Team Dodd Gets Retail Internet Politics

I suspect that this is an epiphany (0.00 / 0)

that Mike and elwood may have already had, but I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 09:28:59 AM CDT

Thanks for the kind words (4.00 / 1)

Dean--thanks for this post.  I'm on Senator Dodd's technology team, and all of us, particularly Tim Tagaris and Matt Browner-Hamlin (who are en route to the Granite State as I type), are grateful that BlueHampshire has welcomed us and Senator Dodd and allowed us all to participate in your community.

We're committed to bringing you the kind of internet-retail politics you describe above.  The internet removes a great deal of the friction from political interaction.  We hope to make good use of those efficiencies and give interested Democrats a rich understanding of the man we work for.

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by: Tim Cullen @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 12:37:40 PM CDT

If they are en route (0.00 / 0)

Please send them to 21 Bar and Grill, Keene NH, for tonight's Keene DL. 7pm -10pm.

Overnight lodging provided by members on request.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 14:21:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sadly, No (0.00 / 0)

I don't think Tim Tagaris and I can make it tonight - we have a meeting we have to attend in Manchester that conflicts with DL.

I'll try to make it some time soon, I promise!

.::Hold Fast::.

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by: Matt Browner Hamlin @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 14:44:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

well... (0.00 / 0)

Others are doing it in their own ways.  For instance, John Edwards has posted three diaries on the Daily Kos ince the last election.  But, its not the same as what Chris Dodd has been doing.

With Chris Dodd, I can't help but NOT know what he thinks about a given issue.  When something comes up in congress, or if he visits the state, I've come to expect that I'd bump into at LEAST two or three posts about it on here.

Other candidates should definitely try and replicate what Senator Dodd is doing here.

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by: Nicholas Gunn @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 13:08:16 PM CDT

Yes, Edwards has been on dKos, (0.00 / 0)

so that's a good.

But think about this: YouTubes can be embedded anywhere, instead of the controlled environment of a campaign blog or regional site.

Now, when you think of Obama and YouTube, you think of the Orwell ad.  Edwards, the make-up hit piece. Things out of their control.

With Dodd, you get short, authentic statements on crucial issues that pop up everywhere, not just on BH.  YouTube becomes something he can use to his benefit (and for virtually no money), instead of something to be worried about.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 14:59:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Syndication vs. Stickiness (4.00 / 2)

For you former dot-commers, it's the difference between syndication and stickiness.

Remember in 1999, where every site had to be "sticky". God, I got tired of that word. But I got even more tired of the concept: get people to your site, then keep them there AT ALL COSTS! DON'T LET THEM LEAVE!

Make them abandon their own online communities for yours. Use "Lock-in". Trap them. Then, of course, the dreaded "monetization" of your "user base".

It was horribly misguided and very corporate. Your site was a container which you would try to fill with people.

Now, thankfully, we are moving into the age of syndication: it's not about sucking users IN, it's about getting your message OUT. Whether you like it or not, it's the ENTIRE INTERNET that is your website, so you better start engaging with things outside your IP block.

Campaigns get that in various ways -- the use of outside sites like facebook and twitter are good examples of that (Obama incident notwithstanding).

But Dean's basic point is right -- in retail politics as well as online politics functioning communities are powerful things, and campaigns should be trying to plug into those communities, not draw people away from them. It's a control thing, it's a radical transparency thing, it's a Cluetrain thing --

Actually Cluetrain might be the best ref: Doc Searls starts that book off with the now famous pronouncement:

MARKETS ARE CONVERSATIONS.

Well, in retail politics, there's a corollary: Campaigns are conversations. And I have to agree that the campaign I have seen embrace that concept most fully (and without fear) is the Dodd campaign.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 16:58:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I am really not keen about the (0.00 / 0)

"conversation" meme.  Perhaps that's because the Clinton version came across as really false.
"Let's have a conversation.  Here's what I want you to know."

Anyway, maybe it's just a consequence of Chris Dodd having been campaigning for 26 years, but he certainly seems to have the details down pat and the people who work for him pay attention to the little things, as well.

Maybe the word I'd prefer is courtesy.  It's a somewhat antiquated concept but nevertheless refreshing to get thank you calls as a follow-up.

courtesy

noun

  1. Well-mannered behavior toward others: civility, courteousness, genteelness, gentility, mannerliness, politeness, politesse. See courtesy/discourtesy.
  2. A courteous act or courteous acts that contribute to smoothness and ease in dealings and social relationships amenity (used in plural), civility, pleasantry, politeness, propriety (used in plural). See courtesy/discourtesy.
  3. An act requiring special generosity: beau geste, compliment, favor. See give/take/reciprocity.

We could do worse.

WANT COURTESY? CALL CHRIS

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by: hannah @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 18:45:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks (4.00 / 1)

Thanks for the kind words Dean. I've posted a response of sorts to your post on the Dodd Blog.

.::Hold Fast::.

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by: Matt Browner Hamlin @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 16:57:27 PM CDT

I especially thank you (0.00 / 0)

for calling Blue Hampshire a "community blog" in your post.

That's what makes this place worth cultivating, imho.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 20:05:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]