Here are the guidelines for the activity that you can satisfy with a trip to the Capitol:
Experiential Activity, guidelines
The building
You come into the building from the basement. There’s not much to see or down there, so you should immediately move to the stairs that bring you to the first floor. Here’s a list of the important things that are on each floor:
- 1st floor (above the basement): South and North Atrium spaces (where you can see up to the top floors); both of these have large staircases in them. You usually enter the building from the basement at the foot of the South Atrium stairs. This is a good place to meet up with other people later. Between the North and South Atrium spaces is another open meeting space where speeches and press conferences sometimes happen.
- 2nd floor: Senate and House chambers and entrances. Since it appears that there will be no floor sessions today, you are welcome to enter those rooms and walk around a little. Take some pictures. It’s cool to be in there.
- 3rd floor: Senate and House galleries, where the public can watch floor sessions (but none are scheduled today).
Things to do, and people to find
- Here is the list of committee meetings and events happening today. All of them are public, even if the rooms are sometimes small. You can listen to lawmakers debate bills in smaller sessions here where bills get a hearing before they go to the floor.
- All through the building and outside, there will be lobbyists, non-profits, political action groups milling around, looking for lawmakers to talk to. These folks can definitely count in your “engagement” number for the activity. Get pictures, names, have a conversation, find out why they are there and what they are arguing for.
- Look up your own representative or senator; find out from one of the information desks where their offices are, and see if they are there and available for a chat about recent legislation.
- Look for people’s name tags; almost everyone has one. You need three engagements or observations of any lawmaker, journalist, or stakeholder — any mix of those, just three. Get more than you need, and take lots of pictures and notes.
- Remember that grounds around the Capitol sometimes have demonstrations/speeches that might be useful or interesting to see.
You should be able to collect more than enough engagements/observations in three hours at the Capitol. When you leave is up to you.
You can look for my friend Dr. Heather Pincock (pictured below). She will be there with her students as well, and she’d be a good guide or resource (she’s been to the Capitol a bunch). However, you aren’t obligated to find her or check in with her.
Places to eat when you’re finished
- The Floyd building Capitol Commons cafetertia is close by, relatively cheap, but pretty standard.
- If you want a nice walk (not too far, a couple of blocks), walk north to the Municipal Market (which used to be called the Sweet Auburn Market). Lots of history there and several cool local places to eat.
