Using Digital Media & Being In The Moment - Facebook, Twitter, and Joe Rospars

There's some discussion going on at campaign offices on how do we go about engaging 18 - 45 year-old voters in the election campaign. This was the largest demographic that DIDN'T vote in 2011 and who represent the largest number of voters whose values are the same as ours.

"Taking Our Country Back" - The Book
About 18 months ago, I picked up a book "Taking Our Country Back: The Crafting of Networked Politics from Howard Dean to Barack Obama" by Daniel Kreiss. The book chronicles the development of digital media in the Democrats' election campaigns from 2002 to 2008. I've read it cover-to-cover at least 4 times and each time I come away with something new on how to use digital media ...... websites, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

"Taking Our Country Back - The Crafting of Networked Politics
From Howard Dean to Barack Obaman".
 by Daniel Kreiss

It's interesting to read how Obama used social media and the Internet to recruit, engage, and activate his volunteers, particularly young volunteers in that 18 - 45 demographic in 2008.  Media reports and YouTube videos, particularly interviews with Joe Rospars,  reveal how Obama boosted his results with digital media in the 2012 election.  Rospars first signed on with Howard Dean's 2002 bid for the Democrats' presidential primaries when he was only 22 years of age.  In 2008 and again in 2012, he was Obama's chief digitial strategist.  From a handful of volunteers in 2002 ..... to a staff of 100 in 2008 ....... and 300 in 2012 ....... Rospars has been on the leading edge of using digital media to engage supporters and volunteers.  

Being In The Moment - The Obama Hug
Searching for "Joe Rospars" on YouTube brought up this interview with Bloomberg News where Rospars spoke about "being in the moment" with regards to a hug ...... a simple hug ....... between Barack Obama and his wife Michele.   Rospars comments struck me on how we should be using digital media, particularly with Facebook and Twitter.  

When asked how well planned was that simple hug, Rospars reply struck me right between the eyes.  It wasn't.  It wasn't planned at all.  Using digital media isn't about pre-planning or pre-arranging a hug ....... that happened very spontaneously.  It was all about being prepared to take advantage of those moments and making the best use of them.  

Think about it for a moment.  It was highly unlikely that a spontaneous hug was going to be pre-planned and discussed with Obama's photography-taking team.  However, "the rapid response team" ....... definitely had to be prepared ...... to be on the lookout ..... for moments like that hug.  

That Unplanned Spontaneous Hug
That Tells A Story About A Relationship

With regards to the nimbleness of Obama's "rapid response team", Rospars says, if you have to go through 7 different layers of lawyers before you can do anything .... well ...... it ain't gonna happen.  You have to be "in the moment".  

Here's the Canadian version of one of those "being in the moment" moments.  November 11th 2015.  Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau attending Remembrance Day ceremonies here in Ottawa.  Each of them looking at each other, remembering the sacrifices of others so that they could look at each other the way they did.  This photo shur as heck wasn't planned.  It was taken by a photographer who was looking for that special moment.  

The Change in The Command-And-Control Regime
It's no longer top-down where the campaign controls what's going to happen.  It's also bottom up where your volunteers and supporters are an integral part of your campaign.  It's no longer being aloof.  It may be scary to share responsibility for a political campaign ......  but that's the way it's going to go.   You have to be prepared for this sharing.  You have to define how you want things to go ....... because if you don't, they will.  You have to establish a relationship of trust with your volunteers and supporters that's more than just pushing the party line or promoting the policies and platform.  You have to connect with people.  And you have to lay down expectations as to what's okay ...... and what's not okay.  

The challenge is, how do we go about doing this - connecting with the people that count?  It's more than just posting content and photos to Facebook or Twitter.  It's about how do we make people feel that they're part of our campaign.  

Being In The Moment - What Do You Do?
Firstly, you have to "be in the moment".  

• You have to be continuously looking for those spontaneous moments that are about to happen.  
• A picture's worth a thousand words so your camera should always be ready.  
• And sometimes the event requires more than just one set of eyes looking for those moments. 
• A photo without a caption means nothing, and a caption without a photo is even worse.  Put captions to every photo you post.  Put a photo to every caption you post.  
• If necessary, use your graphics software to crop, brighten or lighten the photo. 
• And post them ASAP!  Posting photos 3-4 days later is not being effective.  By then, it's too late and the memory has faded.  

I've been to campaign events these past couple of weeks where I was reminded of those "being in the moment" situations.  A lot of those moments were being missed.  Nobody from the campaign had been tasked to take those "in the moment" photos. 

I've also been to events where supporters were taking photos.  These subsequently showed up on Facebook and Twitter.  As I viewed the photo below, I thought "Holy cow, Batman!  The guy in the red T-shirt, back-row centre.  That's the back of MY head!!"   Needless to say, today my connection with this event is quite different from when the photo was actually taken ........ simply because that's a photo of me.  And I see a lot of other people that I know who are also in that photo.    

This campaign launch photo was used in a mail-out letter.

So now that you've got that "being in the moment" photo, how do you make it part of your social environment?  How do you make it so that it's not just a photo that you put in the scrapbook of photos on your campaign office wall?  How did I get to see that photo of me?

Therein lies the challenge.  

Understanding How The Mind Works
Let's take a quick look at how our mind works in remembering things.  Contrary to popular opinion, we don't visualize things in terms of binary logic - the ones-and-zeros used in the computer world.  Instead, our mind operates with the visual ........ photos, graphics, videos, colours, etc.  Visuals are like an anchor.  They grab our attention and keep us focused on the message.  Once our attention gets anchored, we keep scrolling down the page.  

This means that visuals of all forms are very important in our modern-day digital media ....... websites, e-mails, Facebook posts, Twitter tweets.  Research shows that posts with an image every 100-words-or-so result in 30 or more "shares" than those without an image.  Visuals leave a more lasting impression ....... simply because that's how our mind works.  It's still in the analog domain where we use the visual to plant memories in our minds.

And because visuals keep people scrolling down and reading our content, they take in more of what we're saying.  They feel more compelled to share their positive experience with their friends simply because the visual has left a more lasting impresson than the written word alone ...... that old "a picture's worth a thousand words" impression. 

 Our mind retains 80% of what we see from the visual as compared to less than 20% for the written word.  Add to the fact that over 65% of our population learns from the visual and you have an excellent reason for including visuals ....... whether it's photos, graphics, videos, and colour ....... in everything we do in digital media.  

So let's get started.

Creating Memories & Engaging Your Volunteers
Here's something that's very easy to do.  Every time a crew goes out on a canvass, snap a photo and post it on Twitter and Facebook. Include the names of the people. I find that simple little effort makes all the difference in the world for the morale and enthusiasm of the team.

First, I keep my eyes open for someone walking down the street and I ask them to take a photo.  I gather up the team, move in close together so that everyone's included, and ask the walker to take 2 or 3 photos from different angles.  Once the canvass is over and I'm back home, I post it on the group Facebook wall.  I include the names of the team with some peppy comments (Never, ever, simply post a photo!  Always include some kind of comment.)  My objective is to get a conversation going with everyone who's on that Facebook wall, even if that conversation is only a "Seen By" or a "Like". 

After a canvass, it's interesting to see the number of "Seen By's", "Likes", and "Comments".  All of these views, likes, and comments are the "digital media" equivalent of the cheering section at a football game.  Even if the post isn't "Liked" or "Commented" on by a lot of viewers, the fact that they took the time to look at the post shows they're interested in the conversation ....... they're interested in what's going on ...... much like a group of onlookers listening in on a 3-4-way conversation.  While only 3 or 4 of us are talking and the rest may only be onlookers, they're definitely interested in the conversation.  And who knows, a couple of them might just join in.  

These posts provide the momentum to keep things going, to keep people interested in the campaign.  It creates a "buzz" that things are happening.    

Make sure you take those photos!!  It creates a "buzz".

Taking photos and posting them on Facebook or tweeting them on Twitter tells your volunteer team that things are happening on the campaign trail.  It energizes them.  It keeps them engaged.  It makes them want to get more involved.  It's all about creating memories.  It's also a good "recruiting tool" for that next canvass.  

You Need A Team - An Opportunity For Volunteer Engagement
One person can't do this alone.  If you're it ...... a team of one .... you're gonna get fatigued real quick.  Being in the moment, looking for things to post, requires creative juices and those juices can dry up real quick when you're the only person on the team.  When that happens, your followers dry up real quick.  And getting those followers back is next to impossible.  

A team of one is not a team.  You need 4-5 volunteers who all have the same frame of mind - looking out for those "being in the moment" moments - and posting them to the Facebook wall or tweeting out the tweets.  And the team doesn't necessarily have to be on the lookout for those photographic moments.  There's a lot of material from other Facebook walls that can be shared with your wall.  Mainstream media articles, op-eds, Liberal party posts and a whole bunch of other sources can easily be shared with your followers.  Have some of your team focus on those other sources.  

Set the expectations.  What are the do's and don'ts.  What are other campaigns or riding associations doing?  Where and how are you going to develop your sources of material?  What kind of writing style and tone are you going to use when you make your posts?  And a whole lot more questions that will arise as you gain more experience in this new medium.  

We Fail To Ask The Fundamental Question
The challenge in using digital media, ..... whether it's Facebook, Twitter, or your website, ..... is ...... how is your campaign going to relate to people .....  to your volunteers, ...... to your supporters ....... and to the voters.  Digital media presents an excellent opportunity to engage them in a way that we were never able to do before ...... in a way that's personalized, ...... that's social ........ and ........ that ultimately can be very meaningful ....... or not ....... for them.  For ultimately digital media represents giving up control of your campaign content and delegating it to your volunteers and supporters ...... through posts on your Facebook wall ...... through comments on your blog ........ or tweets on Twitter.  Not all campaigns are comfortable delegating this power back down the chain of command to a bunch of volunteers or even down to voters.  

The decision to delegate is not a decision to be made by the IT guys.  It's not even a decision to be made by the publicity-and-promotion folks.  It's a decision to be made at the top level of the campaign ...... by the candidate and their inner circle.  Because it's more than just an organizational change.  It's a cultural change.  And not all campaigns are prepared for that cultural change.  

We have to answer the question ....... to what extent do we want our volunteers and supporters engaged and involved in our campaign.  

That's something we'll discuss on the next post ...... Volunteer Engagement - A Strategy.  

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In the meantime, what are your impressions of how we're using digital media in this election campaign? Are our campaigns organized to use digital media effectively in promoting our cause?

How could we improve our use of digital media?  

Meet Me At The Fair!

In my neck of the woods, from early July to late October, I could spend every weekend at the agricultural fairs watching the horses and cows, riding the ferris wheel or merry-go-round, eating hamburgers, french fries, and some of  the best poutine in Eastern Ontario.  And we haven't even touched the myriad of local community days. 

Lots-and-lots-and-lots of people!  An ag fair attracts more than 50,000 visitors over a weekend!  A community day can attract 5,000 - 7,000 people.  An excellent opportunity for a candidate to get some name recognition and connect with the voters!

In my neck of the woods, it all starts 3 weeks before Canada Day with the Village of Manotick's Dickinson Days - Friday night's parade, concert and fireworks.  Saturday's pancake breakfast and fishing derby.  All day Saturday there's hot dogs, hamburgers, games for the kids, the mutt and cat show.  The candidate in my area and his team weren't going to miss this opportunity.  

I Like A Parade!
Things usually start with the parade and there's nothing like a parade to attract people.  Take some fire trucks, tractors, and combines.  Add a bunch of floats, a few clowns, and you've got the makings of a parade.  It doesn't take much to do a float.  The float below is simplicity in itself - a hay wagon towed by a pickup truck.  A little bit of planning and organizing.  Bales of hay for people to sit on.  Helium-filled balloons.  Some pots of red flowers.  A few candidate lawn signs.  And a whole bunch of people dressed in red!  Your float doesn't have to be complex.  Make use of what you have. 

Book It Well In Advance!
Something like this doesn't happen in a vacuum.  It takes a bit of planning and organizing.  Space on the fair grounds is usually at a premium and in high demand.  It goes very, very fast.  Don't be disappointed.  Book your spot in the parade and the space for your booth well in advance of the event.  You should have a list of these events at hand and a team to get things organized.  Make sure you get in the lineup.  

Branding The Booth
There are all different kinds and sizes of tents that can be used for booths but the best kind is the pop-up "display tent" that you stretch, push, and pull until it pops up and the frame and legs lock into place.  Neat, compact, easy to transport, and it doesn't take a dozen people to put it up.  When it comes to a display tent that's going to be used multiple times, the cheapest isn't always the best.  Invest a bit of extra money in a tent that has thicker frames and cover.  Include the four sidewalls in your order.  Three of the walls will clearly define your booth space and keep the rain off your back.  The fourth wall will provide a measure of security when the show closes down for the night.  Do a bit of research into the various aspects of display tents.  Take a look at your budget and then spend a bit more to get what you want.  Visibility is everything and it starts with a good display tent.  

It's most important that you properly "brand" the booth with your campaign colours.  This starts with the colour of the tent, down to the table cloths, and right up into the helium balloons.  In the photo below, it's very obvioius who the candidate is and what party he's from.  And that's exactly how you want it to be.  

The "Liberal" logos on the canopy fringe are 11"x 17" photo-enlarged copies that have been laminated at the local Staples store.  Campaign lawn signs are affixed everywhere clearly identifying who the candidate is and what party he represents.  

"Punch It Out" With Vertical Banners
One of the objectives in a campaign is name recognition ...... trying to get rid of the "..... Cathy who?" responses.  A good way to do this is with a couple of large vertical banners.  Their use is unlimited - Q&A sessions, guest speakers, talks at retirement homes ....... any place where you have an opportunity to be seen and heard.  At a cost of $200 each, they're a sound investment.  

This banner was placed alongside the pop-up tent so it was very obvious as to what this booth was all about.  And again, the colours were in keeping with properly branding the candidate.  A good photo against a pastoral background really catches your attention.  It was very windy that day so a couple of colour-matching flower pots at the base kept things vertical.  

The only thing missing with this display was a vertical banner to catch the people coming the other way.  Either a duplicate copy of the first banner or a banner with the Liberal red "diamond plate" background, some large Liberal logos and the riding name will also do the job.  Or, create another banner using photos from some door-to-door canvassing action and an invitation to volunteer.  With a little creative thinking, the possibilities are endless.  

Table Setup
You'll need a couple of folding tables - one at the front of the booth to ...... obviously ....... outline the front, and one or two more at the back or sides where you can keep refreshments for your volunteers, campaign materials, button making activites, balloon blowing, or anything else where you're going to need some work space.  

When you set up your tables, cover them with some colour-coordinated plastic table cloths (available at your local Dollar Store).  Make sure the table cloths hang down over the front of the table so as to further delineate where the front of your booth is.  While it's not obvious because of the shadows, that's a white table cloth in a red tent.  You can see the lawn sign(s) hanging at the back of the tent and the laminated "Liberal" signs taped to the canopy fringe.  

And make sure you bring along a few chairs to rest those weary feet.  You're going to be standing for a long time and you'll need to rest those tired dogs.  

Do Something That Makes Your Booth Stand Out
A booth with some tables and campaign materials all by themselves, while it will result in a nice booth, doesn't differentiate it from the other booths of your political opponents.  You need something that's going to set you apart from the rest.  

In this case, there's that big Liberal-red water jug that's full of cool drinking water with a whole stack of drinking cups close by (and a garbage bag to put the used cups in).  A bag of ice kept the water nice and cool on that hot sunny day.  The only thing missing is one of those Liberal signs taped to the front of the jug but that will be fixed for the next community day or agricultural fair.  

And as an added bonus, there's a couple of trays full of water for those thirsty dogs.  That was quite the attention grabber for Fido which forced people to stop and talk to our candidate and his volunteers while Fido quenched his thirst.  

Another attention grabber are helium-filled balloons.  This is always a stopper for the kids and again allows our candidate and the volunteers to talk to the parents.  

And as an alternative to the water barrel, here's a jug of lemonade.  

The possibilities are endless.  I've even used the button-making machine helping junior make a personalized button while Mom and Dad talk to the candidate.  All it takes is a little creative thinking.  

Candidate & Volunteers Out Front
The most important aspect of display booths is the interaction that the candidate and volunteers will have with the public.  Remember, the object of the exercise is name-recognition.  You want to get your candidate's name in front of the people.  Sitting on a chair inside your booth won't do it.  You've got to be out front where the people are.  

ln this case, notice that the candidate and his volunteers are all dressed in Liberal red - T-shirts, golf shirts, baseball caps (especially for sunny days!), BBQ aprons.  And lots of pin-on buttons.  The button machine was working overtime that weekend.  It wouldn't hurt to make up some special buttons that not only promote the candidate but also make reference to the event.  This will take some creativity as space on a button is very limited. 

And the only time the crew went inside the tent was to rest their tired feet.  For the rest of the day, they were in front of the booth talking to voters.  And that's the way you want it to be.   

The possibilities for a display booth are endless.  All it takes is a bit of thinking, some creativity and some planning.  Your return on the investment can be substantial.  
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Next up:  Using Digital Media - Facebook, Twitter, and Joe Rospars.  

"Snail Mail" and e-Mail - Examples of How NOT To Do It

In a previous post, we discussed some basics of what makes a good e-mail and what doesn't.  You might be tempted to take the text from your "snail mail" letters and do a cut-and-paste into your e-mails.  But I warned you.  Don't.  It won't work.  Especially if the subject is all about fund-raising and donating to the cause.

Yesterday, I went to the post office to collect my mail.  Guess what was in the mailbox.  Yup.  One of those "snail mail" letters asking me to donate to the cause.  

Did I Ever Reach The Bottom??
I sliced the envelope open and peeked inside.  Holy crap Batman!  Wall-to-wall print.  Both sides of an 8 1/2"x 11" page!  Asking me to donate to the cause ........  or at least I think that's what it was all about.  The letter didn't even get 3 seconds of my attention.  Immediately dumped into the recyle bin underneath my desk.  

Today, I retrieved the letter from the recyle bin, scanned it, and decided to post to the blog to show you exactly how NOT to ask for money.  

Take a look at the letter.  Ask yourself one question.  Would you donate to the cause? (Click on the letter for a larger view.)  

...And On To Page 2...
But that wasn't all!  At the bottom right corner I was asked to "Please see over..."!!!

I didn't even make it to the "P.S. Your donation today is incredibly important."

"A Message From President Clinton"
Around the same time I was scanning the above letter, in came an e-mail from President Clinton.  I opened the e-mail and up popped the part above the fold.  

Not much detail about the content of the e-mail except that it's "A message from President Clinton".  Sometimes those e-mails are interesting.  So I started to scroll down to the bottom ..... scrolling ....... and scrolling ..... and scrolling .....

Are you still with me??? (I hope you are!!)  Never mind that large red "Donate" button at the bottom of the e-mail!  I never got down that far.  Was this one of those copy-and-paste jobs from President Clinton's "snail mail" letters?

"Yes, I AM angry" - Hitting The Nail Right On The Head!
Around the same time, I received another e-mail from US Senator Elizabeth Warren.  It was one of those "weeks that wuz" for Senator Warren.  She'd lost her cool at a conference in Las Vegas and had gone ballistic.  It was all over the media.  Never one to lose an opportunity, out went the e-mail to her e-mail subscribers.  But this one packed a triple-whammy!

Remember those 3 important lines in an e-mail?

• "Subject" line
• First line of the e-mail
• "From" line"

Aside from the fact that I enjoy reading Senator Warren's e-mails (the "From" line), wow, did the "Subject" line ever catch my interest!!  (Click on the photo for a larger view.)  

Senator Warren wasn't beating around the bush on this one!!  This is what showed "above the fold".  (Click on the photo for a larger view.)  

Digital Media- Connecting The "Dots"
When I opened the e-mail, what caught my eye was a link to a video that was the subject of her e-mail.  It didn't take a lot of reading to get to the point.  All I had to do was watch the two-minute and 33-second video.  On Facebook!!  (Facebook now has video-upload capability.)

Senator Warren had discovered the power of using Facebook for her videos.  Because the video is on Facebook, she was also asking us to "share" the video with our friends!  When I last looked, she had over 46,666 "likes", 66,000 "shares", 2,756,492 "views" (the number of people who had watched her video) and climbing!

Holy crap Batman!  We've now got a way to increase the number of "Friends" and "Followers" on Facebook simply by using old-fashioned e-mail, including a link to a Facebook video, and asking us to share it with our Facebook "Friends".  Talk about boosting our social media game!!!  And it didn't cost Senator Warren a whole lot of money to do it.  Just some creative thinking.  

Personalizing Social Media - Keep It Going-And-Going-And-Going!
But it just didn't end there.  She carried it right to the end of her e-mail.  Take a look at her Facebook and Twitter logos.  You usually see the impersonal Facebook "F" and Twitter "bird" at the end of an e-mail, website, or blog.  

Senator Warren had changed those logos into a more personal "Follow Elizabeth on Facebook" and "Follow Elizabeth on Twitter".  Much more effective than a couple of dull logos!

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Methinks some people need to take a close look at how Senator Elizabeth Warren creates her correspondence.
  

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Next up:  Meet Me At The Fair - All about display booths. 

Meeting Basics -

Herewith some simple tips and tricks to make your meeting or event a bit more professional and ...........  if you'll pardon the pun ........  eventful ....

Name Tags - Give Everybody A Name
Whenever you hold a meeting or an event, you want to have everyone wearing name tags - volunteers and guests.  

• People can talk one-on-one without having to go through the formality of asking for a person's name.  
• Some people are too shy to ask for a name.  
• There's a higher likelihood that names will be remembered.  
• It makes things look more professional.  
• You won't have to try and remember the name of a person you've been introduced to less than 5 minutes ago.  

"Peel-and-stick" name tags (Avery® 8164 Mailing Labels, 3-1/3" x 4", Pack of 150) can be readily "branded" with your campaign logo, name, and message so that labels are more than just your regular brand of blank name tag.  It also reminds the audience why they're here.  A simple tag line of "I'm supporting Cathy Candidate", the party logo and party colours will readily do the job.  

The objective of a name tag is to be able to READILY and EASILY see a person's name.  I don't want to be looking at your bellybutton or cleavage to find out what your name is. 

• Leave lots of white space to PRINT the name in LARGE BOLD type.  
• DON'T use a pen.  
• DON'T use a Sharpie marker.  
• Use a large CHISEL marker.  

Volunteer Sign-Up Sheets & Cards
An important objective of a campaign meeting is to collect names along with phone numbers and e-mail addresses.  Your guests are a potential source of voters, volunteers, and donors.  As a minimum, have sign-up sheets.  

Better yet, have sign-up cards.  They're easy to make from a package of 4"x 6" or 5"x 7" index cards. 

• Print them using MS Word
• Add your logo and branding.  
• Run them through your printer.  
• Total cost less than $10 for 250 cards.  
• When you print the cards, print on the blank side.
• The lined side can be used for comments by your guests or by your volunteers.  

Whenever you have an event, set up a table by the entrance manned by volunteers.  Make sure everyone signs in!  As a minimum, name, phone number, mobile phone number, and e-mail address is all that's needed.  Anything more than that will result in a line-up of people coming through the door.  And you don't want that.  Better yet, register your guests with your sign-up cards.  

And make sure you send them a "Thank you for attending" e-mail!  It not only thanks them for coming but it also confirms their e-mail address.  You're going to need those e-mail addresses when the campaign heats up as election day gets closer.  

Have The "Donation" Forms At Hand
It takes money to run an election campaign and yours is going to be dependent on donations.  There's nothing worse than having a guest offering to make a donation and you then scramble trying to find the official form.  Have them readily available on the table, along with a simple but large "Donation" sign.  Make it obvious that you are looking for donations.  

Typically there are two types of donations - the single donation and the regular monthly or bi-weekly donation that comes out of your guest's bank account or credit card.  It's those regular donations that you're looking for - the $20, $50, or $75 a month contributions.  

Make sure you have somebody on the table who is exclusively looking after donations.  Put a volunteer - an extroverted one - who's familiar with the election authority rules and isn't afraid to make "the ask".  

Pass The Hat!
In holding your event, there are costs - room rental, refreshments, audio visual, etc.  Passing the hat is a good way to recover some of those costs and add a bit to your campaign coffers.  Make sure you have a hat, bucket, basket, or collection jar handy.  

You'll also need some hat-holders - the people collecting the money - near the exits.  You don't want them at the front of the room when everyone is leaving by the back of the room.  These volunteers should be the extroverts on your team, not afraid to ask for the donation.  

At the beginning of their shift, bartenders "seed" the tip jar with money - quarters, loonies and toonies.  You don't see any pennies, nickels or dimes.  It's a hint to the patrons to tip the bartender.  And it works.  Do the same with the hat before you pass it around.  Seed it with $10's and $20's.  That gives a hint to your guests of what's appropriate to put in the hat.  Seed the hat with loonies and toonies and that's what you'll get.  

Collect The Volunteer Cards!
As your guests leave the room, make sure they've signed your registration form or volunteer card.  Have one of your people near the exits asking people and making sure that they've filled in the registration form/ volunteer card.  That same person can be handing out volunteer cards for your guests to sign, particularly if they've been inspired by your speech or presentation.  

Use The Mike
You may think you have the best voice in the world which you think will project to the back of the room.  I've seen too many times when orators have the option to use the sound system and don't.  Big mistake!  The amplification of the sound system gives you a presence in the room that you can't get just from your voice alone.  If a microphone is available, use it!

If you're going to make lots of presentations in small halls (meeting rooms, seniors residences, legion halls, community centres), invest in your own sound system.  It doesn't have to be expensive.  

Make sure you stay behind the speakers.  Otherwise you'll end up with that high-pitched squeal.  And when you've finished speaking, make sure you turn your microphone off!  Too many politicians have been caught making inappropriate comments when they thought the sound system was off.  

Do a "sound test" before your event.  During the event have one of your key volunteers stand at the back of the room to make sure the sound quality is good.  Before you start talking, ask if everyone can hear you.  Periodically keep an eye on that volunteer at the back.  Make sure they give you the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on your sound quality.  

Say "Thank You!"
In the 2008 election Barack Obama got 13 million e-mail addresses.  Three million of these people gave over $500 million to the campaign on-line through 6.5 million contributions.  That is, the average donor gave more than twice.  It just goes to show how valuable those e-mail addresses can be to the success of your campaign.  

Each one of those names you've collected represents a potential voter, volunteer, or donor  Make sure you thank them for attending your event.  Send them an e-mail.  Thank them for attending.  Ask them to volunteer for your campaign.  And don't hesitate to ask them for a donation.  Follow some of the principles we outlined in our post on e-mails.  Include a big red "call to action" button on the bottom of your e-mail.  

Ma belle femme attended a "meet the candidate" coffee party a couple of Sundays ago.  She wanted to learn more about the candidate.  However, the candidate was occupied with someone else and didn't get the chance to talk to my wife.  She returned home a bit miffed.  It was bothering her all the next day.  Later in the evening she received an e-mail from the candidate thanking her for attending and apologizing for not having had the chance to talk to her.  Needless to say, that e-mail confirmed her vote for the candidate.  

"Thank you" e-mails and phone calls are an excellent way to put volunteers to work.  Get them to input the information into spreadsheets or whatever system or database your campaign is using.  Prepare some text.  Make sure the e-mail is sent out within 24 hours of your event.  Sending it out 3-4 days later sends the wrong message.  

Those Important Follow-Up Conversations
You and your key volunteers are going to have conversations with some guests where there should be follow-up conversations.  Make sure your volunteers collect the names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses of those guests (remember those volunteer sign-up cards??)  The day after your event, make sure you have personal conversations with these guests.  A phone call or a meeting at the local coffee shop is all it takes to get another key volunteer organizer, fund-raiser, communications strategist, blog writer, issues researcher, or phone banking coordinator on your team.  

Celebrate Your Success - Build The Team!
By the end of your event, the adrenaline will really be pumping.  Everyone will be on a high.  Teams always celebrate successes.  Right now, immediately after the meeting is the time to do it. This is a good time to discuss what worked well, what didn't, what could be improved.  Make sure someone makes note of these issues.  And most important, use this as an opportunity to thank everyone for their help in making the event such a big success.  

Follow it up the next day with a personal e-mail to ALL your volunteer team (some of them may not have been able to attend the event).  It's an excellent way to generate momentum, to do some team building, to personally stay connected with your volunteers, to show them you care, to keep your team energized, and to make them feel they're an important part of your campaign.  

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I've been to a number of campaign events over the past 12 months both as a guest and as a volunteer.  I only received a couple of "thank you" e-mails.  Nothing kills enthusiasm or changes a vote like the voice of silence.  Opportunities are never missed.  If you don't take advantage of the opportunity, someone else will.   And it just might be your opposition.  Make sure you're "screaming" loudly so that everyone, especially your volunteers, can hear you loud and clear!

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Oops - Almost Forgot.  Clean Up Your Mess!!
How often have you visited an event, had some light refreshments, and then looked around for the garbage can or recycle bin?

Usually there's only one small garbage can, no recycle bins, with the result that, at the end of your event, the garbage cans look like this:

You don't want that happening to you.  Here's some tips to keep the place clean.  

• Bring along extra-large garbage bags with you.  This way you're assured they'll fit over whatever garbage bins are available. 
• Ask the custodial staff for extra garbage bags.
• Bring along blue and black recycle bins
• Periodically check to make sure the garbage and recycle bins aren't overflowing.  
• Bag up the garbage and put new bags in the containers.
• Find out where the garbage goes and put the bags there. 
• Make sure the recyclables get recycled.  DON'T put them in the garbage bin!  You'll lose lots of credibility.  

I know that nobody likes looking after garbage but somebody has to do it.  Leaving a mess leaves a very bad impression with the custodial staff who are charged with keeping the hall clean.  You can be sure they'll be complaining to their management.  It could jeopardize your future use of the hall.  It could also lose you votes.  Leave the place clean.  

Next up:  "Snail Mail"  and e-Mail - Examples of HOW NOT To Do It".