Discover What We're Really Made Of

When I was in the fifth grade, NASA launched the space shuttle Discovery, the first shuttle launch since the Challenger tragedy. In the middle of class, classmate Craig Thornton and co. stormed into homeroom from the computer lab with his arms in the air, shouting, "Discovery made it!"

Fast forward almost 20 years. After the Columbia tragedy, Discovery was again the first to travel back into space. It's so encouraging to know that in addition to having the world's biggest economy and mightiest military, we have an equal amount of courage and persistence.

Take a look at our daily dose of sanity that most of us willingly seek out - terror attacks, suicide bombs, the Axis of Evil, nuclear weapons, trade decificts, budget deficits, left wing nuts, right wing extremists, Dubya, Clinton, oil, ethanol, hurricanes, heat waves, kidnappings, obesity, tobacco, drug companies, tax increases, tax cuts (who got them and why), and global warming.

Yet us Yanks still have the gall to strap our bravest and brightest patriots to the back of a rocket to learn what's beyond our borders.

We just keep going, as we've done so many times throughout our history.

Wherever UBL and Al-Zarqawi are hiding, I hope they get word of what we did today and realize that they have no idea who they're messing with. Hopefully all Americans will feel the same.

These Two Were On the Debate Team....

Proportional reduction in error, bivariate relationships, gamma, lambda, Yules Q....Some of you out there understand my inability to blog. Good luck on Wednesday fellow 202ers!

Another Day Off....

Must Rest for a Day...Tired

Lessig's Flash, Part I

I will post again on the second half of his presentation, but I thought I’d report on some of my initial reactions.

Lessig did not need to ramble on for as long as he did. He could have offered more substance and less rhetoric. His message could have been summarized in far less than a half hour.

I believe that he has an important message that people should hear at least for the sake of forming an opinion, but his argument would be stronger if he had shown how copyright laws supposedly limit our freedoms.

He needs to offer actual specifics to back up his claims. He talks in generalities about how we are in less free society that is increasingly controlled, yet as time goes on it seems that I have more freedom than I ever have. I’m having a hard time relating to his claims....

Owners, Not Technology, Drive Ethics

In his book Persuasive Technology, B.J. Fogg identifies six key issues for assessment of the ethics of persuasive technology. They are:

1 - The novelty of the technology can mask its persuasive intent.
2 - Persuasive technology can exploit the positive reputation of computers.
3 – Computers can be proactively persistent.
4 – Computers control the interactive possibilities.
5 – Computers can affect emotions but can’t be affected by them.
6 – Computers cannot shoulder responsibility.

I realize that these are all important when considering the ethics of persuasive technology, but I think they really miss the heart of the issue.

Rather than the medium, I think that focus should be on the owner of the content and what that content is trying to do. Is the organization attempting a bait and switch technique? Do they use email signups as ways to collect large mailing lists and sell them to agencies that distribute SPAM? Do they actually tell the truth?!

I think that unethical activities should drive the discussion, not an understanding of the powers of technology. For example, websites for the United States Armed Forces discuss a tremendous amount of personal rewards that are available through military service. The sites are equipped with impressive visual design. It would be wrong to say that the websites are misleading in any way about the sacrifices inherent with military service simply because they are trying to persuade.

Just like in most other venues, when discussing ethics, content is king!

MoveOn....

I was so happy to see FactCheck.org’s Creative Editing article that shows step-by-step how MoveOn PAC edited Vice President Cheney’s speeches to create the impression that the Vice President was making a point that he was, in fact, not making.

First off, I am curious to know if these actions are considered libel.

Second, I hope this does further damage to the already ridiculous credibility of MoveOn PAC.

Third, I believe that this action, as well as those of other groups who do similar things, should not be protected under the First Amendment. I suppose this is actually a spin-off of my first point.

It’s understandable that creative video editing should juxtapose sound and images to create a desired impression in the mind of the viewer; however, it’s unethical to do this to disseminate lies.

The Future of Actually Having an Idea

"The choice Lawrence Lessig presents is not between progress and the status quo. It is between progress and a new Dark Ages, in which our capacity to create is confined by an architecture of control and a society more perfectly monitored and filtered than any before in history. Important avenues of thought and free expression will increasingly be closed off. The door to a future of ideas is being shut just as technology makes an extraordinary future possible."

This is one of the final paragraphs dedicated to the summary of Lawrence Lessig's book The Future of Ideas, a book that I hope I will never read.

Has he not just advertised his book on the Internet? Has he not posted excerpts from that book on the Internet? Has he not linked to his own website from the site dedicated to his own book? On his website, does he not allow users to blog their free thoughts (he would have to, based on his preaching)? And are you, my faithful readers, not reading this rant on my own blog that I created using free Internet publishing software that is currently available to anyone with access to a computer?

My point is this - what does he want from society that he is unable to do now?

Making It Usable for Teens

Nielsen’s Usability of Websites for Teenagers doesn’t offer the best news for keeping teenagers interested in online political campaign information.

The fact that they don’t want overuse of animation and scrolling is good – we don’t want to do that anyway. The news that they don’t like reading is unfortunate.

What can we do to get this non-voting portion of the population interested?

We can make photo galleries more than just a page full of pictures. Each image should be complete with captions. The images should represent the candidate’s public service experience and the various aspects of the issues platform. Each caption can be a hyperlink to longer explanations of the issue platform so that the user can choose to read the details. At a glance, the gallery should visually tell a story.

We can also have an issues page that offers short summaries of each issue with links to extended platform details on that issue. At least they will have a general idea of what the candidate stands for.

A True Quagmire

The African-American Blogging Thing is a blog that closes with the following point:

At any rate, there are a lot of African-Americans blogging, but it’s not explicitly political. Figuring out how to change that is a lot of the challenge, but it’s not a simple problem, because blogging is representative of existing dynamics as much as it is a new system to change those dynamics.

Save your energy, because there is no problem to figure out. It’s a blog! You either blog politically or you don’t. You’re either interested or you’re not. If you have access to a blog, then you have access to the political information necessary to contribute to the discussion. The only social dynamic to this exists in the author’s head.

If you blog, you have the following options: constructively contribute to the discussion, write something indifferent, or troll. As campaign managers, we do our best to inspire and persuade, but the ownership lies with the citizen. It is that simple and it should be that simple.

Lower-Literacy Usability Benefits Everyone

Jacob Nielsen’s Lower-Literacy Users article offers great tips to improve usability for web users with low literacy.

In his study he notes that both low and high-literacy users achieved a higher success rate and greater satisfaction in less time when testing a website that was redesigned using his guidelines.

This shows that you can craft a design that is more accessible to all users without sacrificing the quality of your news/message.

This is extremely important for political campaigns. The improved usability will encourage visitors to remain at your site longer. It’s in our interest to make the content accessible. Perhaps many web users, regardless of literacy, are visiting a campaign site just straighten out all the political spin from the offline campaign. In that case, a streamlined design, simple navigation, and prioritized information are precisely the means to achieve their goal.

Nielsen’s tips to improve usability for lower-literacy users are simply good business sense for campaigns to reach out to all of their consistent and would-be supporters.

eFly on The Wall

In his book Congress Online, Professor Johnson discusses the importance of displaying voting history for members of Congress.

My representative from Pennsylvania, Jim Gerlach (R-PA 6), provides this service on his website. It’s a gold mine for citizens who wish to hold their elected officials accountable. Not only does he indicate his vote on key issues, but he shows whether or not the bill passed as well as his position on legislation that is currently being debated.

Other than being a fly on the wall during staff meetings, there’s no better way to know of how your representative is behaving than to view their voting record. Additionally, you can tell if they break from party lines to vote for legislation in which they, or their constituents, believe.

Members of Congress should ensure that their staff keeps this portion of their website updated so that curious citizens will be satisfied. If they don’t already offer it, then they should consider jumping on the bandwagon very soon.

Please Don't Throw Away Your Stamps

Dennis Johnson discusses the problem of email overload in his book, Congress Online. He mentions that many representatives are reluctant to respond to constituents via email. He also includes a nice quote by columnist David Silverberg: “E-mails convey information but paper letters convey gravitas.”

I absolutely agree with Silverberg’s assessment. There is a certain feeling that you get when you receive a letter in the mail. You feel that someone actually took the time to think about you.

This is not to say that it’s wise to overlook the clear benefits of efficiency and speed that email correspondence provides. Email is an operational necessity. When response turnaround is managed well, it sends a positive signal that lawmakers value constituent feedback.

There needs to be an appropriate balance between the two forms of correspondence. While email is extremely efficient, the sentimental and traditional value of the paper letter should not be forgotten.

Metrics - Post Them Now and Often

Nielsen's reporting of the Ten Best Government Intranet websites has some keen insight on the value of company intranets. I was particularly interested in the section about reporting metrics.

Displaying project metrics on the intranet is a great way to induce competition among various departments. Not only does it keep everyone on the same page, but departments with similar operational processes can have their efficiency measurements posted on the intranet so that each group can compare themselves with one another. It's a great way of ensuring accountability and improving productivity.

In larger organizations it's one of the most effective ways of reporting performance. Graphs that show improvement or deterioration in project or company performance are efficient ways of providing meaningful summaries to employees. In addition to just information, they can serve as fantastic supporting backup for mission statements and policy changes.

This is not just important for government services, but also for non-profit organizations and corporations. I think that each organization can get the most out of it by soliciting regular feedback from their employees.

One at a Time

The video in class last night about narrowcasting inspires some thought about the benefits of this communication technique.

Striking a chord with the voter about their one or two chief political concerns is a good thing. If the voter is willing to listen, then it strikes a dialogue that leads to volunteer activity, public discussion, and voter turnout.

Another positive thing about narrowcasting is that it doesn't dominate the general political discussion during the campaign. It aims at groups in a very specific way, but it's only one fraction of the general message. That's very reassuring, because by and large the public will hear the general message that is intended for all Americans. This reinforces the idea of America as one community. We can start with careful aim and then motivate the citizens to join the general discussion....literally one at a time!

Thank God For the Bush Pyramid

The Multilevel Marketing of the President by Matt Bai offers some great insight to the Bush grassroots campaign of 2004.

Although the article goes into extensive detail about the organizational structure of the campaign, what was most striking to me was that it highlighted a very important part of grassroots efforts – dedication to a cause. Bai writes:

“And even if the volunteers themselves exceed expectations, it's worth remembering that, unlike unions or City Halls, this new kind of machine has nothing tangible to offer to voters -- no jobs or wage increases. Bush's machine relies solely, in Mehlman's words, on ''love and belief in the importance of the president.'' No union boss would bank his future on that.”

For one thing, this excerpt describes my feelings as a volunteer during the campaign. While I’ll admit that I did not exceed expectations, I certainly remember being very proud to be part of something that is very good.

The organizational structure that Bai describes is really a good thing. A presidential campaign (last year’s in particular) is not necessarily the right time to get experimental and let your volunteers have free run at doing whatever they want. There has to be order; this helps to ensure that the online message is consistent with the offline message. The Bush campaign didn’t manage your own personal discussions, so I was fine with its rigid structure.

In fact, I think the structure made me more passionate about supporting the president. I had clear direction of what to do and what to talk about. It’s not that they didn’t let me think for myself. They just provided focus that directly related to all of the campaign coverage at the time.

Workin' on the Superhighway

I’m performing some maintenance on my blog and used the Help section of the website to guide me through the process. I thought I would post the links that I used incase any of you are interested in doing the same thing.

If you want to post a book, or basically just a massive post with chapters, here’s how.

Create a drop-down box for your archives to conserve space on the sidebar.

Add free polls to your sidebar (polling of available subjects, a non-probability sample poll for all of you PMGT 202 junkies taking a breather from Wednesday's mid-term).

I'm slowly doing maintenance over time, so if I find anything interesting, I'll post it here. Let me know if you have any questions or better ideas!

Flip-Floppers Beware

The Marketing of the President podcast deserves separate attention from Matt Bai’s article. In this blog, I’m focusing on the technical importance of the podcast.

Although I had to download software just to listen to it, it’s unbelievable that we can listen to these podcasts and form an opinion about their message with remarkable ease. The fact that a link can bring you to a message from weeks and months ago brings the power of archiving to the power of persuasion.

It’s extremely useful to your cause to make it easy for your visitors to access past interviews of either your candidate or your opponent. Bush/Cheney 04 ran past TV interviews from the late 1990s where John Kerry was calling on members of Congress to support a regime change in Iraq. For anyone that needed to be convinced that the flip-flopper charge was legit, this technique worked perfectly. You saw him with your own eyes calling for the same regime change that he was denouncing during his campaign.

Access to this type of information is extremely important for voters, especially for the volunteers who are out reaching out to persuade.

Digital Fireside Chats

FDR would have loved the podcasts.

Amy Gahran’s article What is Podcasting and Why Should You Care? really gets the brain cells moving. The Internet is already a cost-effective way of getting your message out to the voters, and the Podcasts only improve on that.

It’s now possible to hold short, medium, and long versions of issue ads online, as well as weekly “radio” addresses. Volunteer action centers can now have both printed and spoken action item assignments, creating more of a “team huddle” feel to complement the volunteer experience. This will create substantial opportunity to emotionally connect with voters.

If the old fireside chats were used to console and guide the nation during tough times, then they can certainly be used to inspire the campaign and the voters during the election cycle!

If I Only I Had Thought of That During the Debate!

Don’t you hate it when you’re in a debate and then when it’s over, you suddenly have the greatest comeback ever? If only you could have been smart enough to say it earlier!

Well I’m convinced that we can do our best to avoid this with our newsletters. How do we fix a bad newsletter? We’ll send out a better one tomorrow.

We had a great idea with a terrible subject line, so everyone deleted the email. Send it out again with a good subject line and make an update with the content.

Did we ask for money when we should have said the other guy is a flip-flopper? Send out another one with the flip-flopper message.

Did we make 3 sound policy arguments but failed to connect emotionally with the voter? Send out another one to show how those issues will affect mom and pop, and this time, mean it.

It seems to be a medium of the numbers game; we can constantly improve the product as we learn.

Direct Web Traffic From Your RSS

The article Why Webfeeds Beat Email Newsletters made a great case for going with an RSS feed as opposed to an email newsletter, but I’m curious to know if this is an even better way of determining how successful you are in reaching out to voters.

The prospect of aggregator services directing traffic to your site is fantastic, but we need to focus efforts to get the visitor to read all of the information and either respond to it or pass it along to a friend.

Once a visitor has arrived at your webfeed newsletter, it would be good to direct web traffic using links to pages that allow you to forward the post to your friends or to respond with a comment. The traffic on those pages could then be tracked to see which messages received the most traffic. You could then tell how effective you are.

The Most Awesome Subject Line Ever

Jacob Nielsen’s article about newsletters during the last week of the campaign brought back some memories from the last presidential race.

During my time in Florida, I would call my parents everyday to say hello and I remember them being very annoyed with all of the phone calls from the grassroots organizations. One day it was a recording from John McCain, the next day it was a Kerry volunteer. As the countdown progressed, so did the number of calls...and so did the aggravation.

I think that the important lesson from the Nielsen article is for the campaign to try to put themselves in the voters' shoes. Voters may not be interested in the election during that final week, especially if the hype surrounding the election is exhausting. I can't imagine that the last week of the campaign is a great time to ask for money (though I'd be interested in seeing fundraising results). I think it’s much more constructive to concentrate on Get Out the Vote initiatives during that time.

If I was distributing those newsletters, the subject line would be absolutely indicative of the intended message. It’s not time for the title to persuade them to read the entire newsletter; it’s time to tell them to “Vote for Bush on Tuesday” or to “Remind 5 friends to vote for Bush” so they don't have to read the newsletter.

A Little Dem Perspective Needed

For my strategic campaign, I’m working on the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor, Phillip Puckett.

I’m interested in gaining a little perspective from the left as I put the campaign together. Are there any Dems out there willing to exchange some ideas via email, blogs, or perhaps meet before class? If any of you are working on a Republican campaign, I’d be more than happy to offer some GOP perspective.

Thanks,
SEPARight

Comics and Politics

Are comics appropriate for political campaign communication? I think it depends. I consider them an art form, but they're not respected by everyone. They are, however, a time-tested form of art and communication.

Comics can certainly be patriotic and treat serious political events with the respect they deserve. They can do more service than just satire. In terms of the Internet, they can be incorporated into blogs and could be incorporated into e-newsletters. With the right tone, they even could be appropriate for some web campaigns. They can portray both a positive message and rally the base. Sometimes they’re just plain funny. Even more important, they can say so much with just a few words.

Check out Brett Noel’s work on Patriot Art.Com!

Those Great eNewsletters from Jerry Kilgore....

I’ve gone through the Nielsen articles on newsletters. There are some things I disagree with, but tonight I’ll focus on using his guidance to praise the newsletters from the Virginians for Jerry Kilgore campaign.

Kilgore's newsletters list him as the sender, so you know right away who’s sending you the email. The subjects are specific to let you know what the email is about but just vague enough that you have to open it. Every email has the Kilgore for Governor banner up top. The text is typically limited to two or three short paragraphs. They even address the email to you and each one is complete with a post script to remind you about upcoming events. Another added bonus is that the text is written in the same style and voice as the website, so it’s all unified. It’s very personal. It’s positive. And it’s Republican!

I’ve got to hand it to the Attorney General. He’s got a good message, a good website, and decent newsletters...and the orange and blue is really starting to grow on me.

Who Is That Endorsing My Candidate?

While working on my strategic plan, I came across a list of endorsements for my candidate in the VA Lt. Gov. race, Phillip Puckett. The campaign website provides a long list of endorsements, but I have no idea who these people are.

Although visitors to a Lt. Gov. campaign website are probably die-hard supporters, I find it hard to believe that they would recognize the majority of members on the list. I think the website should make some effort to highlight some of the contributions of the members so that people can at least feel comfortable with the integrity of the endorsement.

This would make the endorsements list more powerful. A long list is impressive, but not if you’re not sure of whom the members are and what they have achieved. This could be perceived as playing favorites, but it would certainly help the voters.

America's Affluence, America's Future

Here's an interesting read about America's affluence and her future. Anyone interested in the history of declining world powers should take a look at this.

I Can See My House From Here!

I saw the Google satellite image on Emi’s blog. That’s the first time I ever saw that! I quickly went to Google Maps and viewed the satellite image of almost every place I ever lived. It’s one of the highlights of my past week.

Couldn’t a campaign website use this? How about charting the course between your home and the nearest poll location? You could find the nearest poll location on the campaign website and then link to Google maps.

Do we have the ability to make snapshots of real-time satellite images? That would be an interesting way to document life on the campaign trail. Visitors could see the satellite image of a rally and say “I was there!” It’s a different way to get excited about the routine campaign scenarios. It’s fun, and that goes a long way.

Thematic Unity to Kilgore's Visuals

Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s campaign website uses visual imagery very successfully.

For starter’s, all of the TV ads are included on the website and appear on the homepage, on a central ad page, and on the pages where he states his positions on the issues (such as transportation).

Furthermore, many of the images in the ads are presented as still pictures throughout the campaign website. This succeeds at unifying all of the imagery throughout the campaign and allows one to associate the repeated imagery with Kilgore’s platform details.

I think this is a great example of the use of visual imagery on a campaign website. It not only makes images available for everyone, but through the image repetition it allows the visitor to associate the pictures with the platform.

Predictability or Opportunity?

When is the best time to send a fundraising appeal? The short answer is after lunch, say 2:00 p.m., on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, preferably Thursday. Here’s why: Many people do not check their e-mail over the weekend. By Monday morning, their inboxes are clogged with e-mail and anything except the necessities is deleted. Similarly, on Friday, people are trying to finish up so they can leave for the weekend.

I'm sure everyone would agree with the basic concept of this excerpt from the The Political Consultant’s Online Fundraising Primer. Timing is everything. In order to time properly, there needs to be some general sense of continuity among the public.

Despite the prevalent notion that we live in a “polarized nation,” most of us operate on the same schedules. We work, eat, sleep, relax, shower, and do the laundry at generally the same time with remarkable consistency.

What a relief! The chaos of modern life has not changed us to the point that we lose our patterns of predictability.

Is it really predictability, or are there just better times to do certain things? I vote for the second – our lives our constructed in a way that creates opportunity for specific actions to occur at specific times. This is a good thing!

This lesson is extremely relevant to political campaigning. The notion that the distribution of fundraising appeals should occur at precise times comes with a keen observance of how our culture behaves. I believe that this observance is the main driver to delivering the right message at the right time.

My WSJ Online

I finally took the time to customize my Wall Street Journal Online Edition. We read the Sunstein article three weeks ago, but now that I’ve customized my Online Journal, I’m even more convinced that he’s a reactionary.

Subscribers have the ability to customize virtually everything on the home page. You determine the specific stocks, industries, and columnists that appear.

This is an absolutely fantastic way to read about the topics that interest you the most. It’s also a great way to highlight the topics of which you know the least. For example, my expertise does not lie in the mining and banking industries, so I’ve selected them to appear on my homepage. There’s a plethora of other options, so I think over the year I’ll cycle through them.

Sunstein needs to give a little more credit to the American people. Although the technology can give the ability to become locked in your own ways, it really does enable you to become more creative with your approach to learning. As strategic planners, we need to observe our own excitement with customizing the learning process online and try to brainstorm ways to pass that on the user.

If It Were Easy, Everybody Would Do It

“If you look at the difference between a successful Internet campaign and an unsuccessful
one, success is neither a function of great technology, nor a larger staff, nor
a unique set of programming skills. Success lies in the campaign’s commitment to
communicate with its audience in an inspiring way and to articulate an agenda that
matters to the audience.”

This statement from The Political Consultant’s Online Fundraising Primer has a great point – stay focused on the message. I agree, but it's easier said than done.

I think the best way to do this is for the online campaign to collect and augment the activities of the offline campaign. In terms of an audience, the website is a place for the undecided voters to get more information and for the die-hards to reinforce what they already believe. It’s also headquarters for the volunteers.

However, we're dealing with a technical medium, where you need programmers and expensive servers and secure pages to allow for donations. I guess if it were easy, everybody would have a great site. Do you err on the side of inspiration or technical competence?

2000 Census, VA Board of Elections

Is everyone familiar with the VA Board of Elections website?

You can get past election results for the office race that you are working on for your strategy.

You can also get voter registration statistics, as well as lists of campaign donors for you and your opponent and population demographics from the 2000 census.

I imagine most of you know this, but if there’s any other first semester students like me who weren’t aware of the website, it’s great! If anyone knows of additional ways to get this kind of info, please me know!

They Do Want to Help, So Ask Them!

They Do Want to Help, So Ask Them!

These words are at the end of the chapter on email campaigns in The Political Consultants’ Online Fundraising Primer. We’re urged to not be shy when asking for money. People will want to give!

Just over a week ago I received an email requesting a donation for a campaign. I wasn’t interested; but when I visit the candidate’s website, I suddenly became interested in donating. For some reason, I like to sift through some new information about a candidate before I donate rather than being asked outright.

I understand the clear value of asking for donations via email. The problem is that everyone knows that an email request for a donation is very cheap. I think it’s important that the campaign does not lose of site of email initiatives to bring people to the site for updated news and specific details of the platform. It’s so easy to send an email that anyone can do it; therefore, it lacks the sense that someone actually had to put in some effort to ask you for money. Direct mail comes off the assembly line, but at least it comes in your mailbox AND you can actually touch it! If I’m going to give money, then I want some information first.

What I love about websites for candidates is precisely that access to information. When a site is really done well, it makes me feel appreciated as a citizen; it’s almost as if I have an insider’s view of the candidate that no one else has. Of course, that’s the complete opposite of what’s happening. But it’s good to feel like you are appreciated. That makes me willing to donate.

I realize I may be sentimentalizing this, but I can't be the only American that feels this way. It’s foolish to not engage in an email campaign for fundraising; however, as email requests for donations become routine, they may lose their credibility.

Polling Info for VA Governor Race

http://www.davidwissing.com/polls2005va.php

I'm having a hard time finding websites with polling information for the VA Governor race. I finally found this. It shows polls in March, April, and May. March and May have demographic breakdowns. They were done by Survey USA. This is only for Kilgore, Kaine, and Potts. Fitch is not included.

Survey USA also results for many other cities in the US. www.surveyusa.com

The Downing Street Memo

I’m compelled to blog about The Downing Street Memo.

First things first – I do not agree that it is proof that anyone was misled about the dangers of the Iraqi regime, nor in fact do I agree with the assessment that planning military options in advance means that President Bush would refuse and ignore any success achieved through diplomacy. It is a document whose proposed implications ignore a greater context of foreign policy, global politics, legitimate national security concerns that have existed for over ten years, and the length of time needed for effective military planning. There’s also the pure, simple, demonstrated fact that Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons in the past and showed no signs of being a man with whom one can reason. We can’t forget the “Fortress Baghdad” incident of the 1990s, as well as the gassing of the Kurds. Why isn’t the failure of diplomacy being blamed on Saddam Hussein?

That being said, http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/ is a great way to get those that agree with the implications of the memo to become involved in a campaign to demand an explanation of it. It offers counter-arguments to anyone wishing to refute its significance. It enables supporters to become involved and write their congressional representatives. Many Democratic congressmen have endorsed the cause to demand that the White House respond to the implications; the list of those representatives is provided by the site for all who are interested. It even summarizes press coverage and enables supporters to demand more press coverage!

It’s clear that http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/ is a good example of how effective the Internet can manage the operational logistics of a campaign; however, I believe that the memo was analyzed out of context, and that’s a discredit to its proposed implications.

Spam While You Shop

NM Dem’s response to the Economist article is right on. I’ve responded to that, but I wanted to talk more about the topic in Right Blog.

Spam on the cell phone would push advertising too far. I get excited when my cell phone rings because I think it will be a family or friend on the other side, not a piece of advertising. I’m enjoying the fact that telemarketers cannot get to me on my cell phone. I hope that cell phone Spam doesn’t become an issue on a similar scale to email Spam.

The “Pot of Gold” article did bring up an optimistic note that text ads would probably be voluntary and free for the user. That’s a relief, and I hope that’s how the process is rolled out.

Personally, I do not want to be bothered with location-based ads. If I wanted to walk into Store X, I would. I’m usually not lured by sales (knock on wood); however, I know when I’m ready to spend some money.

What about advertising technology that the user initiates? For example, use the same location-based technology to track the “ad request” text message initiated by the user and then return an ad for a nearby store. The merchant will benefit, as will the telecommunications provider and the consumer.

If the text message technology can be used in many different ways, then perhaps the approach to advertising can change as well.

Communications Circle

Two hours ago, I read the articles that discuss the way text messaging has created new ways to organize initiatives.

One hour ago, I clicked on my online copy of the Wall Street Journal to catch up on current events.

Five minutes ago, I took a look at the Wikipedia online encyclopedia articles about blogs and actually saw a city of hyperlinks. Before I finished the article, I linked to a different page to find out what they had to say about one of the hyperlinked terms. I started reading, and before I finished I linked to a different article that sounded interesting. I went from reading about blogs to the Articles of Confederation in less than five minutes.

As I write this, I’m watching the audio commentary for the season 3 finale of Everybody Loves Raymond on DVD.

I’m trying to make sense of all this by examining my reactions to cramming text messaging software, WSJ Online, Everybody Loves Raymond DVD, and the Wikipedia never-ending encyclopedia inside of a couple hours. The Internet, and modern technology, is an incredible tool that we’ve been discussing via the blogs. They will absolutely affect political communications strategy.

But at the end of the day, there’s nothing like temporarily closing the limitless options provided by new technology and resorting to those one, two, or three sources of news and entertainment that I trust the most. Better yet, I’ll even have an actual conversation with another human being, which is by far the most valued and persuasive method of communication I’ve experienced. Perhaps this subtle, but true, aspect of life will even help us target a successful new media strategy.

At First Glance....

In order to prepare the objectives for my web campaign, I decided to take a look at my candidate’s website to get a feel for what they represent. It’s the first time I’m paying the site a visit and I must admit that I’m excited to be able to take the readings from Fogg and Ireland/Nash and look at the site with a critical eye. At first glance, the task of developing a plan for a web campaign is admittedly daunting, but approaching the job from a usability perspective is a great introduction.

As you can see from my previous posts to this blog, I’m a strong advocate of relying on intuition and experience as a major component of decision making. I’m relieved that one of the first steps we’re taking is to adopt a critical look of “common sense” aspects of web design that we experience on a daily basis as we browse the Internet. It certainly provides some initial familiarity as we dive into new and ambitious territory. Likewise, it reassures the belief that sometimes simple things go a long way.

A Discredit to the Privacy Cause

The “Death Knell of Privacy” article is making a privacy issue out of Sprint’s Business Mobility Framework technology. In a nutshell, the technology allows businesses to centrally track the location of its mobile workforce and upload maps, driving directions, and application development tools to this workforce. The author considers this technology an invasion of privacy, a curb to productivity, and a warning sign that any company considering this technology has personnel issues so serious that the Board of Directors should resign.

A business has every right to know the whereabouts of their mobile workforce, and this technology can absolutely enhance, not hinder, productivity. Keep in mind that the business is the one paying for the technology and may also be providing the mobile phone at no cost to the employee; therefore, the phone exists to serve the business and the emergency needs of the employee during work hours. Curbing the down time of the sales force and other personnel that deal directly with clients has tangible results in productivity and revenue. Every business has the right to not only track employee productivity but to evaluate it and make sound decisions regarding the efficiency of its workers.

Furthermore, the author is focusing on the negative. The ability to centrally provide maps, driving directions, applications, timed voice mails, and inventory tracking in a decentralized organization is extremely valuable to both the professional success of the employee and the revenue goals of the organization.

Another demonstration of the lack of credibility with the author’s argument is his comparison of this technology, and the companies that utilize it, as a pathway to the return of 20th century totalitarian regimes! Where does that analogy come from? How does any reasonable person make that comparison? This argument does discredit to the noble cause of protecting privacy in our increasingly smaller world. There are legitimate privacy concerns out there, and Sprint’s Business Mobility Framework Technology is not one of them.

4 Seconds Until Goodbye

“You should be able to look at the home page of any site and figure out what the site is about within four seconds. If you can't, your site has failed.” This was #2 on the list of Vince Flanders’ Web Pages That Suck.

All sarcasm aside, I’m glad I had this spelled out for me. We know what it’s like to visit a site and have no clue what it is, but I never thought it took as little as four seconds until frustration sets in. It sounds accurate. The pressure is on.

In terms of a campaign, the user will be coming to the site intentionally so the political message on the home page will convince our guest to stay for a while. We need to resort to our own experiences to figure out what to present. Based on my experience of looking at websites for politicians, I find myself curious to know the following items without clicking on a link:

1) Is the candidate a Republican, Democrat, or Independent?
2) What part of the state is being represented?
3) I want to see a picture of the signature landscape of the state or region.
4) What are the three most important issues of the day?
5) What is the most recent press release or news from their office?

As we progress through this class, I’m awfully curious to learn if this is an effective approach.

Put Yourself Out There

I have a ten minute walk to the Metro. What a great time to people-watch and mentally prepare for class. The moment right before I stepped onto the escalator at the Clarendon Court House Plaza – that one moment when I’m usually focused on trying not to trip down the escalator steps - I wondered what the best ways were to be persuasive. My conclusion was that you have to put yourself out there.

As we start to brainstorm our campaigns, focus on establishing credibility, and map out our web design, I think there’s something very basic and instinctual that we need to focus on, and that’s the fact that we will be designing campaigns to get inside the hearts and minds of our electorate to win their support. Of course there’s the standard issue statements of “I’m pro this and anti-that,” but I think we need to take risks, put ourselves out there, and try to inspire. Can we use the web to communicate our stance for a cause in a style that’s rational, defensible, and original, yet still innocent enough to electrify, change hearts, and make the cynics roll their eyes? If this can be done, than that has to be at least as persuasive as any “list of things that will happen if the other guy wins.”

Web Intuition

Has anyone read the “Credibility” chapter in B.J. Fogg’s book “Persuasive Technology?” The reading discusses a massive study about the aspects of a website that users deem to enhance that site’s credibility. I was pleasantly surprised at the data – mostly everything that the users found to either enhance or deteriorate the credibility of the website were very practical things that I mostly took for granted until now. For example, the study showed that consistent pop-up ads decrease a website’s credibility. I smiled when I read this, because I find pop-up ads quite annoying.

My most important takeaway from the reading is to trust my intuition. As we start to brainstorm an internet campaign and unify its usability, credibility, and powers of persuasion, I think that one of the most important guiding lights of the process is to ask ourselves, “what would we want to see if we knew nothing about this candidate and decided to visit their website?” We all use the web regularly, so we’re certainly qualified to recognize our own reactions when we have a web experience that’s either good or bad and then use those reactions to help guide our campaigns.

Government Intervention of Group Polarization

Cass Sunstein’s article The Daily We: Is the Internet really a blessing for democracy? raises the issue that the Internet’s power to allow users to filter what they experience and absorb will cause increase degrees of group polarization. Eventually it will become so prevalent that there will be a legislative need on behalf of government “to promote exposure to materials, topics, and positions that people would not have chosen in advance, or at least enough exposure to produce a degree of understanding and curiosity.”

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning to the moment we drift into sleep at night, we are exposed to ideas that we do not agree with. It is inevitable. We are constantly exposed to different points of view through mass media, at the water cooler, in the cafeteria, and at the dinner table; many of us actually spend some of our recreational time indulging in media solely dedicated to debating diverse points of view. There is so much exposure to the discussion of different ideas that it’s a blessing to find radio stations, websites, and books dedicated to those beliefs that we hold dear. It’s a way for us to know that we’re not alone with regards to our interests and values. There’s no need for government intervention of group polarization; as long as our world is not physically limited to our living rooms, there is a plethora of different ideas that we experience, ponder, and respond to each day.

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