AI Summer Camp: Staff Assistants
The use of GenAI tools can enhance your efficiency by helping to organize and manage tour reservations, summarize meeting notes, and generating follow-up task lists. AI has the ability to elevate your role from purely administrative to strategic support by freeing up time for higher-value projects, office coordination, and intern management.
Get started with five “quests” designed to support policymakers and their teams in getting to know and understanding this technology in an approachable way:
Safety First: Like any good adventure, using AI involves well-marked paths to follow—and a few areas best avoided. Stay safe and be responsible by keeping these AI safety tips in mind.
Bring a Buddy: See tips and sample prompts for every member of your team, including Legislative Staff, Communications Staff, Caseworkers, Schedulers, Legislative Directors, Field Representatives & Community Outreach Directors, Chiefs of Staff & District Directors, and even the Member!
Quest 1: Summarization
Ranger Tip
AI-enabled summarization can greatly improve your day-to-day workflow by transforming how you manage all the information that comes across your desk. From helping to distill lengthy email chains, meeting notes, and to-do lists into clear, actionable insights, to creating impactful reports that can inform your Member and legislative team, these new tools can both save you time and increase your impact.
Quest Directive
Use an institution-approved LLM to:
Summarize anonymized call tallies - Turn those handwritten hashmarks of constituent concerns into insightful summaries for your Member, chief of staff, and legislative team
Create a daily brief or memo - Compile daily news clips and institutional updates into digestible morning or evening briefings
Sample Prompts
“Please take the attached spreadsheet of anonymized caller concerns and summarize this data into an informative summary that highlights trends as well as outliers. Organize the information by similar policy topics and please end the summary with detailed information of any calls requiring action or immediate attention.”
“Create a daily briefing summary from these 5 news articles and 3 e-Dear Colleagues. Assume your audience works for the US Congress and is interested in the content from a legislative point of view. Use bullet points and keep each section under 50 words.”
Letters from Camp: Have a particularly good (or wild) experience with this quest? Tell us all about it!
Quest 2: Brainstorming
Ranger Tip
AI can be your creative partner in solving logistical challenges and generating fresh approaches to recurring office problems, from tour coordination and intern management to workflow optimization. Think of it as having a brainstorming buddy available 24/7 who never runs out of ideas and can help you think through solutions you might not have considered.
Quest Directive
Use an institution-approved LLM to:
Generate new event or meeting ideas - Generate creative ideas for intern onboarding, projects, or office activities that could improve their educational experience and engagement with constituents and staff
Provide problem-solving ideas and support - Brainstorm solutions to recurring administrative challenges or office workflow issues that have been frustrating your team
Sample Prompts
“I work in the office of a US Representative and need creative ideas for onboarding our summer intern cohort. Onboarding needs to include learning the layout of the campus, the structure of our office, etiquette for the Congressional workplace, and legislative procedure. Please generate 5 ideas that could be effective.”
“Our office struggles with coordinating schedules between 3 different calendars (Member, Chief of Staff, and office events). Brainstorm 7 workflow solutions or systems that could reduce double-booking and improve communication between all necessary POCs.”
Letters from Camp: Have a particularly good (or wild) experience with this quest? Tell us all about it!
Quest 3: Content Creation
Ranger Tip
AI can help you draft professional communications, create organizational materials, and develop content that keeps your office running smoothly while maintaining a consistent, polished voice. This means less time spent starting from scratch and more time refining content to perfectly match your Member's style and office needs.
Quest Directive
Use an institution-approved LLM to:
Create first drafts of professional communications - Create draft emails, memos, meeting agendas, or internal communications that maintain professional tone while conveying necessary information clearly
Create new organizational content - Develop office procedures, reference guides, or template materials that can improve office efficiency and consistency
Sample Prompts
“Draft a professional email to a coworker requesting a meeting reschedule due to a floor vote conflict. Include: apology for short notice, 3 alternative time slots next week [insert these options], and emphasis on our continued interest in the meeting topic [provide additional context]. Tone should be respectful but efficient.”
“Create a template checklist for preparing the Member for committee hearings. Include: 5 days before, 2 days before, and day-of preparation items. Cover briefing materials, logistics, follow-up preparation, and coordination with legislative staff.”
Letters from Camp: Have a particularly good (or wild) experience with this quest? Tell us all about it!
Quest 4: Strategizing
Ranger Tip
AI can help you develop strategic approaches to both advancing your office's operational goals and accelerating your own professional growth within the Congressional ecosystem. This strategic thinking capability allows you to see the bigger picture while identifying concrete steps to expand your responsibilities and build valuable skills for career advancement.
Quest Directive
Use an institution-approved LLM to:
Explore your professional development strategy - Create a strategic plan for expanding your skill set, taking on new responsibilities, and positioning yourself for advancement within Congressional offices or related fields
Develop an office efficiency strategy - Develop strategic approaches to streamline front office operations, improve intern management, or solve recurring workflow challenges that could demonstrate your value and leadership potential
Sample Prompts
“Help me create a 6-month professional development strategy. I want to transition from basic administrative work to more legislative responsibilities. Analyze my current skills (scheduling, tour hosting, phone reception, correspondence, and event coordination) and create a step-by-step plan to gain policy knowledge and take on higher-level tasks.”
“Our office has recurring issues with meeting preparation efficiency - materials are finalized last minute, rooms are often not set up properly or early enough, and follow-up tasks remain incomplete. Develop a strategic implementation plan to fix this systematically, including new processes, and accountability measures that I can propose to my office’s leadership.”
Letters from Camp: Have a particularly good (or wild) experience with this quest? Tell us all about it!
Quest 5: Predicting the Future
Ranger Tip
You're witnessing the birth of AI systems that could revolutionize administrative work—imagine AI that manages complex calendars across time zones with natural language, or systems that can draft, review, and route documents to improve constituent services and response times. The administrative backbone of government is on the verge of major transformation and understanding these capabilities positions you at the forefront of a new era of public service efficiency.
Quest Directive
Use an institution-approved LLM to:
Explore emerging workflow possibilities - Experiment with having AI simulate complex multi-step administrative scenarios to understand how AI might soon handle tasks that currently require human coordination
Sample Prompts
“Role-play as an advanced AI assistant from 2030 that helps Congressional staff can manage Congressional office operations. Describe a typical day as a staffer using this tool to assist in coordinating the Member's schedule, managing correspondence, preparing briefings, and handling crisis communications—all while maintaining security protocols and Congressional ethics rules.”
Letters from Camp: Have a particularly good (or wild) experience with this quest? Tell us all about it!
Letters from Camp
Have a particularly good (or wild) experience with this quest? Tell us all about it!
