When Billionaires Run For Public Office

The new Digital Politics Internet radio show and podcast has moved to WsRadio.com where I am doing the show live on Tuesdays from 12-1:00 pm PACIFIC.  Each show has 4 segments and podcast files will be posted here by Thursday afternoon or you can go to the Digital Politics Internet Radio and Podcast for all archives and previews of upcoming shows.

Show on June 1 included Peter Pasi, Executive Vice President and Ben Olson, eCampaign Director, emotive llc, John Phillips, CEO, Aristotle, and Stephen Hershkowitz, partner, Sandler Reiff and Young

Segment 1 Fundraising and Political TV Ads
Guests Peter Pasi and Ben Olson, emotive

Segment 2 Getting Out the Vote
Guests Peter Pasi and Ben Olson, emotive

Segment 3 Fundraising and Data Mining
Guests John Phillips, Aristotle and Stephen Hershkowitz, Sandler Reiff and Young

Segment 4 Fundraising and FEC Compliance
Guests John Phillips, Aristotle and Stephen Hershkowitz, Sandler Reiff Young

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Canvassing 2.0

Digital Politics podcast today with guest Eimar Boesjes, Chief Technical Officer, Moonshadow Mobile is a view into the next generation of political campaign management.  With the mobile app Ground Game that Moonshadow has developed with Labels & Lists, they are redefining the way campaigns can target and engage constituents face-to-face as well as online and changing what it means to be a volunteer for a campaign.  Moonshadow has also been developing mobile apps for candidates.

Eimar is very insightful about how to get people to accept change and the impact a good interface can have on adaptation.  His mobile apps take full advantage of Google maps–an interface most of us have become quite familiar with. He also relates how his 16 year old sons have learned to send text messages in the dark because they have had to deal with restrictions in school and so they text with smart devices in their pockets.

Eimar is very excited about the potential of the iPad to help deploy his apps for campaigns up and down the ballot.

Listen to this interview about how campaign management will never be the same again.

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Finding Common Ground

Guests on the Digital Politics podcast this week are Peter Pasi, VP, and Ben Olson, eCampaign Director from emotive llc, a Washington, DC based agency with a focus on political campaigns, trade associations, and coalitions.  With all the discussion this week about building support for job creation and health care reform, there are many question about how candidates and advocates are using online tools to refine their messages to target and persuade voters.

With deep roots in the direct mail world, Peter now suggests that campaigns spend at least 15-20% of their budgets for online activities. Ben reminds us that people need a real reason to jump into action.  Working with McCain in 2008, Ben learned some key lessons about how activists get engaged with campaigns and the need to grant more permission to the grassroots crowd to get involved.

Listen to this interview with 2 industry leaders.

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Homer Simpson & Friends

Digital Politics podcast this week features Dan Weiner, VIce President Sales, FOX Audience Network.  Dan represents a vast array of FOX related sites attracting a wide range of audiences.  But the really good part of what FOX online has done is provide tools for targeting based on geo, behavior, social media, and psychographic characteristics.  Dan points to web 2.0 strategies that now must include self expressed data.

Are the political strategists ready to start using the web to reach specific voters at a state and local level?  Will the campaign finance rule changes result in more money going online as television ad inventory gets tight?  Will traditional political media strategists figure out how to include web solutions or will the online agencies start to take more control because they know how to work with people like Dan Weiner?

Listen to this interview with an enthusiastic media pro

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Virtual Book Parties

Recorded in mid-December 2009, these virtual book parties for About Face: The Dramatic Impact of the Internet on Politics and Advocacy (E-Voter Institute Press, 2009) make for interesting listening and might even make you want to buy the book.  These bi-partisan discussions with many of the contributors to the book add an update and further reality check for strategists, candidates, and campaign managers.

Go to the E-Voter Store for details on how to get the About Face book in print or eBook format.

First Virtual Book Party

Topics include targeting, voter expectations, mobile, search and online ads.

Participants

Karen Jagoda, Shaun Dakin, Kathie Legg, Tony Winders, Colin Delany, Jason Krebs, Porter Bayne, Cyrus Krohn

Second Virtual Book Party

Topics include the new face of political and advocacy campaigns, trends to watch for in 2010 and 2012, and reaching the loyal base as well as swing and Independent voters.

Participants

Karen Jagoda, Michael Bassik, Tony Winders, Rich Berke, Ben Katz, Dan Schnur, Mark Davis

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Leveraging the Internet to Target Voters in 2010

Digital Politics podcast today with Sara Taylor was a fitting last show for the end of the decade.  Sara worked in the George W. Bush re-election campaign in 2004 and in his administration.  As co-founder of Resonate Networks Sara is taking her understanding of the web, targeting, voter segmentation, and issues to a broader audience of candidates, advocates and advertisers.  Sara warns that those candidates and causes that ignore the Internet do so at their own risk.  The age of online politics comes of age.

Check out this interview with a true thought leader.

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Influencing Public Opinion

Guest this week on the Digital Politics podcast was Paul Goodwin, partner, Goodwin Simon Strategic Research talking about rapid response and how candidates and advocates can influence public opinion.  We also talk about President Obama’s speech last night on health care reform and the rapid response from all interested parties.

Paul points out that there are many more ways for people to get information which might influence their opinions, which makes it increasingly hard to respond to myths and untruths.   He also suggests that social nets are a proxy for the old face-2-face techniques candidates used in the past.

Listen to this thoughtful discussion.

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Email Strategy

Digital Politics podcast this week features Ben Katz, CTO, Aristotle talking about best practices for email campaigns and how to maximize the impact of messages. Ben provides insights about SPAM filters, subject lines, and building email lists. He also emphasizes the importance of mixing up the kinds of emails sent —long form, short form, embedded video of the candidate– and the need to test messages to increase the likelihood that the target constituents will respond.

Listen to this interview with an industry insider.

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The Art and Science of Targeting Voters

My guest today on the Digital Politics podcast was Matthew Dybwad, Senior Director of Internet Strategy, emotive LLC, a Virginia based Internet consulting firm. We talked about the panel Matthew moderated at the IPDI Politics Online Conference in DC this week on targeting voters and being smart about setting up databases and using the information to make better decisions about what messages individual voters should receive.  Segmentation is the name of the game but only if you have the ability to mine the data you have collected.  Matthew encourages campaigns to collect in any way possible, the names, addresses, emails, mobile phone numbers, and the means by which the contact was made.  Whether that info comes in on paper, electronically or over the phone, it all needs to go into one database.  Do most campaigns understand the need for good data management?  Expect to see more campaigns take advantage of voter segmentation the more user friendly these database tools become.

Listen to the interview.

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Rhetoric, Reality, and the Internet: What Do Voters Really Want?

Voting Day “Exit Video” courtesy of Kent Kriegshauser, Galesburg, Illinois.

Rhetoric, Reality, and the Internet: What Do Voters Really Want?

This E-Voter study is based on findings from the E-Voter Institute’s 3rd Annual Survey of Voter Expectations. Study surveyed over 4800 Survey respondents.

Report provides details about voters by gender, age, party affiliation, level of political activism, and technical competence.  Of particular note are the comparisons between what campaign tools consultants think are most effective and what voters say are the best ways to get their attention.  While television still has the most effect on how all voters make up their minds about candidates, the Internet is not far behind.  This study reveals that television and cable advertising, debates, and the official candidate web sites are the most effective methods for getting the attention of voters.

Voters are tech savvy with a broad acceptance of Internet tools.

This study highlights differences in behavior in those who call themselves political activists compared to those who just show up to vote.  Those highly politically active are more likely to take action online and have high expectations for how candidates should be using the Internet.  It is clear the Internet is changing face of activism.

Surveys conducted with the support of HCD Research, with analysis from Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College.

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