GregDewar.com

50,000,000 Facebook Fans Can't Be Wrong - If They're Organized Effectively

2009-07-02T01:18:10Z

There's no doubt that in the political campaign world, Facebook is the Bright Shiny Thing everyone's got their eyes on, especially since a first-term Senator from Illinois won the presidency last year. But all this activity triggers a question that doesn't have an easy answer: How many campaigns are actually using Facebook effectively, and how many are just wasting their time?

Case Study: The Race to Get Lots of "Friends" and "Fans" on Facebook. If you're on Facebook for more than 5 minutes, you know how easy it is to passively express affinity for anyone, or anything. Maybe you see a friend has become a "fan" of (Not Being on Fire, ESPN, Flipping the Pillow Over To Get To The Cool Side, Batman, some cool local blog, and so on) and within a couple of clicks of the mouse, you join the bandwagon. It's fun, and it's a social "me-too" function that's an integral part of Facebook.

After Barack Obama's much-publicized efforts to collect Facebook friends, politicians and their advisors have jumped on this. Now it's common to see candidates for office engage in a "friend recruitment war," sending out repeated pleas to their supporters to "get more friends" for them, and to hit some magic target. As this desperate struggle for "more friends" continues, politicians risk looking less like capable leaders in difficult times, and more like insecure teenagers running for Homecoming King or Queen instead.

More importantly , these drives to "get more friends and fans" on Facebook miss the potential power of social networking for campaigns as a field organizing tool, not a popularity contest. Obama's efforts on Facebook were part of a larger effort that combined field work - on and off Facebook - and took advantage of the medium's novelty. Today, when Facebook is larger and more established, it's much less important if politician has thousands of "fans" on Facebook. That's particularly true if none of them do anything offline to help out the campaign effort.

However, if a campaign only has a few hundred "fans," with every one of those fans knocking on doors in their hometown, raising money, and telling their friends - on and offline - about the campaign, the candidate will be doing a lot better where it really counts - at the polls on Election Day.

If political consultants want to help their clients the most with social media, they need to look at social networking not as a gimmick, bolted on to a traditional campaign plan, but instead as an extension of their field plan, just done online.

Using Facebook (and Twitter and other social networking sites) and their many tools to identify, recruit and organize supporters online, is great. Giving them something meaningful to do, will ensure that their campaigns are more successful than the insecure teenager begging for more friends.

This article appeared in a slightly different format in the newsletter for my awesome day job. Go to their site and read all about our cool products and services.

Because It's Funny: Conan O'Brien's "Twitter Tracker"

2009-06-12T17:05:16Z

If you've not already seen the Tonight Show's "Twitter Tracker," well, you're missing out on a hilarious send-up of Twitter, particularly when used by celebrites. The exploding Twitterbirds and WWF style announcer just add to the fun.

Why BART Board Member James Fang Is a Liar or A Fool....or Both!

2009-05-18T15:56:52Z

In politics, a bad idea never goes away, especially when it is campaign gimmickry designed to boost the fortunes of a politician desperate for headlines. The problem is these silly campaign gimmicks can often end up becoming very bad, very expensive policy, and you, the citizen, end up paying the price.

The latest example has been this ongoing media barrage BART board member James Fang has been creating over his half-baked idea to use cell phones to pay BART Fares. Today's Matier and Ross detailed Fang's $4000 trip to London to go to a conference hosted by vendors of said technology. All this in addition to BART resources directed to "study" this issue at great cost. This, during a budget crisis.

But let's take a trip in the political Wayback Machine to Fang's 2006 campaign. Fang is a Republican in one of the most non-Republican parts of California. In a re-election bid against Emily Drennen, an advocate for transit and other Good Things, he had to find a way to ensure his re-election, using, of course the taxpayer-funded resources BART could offer.

The result was a completely phony "demonstration" of technology that simply does not exist in the United States (on the scale it does in other nations), with a whole slew of media on hand to "document" a completely falsified event. Naturally, in the closing days of the campaign, Fang, with a local press ready to reprint his every word like good PR people, was able to eclipse any discussion of real issues and win re-election. All based on a lie.

It should be noted that yes, you can use cell phones in Europe and Asia to make purchases of all sorts. Cell phones in Europe can be used with vending machines to buy sodas, and Japanese cell phones can show television broadcasts and so on. There's just one problem - not one US cell carrier currently supports any "pay by cell" techonlogy, nor do any other transit agencies, any vending machine companies and so on. So Mr. Fang is either a liar or a fool when he somehow suggests that magically, within a couple of years, the US will be falling in line with European or Asian standards for cell phones amongst all its cell phone carriers.

The TransLink system, which cost a ton of money and allows for more efficient fare collection with BART, MUNI, AC Transit, and Golden Gate Transit, is FINALLY almost ready to go. MUNI passengers are already finding that using a TransLink pass is easier, and it's expected to help all beleaguered transit systems with money issues. And yet Mr. Fang insists on spending scarce taxpayer dollars to go on junkets and insist on repeating his campaign gimmicks - on our dime. Worse, he's actively undermining a significant regional project the public seems to like for no other reason than his own personal political gain.

The press needs to be admonished for going along with this phony baloney gimmick during the election and not asking the tough questions instead. However, Mr. Fang should also be admonished for wasting taxpayer dollars at a time of crisis, as should BART's management for allowing this to continue. Mr. Fang's actions are no longer a matter of political disagreement, but are costing taxpayers money, and the lies and foolishness need to stop NOW.

BART riders can't afford it any more.

Let's Use the Ballot Measure System to Ban Ballot Measures With A Really Crazy One

2009-05-13T17:17:23Z

I sent my mail ballot in a while back and voted a nice big "NO" on all these ridiculous propositions for this "special election" next week. Most people don't know what they're about, or that there's even an election. Political nerds like me who actually tried to read this garbage found even more not to like, and voted no.

The whole concept of ballot measures at the state and local level has devolved into a joke. When the railroads ran the state and early 20th century reformers wanted to break their hold on government, the ballot measure idea was a good way to circumvent their hold on power. But today, it's a cruel joke that's making our state a laughingstock, and it may be time to pull the plug.

Today, the only people who can afford to put some crazy idea on the ballot are the wealthy special interests these things were supposed to fight. Worse, when someone gets one of these things passed, there's no accountability. Want to make up some budget busting rules for the state? Put it on the ballot and who cares about unintended consequences? Want to make up some zany law declaring San Francisco a "sanctuary city?" Go for it, and when we have illegal alien felons having their "rights" protected from the long arm of the law, well whose ass do we kick for that? No one, that's who....because it was a "vote of the people."

Worse, whenever one of these bogus things get challenged, politicians and the courts are always fearful of "overturning a vote of the people." Hey guess what? If "the people" vote for something truly stupid and unconstitutional, it should be tossed out with the garbage, because it's unconstitutional. Who cares if "the people" voted on it? "The people" barely pay attention as-is, and their only information is from a slew of political ads. Not exactly a model of democracy, I'd say.

However, I think the best way to make a point about this is....to put a ballot measure up for a vote of the people. To paraphrase Sideshow Bob, I'm aware of the irony of using a ballot measure to point out its silliness so don't bother pointing that out. Simply put, I think it's time a group of Concerned Citizens put up the craziest "advisory" ballot measure ever to point how how useless it is. (Although in San Francisco, perhaps no one would get the joke).

Anyway, here's a few ideas I'm spitballing here....feel free to come up with your own....remember we're going to use the election system to take a poll about something completely ridiculous, so the zanier the better:

-An advisory measure asking the City to consider making Alcatraz Island into a facility for the cloning of dinosaur DNA and making a world-class dinosaur zoo in San Francisco.

-An advisory measure stating that San Francisco stands as a "sanctuary city" for unicorns, rainbows, and heart shaped stickers.

-An advisory measure asking the Mayor to wear a different colored tie than those blue ones he's always wearing.

-An advisory measure declaring San Francisco's support for JJ Abrams' efforts to improve pop culture via Star Trek, Fringe, and LOST. Maybe make him an honorary mayor or something.

Anyway, you get the idea. Let's get crazy!

Twittering The California Democratic Convention

2009-04-25T00:08:26Z

What few readers out there that still read this blog may recall we launched this blog at the CDP Convention in 2006 in Sacramento. I'm up here now mostly for my day job, but I'm also posting Twitter updates, which can be found at my Twitter page. In fact I'm at the "Jerry Brown 2010 Social Networking" booth with the Governor as I post this.

I'll be tagging tweets with #cdp09 for easy searching, too! Thanks for following!

Stewart Takes Out CNBC, Daily Show-style

2009-03-05T19:36:50Z

Does it not strike anyone else as odd that the only person willing and able to call this kind of nonsense by alleged "journalists" at CNBC, et al, works on a comedy show?

Glad he's doing it, but another example of why the media is dying. They can't criticize anyone in the fraternity and just go with the pack, never questioning anything...

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

TMZ and The Chronicle Read My Mind: Cover Politicians!

2009-03-02T18:38:49Z

Well that was funny to read this morning...it seems that gossip gurus TMZ.com are going to start applying their style of journalism to politicos as it warrants, much as they do celebrities in Hollywood.

To which I say "Thank God!"

I actually posted a zany little blog missive on this very issue just over a year ago but was serious - TMZ.com doesn't seem to mind pissing off the folks in Hollywood, and they always seemed to be on the scene.

Maybe if we could get TMZ and some awesome investigative reporters to tag team our folks in government, we'd really get something there. The TMZ.com folks could be the shock and awe troops to zing 'em when they drive their SUVs to Earth Day, and the investigative folks could get paid well to do the kind of reporting you need from Real Journalists once the target's been acquired.

Hey, it couldn't hurt, right?

PS: I bet it would make money too. Grab the readers with the TMZ takedown, keep the eyes on the site for the tough reporting. I'd definitely pay for THAT.

How Not To Use Twitter: Case Study With the Anti Robo Call People

2009-02-13T21:15:48Z

These days, everyone has stars in their eyes about "social networking" and feel a need to jump on every new thing out there to do their thing online. Today I'm going to give you an example of how NOT to use Twitter, the micro-blogging service that many people enjoy.

Over at The N Judah Chronicles, I have been using Twitter to supplement blog posts, especially since now I can't always update the site during the day when I'd like, and have to put it off until the evening or the early morning. Plus, I've been testing out Twitter as a way to create an online community about MUNI and the funny things we all see around town. Many other local bloggers and I "follow" each others micro-posts, and it's a nice little diversion while I'm stuck on the N and can find something to do with my iPhone.

Anyway, today, Brittney Gilbert at alerted her Twitter followers that one of the CBS5 reporters was now on Twitter and I decided to "follow" his Twitter posts. I think it is cool when journalists use Twitter as a way to talk to their readers/viewers and use it to get alternative points of view.

Anyway, I noticed he'd been talking about a story on cell phone robo calls and I posted a response, indicating that I used to sell robocalls and offered my expertise in said subject, such as it is. Cool.

Then, out of the blue, I get a direct message from someone who a) I don't follow and b) I don't know and c) obviously didn't read what I'd Twittered. All I got was this random posting from the guy who runs some website devoted to killing poltical robo calls.

Basically what he did was look for anyone using the word "robocall" in Twitter, and then sent out this anonymous blast Tweet to me. He didn't bother to read my comment, he didn't know what I was talking about, and basically spammed my Twitter feed for his own site. Ironically, by doing so, he was as annoying as those robocalls he claims to be against!

The moral to the story? Communicating on Twitter isn't a top down, message blasting service. Twitter is an ongoing conversation of sorts, and your best bet is to find ways to interact with Twitter users that is context-sensitive. Blasting out crap like this guy does not only is ineffective - it got me to post something online saying so!

PS: As for the concept itself - while I did sell robocalls in the past as a cheap way for low budget campaigns to reach voters when they otherwise could not, I no longer do so because I don't know that it's particularly effective from a communications point of view. There's better low-cost ways for campaigns to communicate that weren't available when robocalls were in fashion just a few years ago.

That said, I don't like the idea of banning political speech, no matter how annoying, based on technology. This road-to-Hell paving crew kind of stuff sounds great, but always ends badly. Plus, the "holier than thou" aspect of it all is annoying.

And in an added level of irony, I'm sure the Google Ads over here are advertising...robocalls. YMMV.

What's Not To Like About FOX Fridays?

2009-02-03T20:20:07Z

I mean, really. Lots of explosions, noise and whatnot. Saw all the promos at Comic Con last July but now it's finally happening...tack on BSG at 10pm on SciFi (or for me, iTunes) and there's really no reason to go out of the house..

A "June Special Election" for San Francisco? What, Are You Kidding?

2009-01-28T21:04:09Z

A lot of folks around town are talking about the city's budget problems, and the prospects of a special election and whether it'd fly or not. While the City deals with its headaches, the MTA and MUNI are dealing with similar misery.

There's a multitude of bad laws that deny people the right to determine what they want to do or not do locally (so much for local control of local government), but putting all that aside, I don't see how anything put on the ballot for a "June Election" would succeed.

First, while the board voted to call out the situation as an "emergency" to get the ball rolling to have the actual election, there is nothing in writing, ready to go to the voters as of now. So that means we've got at least a few weeks, maybe a month before we'll have some sort of tax thing, probably written in a hurry, that'll be approved by the board and go through all the legal wrangling by early March.

Ok, now the fun begins. We have some sort of thing or things to "vote on" but guess what? No money raised, no campaign committee ready to go, nothing. And we're in the beginning of March. That means that now, the group of Good People, trying to do whatever, have at best two and a half months to pass a major tax measure on the ballot, during terrible economic times, and when recent history has shown how hard it is to pass these things in the first place.

This is just asking for a fail. Let's look at recent history:

-To get the SF General Hospital Bond passed (2008's Measure A) took a tremendous amount of hard work by a committed team of experts, a lot of coalition building over a long period of time, and more, to win the supermajority needed to pass. And that was a huge bond for something most people like (i.e. most people are not likely to want to blow up the hospital).

-To get the MUNI Reform Measure passed (2007's Measure A) took a significant amount of serious negotiations over many months before we finally got something worthy of the ballot. It eventually passed, but it had well-funded opposition and it took a hard working team to get it passed.

See where this is going? Without building up a solid coalition of support, and a campaign that can fight a tough fight with a solid organization, all this talk will just result in failure.

If you believe that some sort of new tax source is necessary to save the city, you might want to consider holding off a little bit and have a chance of winning, instead of the usual "put something on the ballot and hope it passes" strategy.

Tribute to Bob Wilkins, former KTVU TV Personality and Good Guy

2009-01-09T21:01:07Z

This is sad news..it seems Bob Wilkins, former host of Creature Features and Captain Cosmic on KTVU died this week. If you were around in the Bay Area in the 1960's and 1970s, no doubt you remember Bob's programs and his unique personality he brought to Bay Area TV. This was back when local TV stations weren't all owned by chains, and produced original local programming (instead of gutting all local content and all local news like they do now).

Being a nerd growing up, I of course watched Captain Cosmic, who broadcast Japanese monster TV shows and old 1930s serials like "Flash Gordon" and had a Decoder Card. I even got a chance to meet him as a kid and got a signed picture as well. (I'm so glad nerd stuff like this is mainstream - it sure wasn't back in 1978). My biggest regret is missing an event at the Parkway Theater several years ago where he brought Robot 2T2 out of retirement and hosted a Halloween event in costume!

So in honor of Bob and his work over the years, here's some videos. RIP Bob.

Another "Dog Poo" Policy Obama Has to Clean Up: The Bungled DTV Switch!

2009-01-08T20:48:02Z

UPDATE: Friday's LA Times has more on this story....

Which "dog poo" policy left behind by the Bush Adminstration will give the incoming Obama Administration the biggest short-term hit? War? Economy? Terrorism? Maybe.

If I had to bet, I'd put my money on the federal government's bungling conversion to Digital Television (DTV) broadcasts less than a month after Obama's inauguration. In typical Bush Administration fashion, they managed to craft a plan that combines the worst qualities of Big Government and Big Business, and has resulted in billions of dollars wasted, and a public that's going to have a nasty surprise when they try to watch television on Feburary 17th.

President Elect Obama has wisely asked Congress to extend the deadline to try and put a bandage on this wound, but Congress, in typical fashion, never seem to feel the need to act on anything that would beneft, you know, us (but they sure got it in gear to hand over billions to the banking industry, which has proceeded to sit on our money).

On paper this made some sense: DTV converter boxes, which you'll need to continue to receive over the air TV, tend to cost between $50-$75. Give everyone a $40 coupon, and you cut the price to an average of $20. People go online (!), get a coupon, and use it within a 3 month window (otherwise it expires). People can go to any retailer and buy a box, and plug it into their TV.

For someone like me, who is aware of these things, it worked fine. I can now get more channels and I don't pay a monthly fee to the villains of Comcast or AT&T. However, for a lot of folks, especially those who aren't online or haven't read up on the details of the program, it hasn't gone as well. Cable TV of course is happy to tell you all will be well if you just buy cable TV - and make it seem like you MUST buy cable to watch television.

Recent reports indicate that most people are at best confused as to what is happening with DTV (thanks in part to deceptive ads for cable and satellite service). The program to subsidize DTV boxes is running out of money, thanks to both poor accounting procedures, and the fact that people are picking up the coupons to buy a DTV box, but aren't using them on time. Now, the feds have a growing waiting list right at the time when the program needs to gear up for the final rush.

It's pretty clear what is going to happen on Februrary 17th - a large number of people are going to realize they can't watch TV anymore and they're going to take it out on President Obama and Congress, even though it was the outgoing administration that came up with this hybrid policy of FAIL. Worse, the federales will have failed the people on one of its most basic of duties - managing the public airwaves for the public good.

It is in the national interest to have broadcast services that do not require hundreds of dollars in monthly "fees", and to have broadcast services that can operate in an emergency. Not everyone wants or can afford pricey cable or satellite tv, and some of us just don't like 'em, period.

By inventing a new way to loot the public good for the benefit of the few, the Bush crew is laughing all the way to the bank, and it's at your expense.

PS: Here's a short and easy list of what to do, or not do, as the case may be for TV, per many requests:

-If you already have cable TV, you don't need to do anything, just keep paying Comcast the bill.

-If you have purchased a TV with a tuner (be it a standard TV or HDTV) in the last few years, it most likely has a digital TV tuner built in. Check the manual and see if it has an "ATSC" tuner built in. (Be aware that many HDTV sets are really just glorified monitors, with NO tuner at all!)

-Also note - you don't need an expensive High Definition TV to watch digital television. Your normal tv can see the picture (with a converter or with a digital tuner built in) - just not at as high a resolution as that pricey HD one. Just as you could watch color broadcasts on a black and white tv, and so on.

-If you have an older TV, you'll need a DTV converter box, which attaches to the back of the old TV. You can find them at most electronics stores, like Radio Shack.

If you can get your hands on a $40 coupon from the federal government, it should cost you around $20. They're not too hard to set up (it's like setting up a video game console), and they are all pretty much the same. I got one from Zenith and it works fine.

The various acronyms and the like get confusing (i.e. DTV vs. HDTV), but just remember - you do not need to buy a High Definition TV to watch Digital TV. You can watch DTV on any old tv you can hook up that converter box to. And if you have cable, you need not do anything but keep on paying the bill!

A Moment of Silence...Journalspace.com is Dead...

2009-01-02T22:57:51Z

Kind of a strange way to start the new year, but I was just reading in the Blog Herald that the free blog hosting service Journalspace.com is dead. You can read more at what's left of the site here.

Journalspace wasn't the best blog service - it was often behind the times, techonology and feature-wise, but it had a niche. It was where I started trying out "blogging" 6 years ago (and virtually all the posts from that site are now here). I also test-marketed a number of ideas for blogs, one of which ended up migrating to this server and became the successful "N Judah Chronicles."

I hadn't checked in on the site in a while, but back in 2003-2004, it was a fun little place where I got my start and learned through trial and error what makes a blog readable, etc. so it is sad to hear it just sorta got killed off in a flash.

At the same time, it's a great lesson for anyone doing anything online - back up your stuff offline, no matter what services you use. You never know when an Act of God (or OS) might frak up your day.

Change! U Can Haz It!

2008-11-07T01:28:52Z

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #979
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The Laugh Out Loud Cats once again say plenty in few words....

UPDATED: Case Study: One To One Campaign Marketing AKA Why I'm Supporting David Chiu

2008-11-03T01:53:36Z

One of the most misunderstood parts of Campaign 2008, be it the Obama for President campaign, or a down ballot race, has been the power of social networking and one-to-one marketing in political decision making. Plenty of consultants and the like know buzzwords like "social networking," "Facebook," and so on, but many still don't quite understand what we're really talking about here.

While the Internet and Web 2.0 have brought about new, fast, easy ways for people to talk to each other, in the end it has been the power of friends and neighbors talking to people they know, who have emerged as the "king makers" in elections. This is nothing new - the only difference is that today, it's much easier and quicker to get people to engage each other and do the kind of one-to-one marketing and grassroots organizing that was possible in the past - but with a significant time/money/staff cost.

A case study could be how I chose to support David Chiu for Supervisor in District 3. Now, normally I would either a) not care or b) not necessarily support someone that's being pushed by the fatwa issuing Bay Guardian and Chris Daly.

But because I heard about David's campaign from people I know and whose judgment I trust, such as my friend Stan (the quizmaster at the Blackthorn's trivia Mondays), and my friend Anna at Metblogs (who lives in the district), their opinions mattered more to me in the end than what some ad said or what Chris Daly's shifty junk mail says.

Now, think for a moment about this year's campaign season, which has seen a blizzard of junk mail and TV ads from various groups all wanting to influence local elections. Few of them, however, regardless of political side, really mobilized a one-to-one communications plan, or did old-school organizing to beat back the "big money".

Case in point: The Realtors! They have been noted for their flashy spending on tv ads and mail. Ironically, the biggest weapon they had in their arsenal went virtually unused - the many Realtors who have blogs, email lists of their customers and business contacts and so on. A campaign to organize these Realtors, and transform take someone people trust - their Realtor - and turn them into an evangelist for the issues and candidates the Realtors as a group care about, went largely unused.

Had they borrowed a page from the UFW/Old School Organizing handbook, and utilized Today's Technology, they could have been the stealth army that would have taken everyone by surprise.

There's been some interesting analyses of the Obama campaign and all note the importance of technology.

However, without millions of Americans getting involved, being organized, and talking to their friends about who they supported for President, all the gadgets in the world wouldn't have made a difference.

Ironically in a digital era, it's the kind of old-fashioned organizing at the grassroots level that will have the most impact now, and in the future.

Progressives in town seem to think a grassroots campaign has to be an underfunded mess of people running around in circles, gossiping and dropping dead-tree lit on people's doorsteps. Others seem to think the only way to win is with big TV ads and lots of mail.

Neither side gets it - in an era of high tech, going back to what politics used to be - the door to door organizing and listening to voters (as well as talking with them) is what will win in the future. The only difference is now there are many new tools to make this easier and more efficient.

UPDATE: Today, the Chronicle had an interesting story about how blogging can help Realtors get more clients and develop a relationship with their customers.

Hmm. How about that!