Best Practices in Public Service: Pandemic Positives — Text Messaging
Text Messaging – We the advances in P2P (peer-to-peer) texting for campaign (and most effectively) for official purposes. What a great way to keep voters updated and engaged in an informal, easily-accessible way! Ahead are some tangible ideas for using text messaging effectively (and not annoyingly). Don’t get overwhelmed by these ideas, we can help (info at the end). Heads …
Best Practices in Public Service: Pandemic Positives – The Town Hall Meeting
The Town Hall Meeting – The staple of public service – the Town Hall Meeting – got a much-needed makeover and resurgence when elected officials simply couldn’t meet with constituents in-person. Candidates and incumbents planned video events for educational, fundraising, and GOTV purposes, appealing to constituents’ desire to interact with literally anyone outside their home! The most impactful examples saw …
Best Practices in Public Service: Pandemic Positives – Expert Panels
Expert Panels – Another twist on the Virtual Town Hall which gained a lot of popularity during the pandemic, is the Expert Panel. Hosting local, state, and national experts on a complex topic is a great way to be a resource to your constituents, maximize exposure on an issue, and enhance your own credibility by convening people who might not …
Stephanie’s “Why”…
In 1998-2000, I was a grad student in foreign affairs and writing constituent correspondence in the U.S. Senate. Back then, every letter was logged in a database, so you knew which voters received which responses and when. From 2000-2002, I recruited and trained advocacy volunteers for the American Cancer Society and started a newsletter for patients, caregivers, and advocates, explaining …
No Primary Colors
This isn’t about registering to vote. If you have to be convinced of that, this note won’t do it. This is for the millions of registered voters who only vote when there’s a big presidential election, or possibly a highly publicized even-year midterm (I’m looking at you, unaffiliated voters). Why? Even year November elections are easy. There’s a lot of …
These Boots Are Made for (a Legislative) Walkout
Watching the news last night, the anchor explained Texas Democrats left the state to avoid a quorum. The “Translating Politics Into English” bells started ringing in my head: No one knows what a quorum is, except the small percentage working in this world, and high schoolers currently enrolled in a government class. There’s really no reason anyone else should retain …
You.com – Choosing and Registering A Domain Name
Thinking about running for office? STOP! Do NOT pass GO. Do NOT collect $200! Reserve your domain name (URL) NOW! This probably needed to be done yesterday. But I guess today will work. What’s in a Name? Use the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid! DOs: Reserve the first and last name by which you are best known: billsmith.com or …
Two-party system vs more options — VoteSharp’s perspective
There are now 12 versions of Dr. Pepper… 12. A flavor for every taste! You can even customize vehicles down to the thread color of the seams. So, why — in the United States, home to 17 kinds of Doritos — do we still have a two party system? It not only limits choice in elections, but limits any nuance …
YOLOgo (You Only Logo Once!)
YOLOgo (You Only Logo Once!)First things first: Not all graphic design is the same. (DUH – said every graphic designer, ever.) My point is that designing for political campaigns is a very different animal. The yard sign/logo is the perfect example. If it’s pretty, you probably can’t read it going 65 mph on the highway… If it has all the …