E-Voter Institute

About Face: The Dramatic Impact of the Internet on Politics and Advocacy

Karen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:18:43 +0000

The new E-Voter Institute book About Face: The Dramatic Impact of the Internet on Politics and Advocacy, Karen A.B. Jagoda (E-Voter Institute Press, 2009) has just been published. This is the second in a series of books about how the Internet is impacting the way political and advocacy campaigns are being run and how the web is changing the expectations of voters. This book with contributions from 20 industry insiders will stand the test of time. It is a mixture of optimism about the use of the Internet in campaigns with a strong element of realism about how hard it is to effectuate change in the process.

With the results of the 2009 elections today, we now see that strategies and lessons learned in 2008 may or may not work in 2010 to say nothing about 2012. Our new book includes best practices, case studies and research that can help political strategists more clearly see the Internet options for reaching and persuading voters.

The E-Voter book is available as a trade paperback and eBook. Check out the ISBN information and links on the E-Voter Institute site to order the book. We have set up a Twitter account and Facebook page so follow us and become a fan. Please help us promote the book and let the community know what you think about our conclusions. You can also leave comments on this posting. We will be highlighting the other authors over the next weeks and we all welcome questions and comments.

Bookmark Us

Paranormal Activity

Karen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:36:31 +0000

As a Halloween treat I interviewed Jordan Glazier, CEO, Eventful, about his work with the movie Paranormal Activity. This movie was made in San Diego on a modest budget of $15,000 and has turned into an underground horror hit thanks to efforts by Paramount and Eventful, also a San Diego based company.

Using the Eventful web site, fans were able to demand that the movie be shown in their town and then were able to demand that the movie get released nationally. Since it was released about a month ago, the movie has generated ticket sales of $62.5 million through last weekend and is expected to get another boost from Halloween this weekend. Jordan relates his surprise at how quickly this demand campaign took off.

What does this have to do with politics? Eventful was used in some 2008 political races as a way to determine where a townhall meeting should take place. The more people get used to having their demands met, the more they will expect to be able to voice their opinions about actions taken by leaders as well as rock bands and movie studios.

The sound quality of this interview is not good as Jordan was on his mobile phone but I think the background noise is somehow appropriate given the discussion about this scary movie.

Happy Halloween

Bookmark Us

Political Humor in Trying Times

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:59:59 +0000

Guest this week on Digital Politics was Stu Kreisman, Emmy award winning writer/producer and blogger on HuffingtonPost and MediaCurves. Stu reminds us that we gotta laugh in the tough times and that politicians who show a good sense of humor will come across as more engaged in their jobs of trying to solve the problems. Stu also takes us through the different kinds of political humor that work and we both agree that we haven’t seen any funny health care ads yet.

This interview with an entertainment industry insider made me laugh.

Enjoy.

Bookmark Us

Motivating Voters

Karen — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:32:15 +0000

Guests on the Digital Politics podcast this week are Rich Berke, HCD Research and Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion talking about the E-Voter Institute’s 4th Annual Survey of Voter Expectations–Persuading and Motivating Voters: What Will It Take in 2010?

We all agreed that there are remarkably similar attitudes between people along the political spectrum, and across gender, ages and ethnic groups. The study shows how pervasive the web has become in our everyday lives as well as how it has changed the expectations of voters. Provocative indications in the study point to the need for new ways to motivate voters to contribute, show support for candidates, and turn out to vote in order to break through the media clutter.

The study reveals that people find debates informative but the high percentage of people who say this makes me wonder if they are all watching the full debates, selections on cable news shows, downloading YouTube excerpts or reading about them online or in the newspapers.

Download the study and check out this interview for more insights:

Bookmark Us

Engaging the Community

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:27:54 +0000

Guest on Digital Politics podcast this week is Phil Noble, founder, PoliticsOnline. Phil gives an update on South Carolina elected officials Governor Sanford and Rep. Joe Wilson, the impact of transformational technology on politics, and how people outside the US understand or don’t understand the real changes brought about by the Obama campaign.

Phil Noble at work in Charleston, SC

Listen to this interview with a true political insider.

Bookmark Us

Growth of Online Experience

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:56:21 +0000

Digital Politics podcast this week features David Kralik, California Director, Engage. David moved to Silicon Valley a few years ago to work with Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions to be a scout for new technologies that could be used in campaigns and government. David talks about his wildly successful online petition drive, Drill Here Drill Now Pay Less as well as his insights about how important peer-to-peer efforts will be in future campaigns.

Listen to this interview with a political insider.

Bookmark Us

Political Power of the Online Community

Karen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:59:31 +0000

Digital Politics podcast this week features John Marelius, political reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune talking about the candidates in the 2010 California Governor and Senate races, the role the technology community might play in the campaign of technologically savvy candidates, and which initiatives might wind up on the ballot in November 2010. John suggests that voters might get mixed up about Republican women candidates in California with Meg Whitman running for governor and Carly Fiorina running for the Senate. Neither one has run for office in the past, both have a base in the Bay Area and both are wealthy and funding their own campaigns.

California primary is in June 2010 but it is never too early to get some insights about the competitors.

List to the interview.

Bookmark Us

Politics as Contact Sport

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:14:59 +0000

Guests on the Digital Politics podcast this week are Colin Delany, founder and chief editor, epolitics.com, and Ben Chodor, president, Stream 57.

Can webcasts help candidates reach a broader audience? Can they provide an easier way to moderate a public forum than in a live townhall meeting? How can social nets and Twitter help drive attention to candidate appearances?

Listen to this explanation of webcasts and views from 2 experts in the business of helping clients communicate with their constituents using web tools.

Bookmark Us

Influencing Public Opinion

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:45:39 +0000

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.

Bookmark Us

Email Strategy

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:31:43 +0000

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.

Bookmark Us