Texaspatriot’s Weblog

In writing my blog today – I have a feeling it’s going to be part notes – part commentary. I’ll try to keep it clear which it is.

Our Session trainers:

David All – President of the David All Group

Sendhil Panchadsaram – Media Strategist amongst many other impressive credentials.

Their current websites:

Act Blue – democratic fundraising website – over $57 Million raised since 2004.

Slate Card – new Republican fundraising website. David and Sendhil are running both sites for a cut rate fee compared to other fundraising sites. Their new fees are running at 3.95% – Per David – they are just trying to break even to get more money for candidates. I don’t know about you – but anyone that disavows wanting to make money is immediately suspect in my book. Now – if the “break even” includes their salaries, I can understand that.

That being said, it’s an interesting site. User driven Issue badges give a quick idea of what the candidate stands for. The two most popular issues are 1. Defeat radical Islam and 2. Cut the Pork. I supposed I should not be surprised considering it IS a Republican fund raising website.

Interesting to note – they also raise money for PAC’s.

This is not a heavily trafficked site as of yet – there is no marketing budget. Makes me think that maybe they should be in it for the money just a little bit – maybe they could pay for some marketing and advertising. Overall, I liked Slate Card. It has a lot of potential for networking amongst patriots to find candidates to support.

Refreshingly,this is not the originators main job. It does seem that the plug for their websites is over now. I did sign up – slatecard.com/texaspatriot. I may or may not do anything with it. I did add Ron Paul to my list! I couldn’t get anything to come up for a Presidential race search, however. Looks like there may be a couple of bugs in the system.

On to the integration of the internet with everything else.

David says treat the internet like the aquarium. Make it interesting and keep people coming back. The need for a dynamic website is critical. John McCain’s webpage has nothing to do with the candidate – but gets a lot of hits. If I could remember how to get the stats on this, I would – but considering I’m keeping up with the presentation I’ll have to check later.

I will give David props for giving an interesting presentation. He’s light, funny, and an engaging speaker.

“The Long Tail of Politics”… because of the internet these days – there is always more room for content because eventually people will get to it. Both Davil and Sendhil agree – the internet can start a movement. Examples… Obama, Dean and of course, Ron Paul. They are right that the message and the way it’s delivered is what makes it effective. Obama and Dean, IMO, are using their funds to create the content that Ron Paul’s supporters did on their own. Of course, I could be slightly biased!

They do have it right though. You have to hit every possible media outlet. Youtube, Twitter, celebrity endorsements – it does help to get the traditional media to promote your information as well. Money helps.

What’s killing me about this presentation though – is they are talking about executive orders etc… but not whether an executive order actually has the power to stop offshore drilling. (They are talking about Gingrich’s Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. campaign). OK, Ok, I get it – this is about integrating the internet into your campaign, not issues. I can’t help thinking about it though.

The problem is – it’s still playing to the Left-Right paradigm. They are hitting all the buzzwords of the day – the hot topics. All gloss, no substance. I would say most Ron Paul people get the idea of how to use the internet.

David and Sendhil’s Tips and Tricks for Success: Identify the Message, Niche and Audience. Getting the right message, of the right issues to the right people. Talking to the people who give a shit is a lot more effective than pissing in the wind. That last line was me summing it up. Not them. They’ve been doing very well not using any kind of profane language.

It’s all coming down to the KISS principle. Message, Niche and Audience – if you have identified these three things – you can keep it going through asking supporters to pass it on. Seriously, how many times have you gotten an email from one of these sites asking you to donate or sign up now that your friend, Susie Down the Street, as done so already? You wouldn’t want Susie to be in the know about something you aren’t aware of! This is 21st Century keeping up with the Jones’. Or should that be the Gates’?

Keep the message on point and short. I know that I very rarely read a whole article of anything. There’s just no time to read everything. I watch partial videos – if it’s really good, I will keep watching. If it’s okay and I think I want to hear more – I have it playing in the background. If it’s not immediately compelling, I move on to the next thing.

It’s 11:15. I’m getting hungry. Haven’t really learned anything new yet. Wikipedia is the topic at the moment and I’m very happy David and Sendhil recognize that Wiki is NOT the place to go if you want to actually get the truth about anything. Of course, you can argue truth is relative.

I am really glad they are entertaining – I was afraid they were going to be boring, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

I think they gave a pretty good overall presentation. They hit the high points of getting the message out, different tools to use, and keeping the message short and to the point. The attention span of the average internet user is very short – and no one wants to spend tons of time reading long articles. For example, I think Gary North has a lot of really good things to say – but his emails are long and I usually leave them to last, if I have time.

I’m looking forward to the next presentation. I hope the speakers are as engaging. Lunch time!