The definition of grassroots organization has changed in the 21st century. Mitch Kates knows that firsthand.
The St. Petersburg political consultant was at the forefront of one of the most historic county commission races in Tampa Bay. He was Kevin Beckner’s campaign manager. In that position Kates found he had a difficult task before him. He needed to get Beckner’s name out to the public so voters would not only recognize the out financial planner as a viable candidate, but to understand where he stood on important issues.
“You have to touch voters in different ways, but grassroots doesn’t just mean door-to-door communication anymore,” Kates says. “It’s important to reach out and communicate with others online.”
Kates and the Beckner team virtually attacked Facebook with publicity. Beckner set up a personal profile while his campaign directed voters toward issues and told them where the candidate stood.
“Kevin’s campaign was countywide, and with so many voters you can’t afford to mail everyone,” Kates says. “So we found that the internet and technology help you reach out and communicate with voters.”
It was also more efficient, he says. Through social networking sites like Facebook, candidates can not only share their stance on issues, but interact with the public on those issues.
“We’re working on [St. Petersburg mayoral candidate] Scott Wagman’s campaign now,” Kates says. “Every page of his site has a link for feedback and comments. People want to have a say, and technology allows that.”
More than political
As the chairwoman for the Pasco County Democratic Party, Alison Berke Moreno relies on technology to keep the party informed. She was directly involved in helping the party launch its new site last year.
But Moreno has also worked in the technology and internet business for more than 15 years. She’s certain that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are much more than a fad—they are a way of life in this century.
“Online social networking sites accomplish what people have been doing forever,” says Moreno, who also does freelance technology consulting. “It’s always been about that 30 second elevator speech. With Twitter and Facebook you have the ability to put out your speech so people can learn more about you—but you share it with thousands of people at once.”
Popular business networking sites like LinkedIn.com and Box.net are always growing, she says, because businesses need to build public trust. It’s also an important and efficient way for colleagues to share files, which saves time and money.
Watch what you type
Morano has seen it many times in her career. Someone will get sucked into the interaction on a site like Facebook or MySpace and immediately feel like they should announce what they’re doing every five minutes.
“You want to type that you just went out the door or that you just came in the door,” she says. “Eventually that wears off and you see how the site can help you reconnect with people and spread your message, if you have one.”
But if you want to spread your message, make sure you do it carefully, especially if you’re in politics. The urge to type a quick sentence to let off some steam can always come back to haunt you, Morano says.
“You have to be smart and I’ve told this to people, especially those who are planning on running a political campaign,” Morano says. “You don’t want to write something that anyone can misconstrue. There are a lot of safety features on social networking sites, and you have a lot of control, but if you have a secret or a tendency to tell things to people that you don’t really want them to know, think hard and long before you hit that ‘share’ button.”
Kates says that he expected attacks on social networks when he worked with the Beckner campaign, but he was surprised and relieved to find that there were very few.
“We knew we were working with an openly gay candidate,” Kates remembers. “But that’s not what the race was about. We let our Facebook friends see the issues and gave Kevin a chance to voice his opinions and views on those issues. He’s still doing that today as an elected official.”
Other popular sites like MySpace are admittedly geared more toward the social side of networking, Morano believes. More teens and school-age students work on that site because it has a look and feel that is less professional.
“In my opinion Facebook is the leader in networking sites,” Morano says. “If you research it, Facebook is never reaching out to the other sites like Google or anything like that to incorporate features. It’s the other way around. Everyone wants to be a part of Facebook because it’s so well connected.”
In other words, if you haven’t joined the Facebook and social networking fad by now, you might as well give in—it’s not going anywhere.
“Welcome to the 21st Century,” Kates says. “Nothing will ever replace the face to face time we spend with people. But Facebook and other sites give us an opportunity we never thought possible before.”
