PA) Rep. Franks (R-AZ) Please be sure to thank your member if they are a new member of the Caucus! If your Members of Congress are not members of the Caucus, please ask them to join!

Patients’ Access to Treatments Act Update 70 cosponsors as of 5/12/15 57 Democrat and 13 Republican Please ask your Representative to cosponsor the legislation!

H.R Ensuring Children’s Access to Specialty Care Act of 2015 Introduced by Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) on April 16 Address the shortage of pediatric rheumatologists 1 cosponsor so far We are working with coalitions on the bill and we’ll keep you updated

Questions? Hit #6 to unmute your line

May Ambassador Activity

May is Arthritis Month May is a time to educate your elected officials about arthritis and the impact is has on your life.

May Ambassador Activity First Option Use social media to raise awareness about Arthritis Month You can use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Please have a minimum of 5 postings total (not per platform) Report the dates of your postings in the Reporting Center

Sample Messages Facebook and Instagram May is National Arthritis Awareness Month! 1 in every 5 adults, 300,000 children & countless families are affected by arthritis. It accounts of $156 billion annually in lost wages and medical expenses. May is National Arthritis Awareness Month and we need your help! 1 in every 5 adults, 300,000 children & countless families are affected by arthritis. It accounts of $156 billion annually in lost wages and medical expenses. Please support the arthritis community by joining the Arthritis Caucus! Feel free to use the imagery from Morgan – will be placed on the Ambassador webpage

Sample Messages Twitter – limit 140 charactes ~300,000 babies, kids & teens have #arthritis or a rheumatic condition? #ArthritisAwarenessMonth#arthritishttp://blog.arthritis.org/news/arthritis-awareness-month/ #ArthritisAwarenessMonth Arthritis & related conditions account for $156+ billion annually in lost wages & expenses awareness-month/ #ArthritisAwarenessMonthhttp://blog.arthritis.org/news/arthritis- in honor of #ArthritisAwarenessMonth, please support the #arthritis community by joining the Arthritis there are 50 million+ reasons to join the #Arthritis Caucus, we need your help!

May Ambassador Activity Second Option Send your governor a letter about Arthritis Month and the impact arthritis has on your state Sample letter and arthritis prevalence data are available on the Ambassador webpage Please include a few sentences of your personal story The goal is to raise awareness of arthritis Please contact Laura Keivel if you are unable to locate your governor’s contact information Report the date your sent the letter and please let us know if you receive a response

Due Dates April’s Ambassador activity is due July 15 May’s Ambassador activity is due June 1

Housekeeping

Website Updates Due to website reconstruction, updates were currently unavailable Bonus assignments may be reported on Ambassador Commitment Form available now and due July 15 Toolkit is posted Recordings can be posted

July Ambassador Briefing The next Ambassador Briefing is Wednesday, July 8 th at 3:00 PM Eastern Our Signature Event August Recess Activity

Thank you for joining the briefing! Please contact Laura Keivel for any questions