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My presentation at the convention today

May 19, 2007 By Charley on the MTA

Along with Libby DeVecchi, who was press secretary for the Patrick campaign,  I gave a little presentation (twice) on political communication through blogs at the convention today. I’m happy to say that both sessions were really well-attended — thanks to all those who showed up, and I hope it was worth your time.

In her segment, Libby talked about the variety of ways that the Patrick campaign dealt with the grassroots — giving the same information and respect to the “grassroots” as the “grasstops”. She encouraged activists to use the tools and venues that are in some cases practically begging for people to provide them content: Local papers (send them LTEs and photos); local cable shows; blogs (you bet!); local radio; and democratic listserves like Kate Donoghue’s DDemDispatch.

And here’s my PowerPoint. I treated it as an introduction to the role of blogs in politics, so a lot of it will be old news to those who are more blog-seasoned.

The basic outline is:

i.) What’s a blog? What do they do? What makes a successful blog?

ii.) BMG: Its origins and goals; structure; community; values and meta-values

iii.) Blogs and grassroots: How do they interact; What kind of role do blogs play in political communication.

… etc. Yes, it’s barebones, but that’s PowerPointing for you. And no graphics or movies … yeah, that would have been fun.

Anyway, if you were there, I’d love to hear your feedback.

PS: I wanted to say thanks to sco, cos, Lynne, Wes, Mark, Paul, jcsinclair, shiltone and anyone I’m forgetting who I ought not forget …

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Filed Under: User Tagged With: blogs, convention, massachusetts, navel-gazing

Comments

  1. amberpaw says

    May 19, 2007 at 10:41 pm

    Thanks for that summary – I found your presentation really worthwhile, and appreciate the access to the powerpoint.

  2. bean-in-the-burbs says

    May 19, 2007 at 11:10 pm

    Too tired to say much now, but I really enjoyed hearing about some of the discussions you and the other founders have had on how to run BMG.  It’s obvious a lot of thought and care have gone into building this community.

  3. pers-1765 says

    May 20, 2007 at 12:43 am

    in three parts.

    • charley-on-the-mta says

      May 20, 2007 at 8:47 am

      … you keep showing up. That’s sweet of you.

      <

      p>
      I’d think that if I was “selling out”, I would have made more money — or any money at all. Gotta get crackin’ on that.

      • bob-neer says

        May 21, 2007 at 2:33 pm

        Comments are the most sincere form of flattery after all. Thanks for ROCKING THE HOUSE Charley!

  4. jcsinclair says

    May 20, 2007 at 9:08 am

    I definitely got the sense that some of the folks in the audience were inspired to go home and give this blogging thing a try.  I really appreciated the emphasis on civility.  My brief experience with ‘Talking Stoneham’ has shown me how hard that is to maintain without shutting out all dissenting views.

    • charley-on-the-mta says

      May 20, 2007 at 9:32 am

      And yet, that’s the game we’re playing. I think it’s important not to see civility just as a means to an end, but as an end in and of itself. To me, that’s what being progressive is all about — “make gentle the life of this world” and all that.

  5. wes-f says

    May 20, 2007 at 10:19 am

    I’ve been blogging since 2002/2003, and even I learned new things.

    <

    p>
    I hope the delegate from Somerville who was sitting next to me was inspired to go home and start her own blog; I believe she’d be good at it.

    <

    p>
    It was amazing to see how packed the room was at the first session. Welcome to the Show, Charley and BMG – you never have to carry your own bags in the Show.

    <

    p>
    WF

    • cos says

      May 20, 2007 at 3:23 pm

      If the Somervillian next to you was the one who asked about how to deal with the nasty comment threads on the Somerville News, then it was Katie Wallace, who sometimes comments and posts here.  but I don’t think she’s gonna start her own.

      <

      p>
      If it was someone else, I’m curious who was there from Somerville who I missed!

      • wes-f says

        May 20, 2007 at 3:49 pm

        …so it must have been Katie.

        <

        p>
        WF

  6. hlpeary says

    May 20, 2007 at 1:02 pm

    Thanks, Charley  …the summary is helpful and especially good for a new (or old) candidate to understand about how the blogs continue to grow in importance in campaigns…

    <

    p>
    I appreciate the fact that it did not have graphs and pictures…just simple, direct info.

  7. cos says

    May 20, 2007 at 3:25 pm

    ’twas a good presentation.  And a fun one to site next to Lynne for đŸ™‚

    <

    p>
    P.S. something weird here on BMG: I can pick comment ratings from a menu, but the button to actually submit them seems to have vanished.

    • stomv says

      May 20, 2007 at 6:55 pm

      and you get a little text telling you it’s working, but it seems only for the first comment rating you make on that particular page.  Hmmm…

      • sabutai says

        May 20, 2007 at 8:10 pm

        Just worked for me on my second comment on this page.

        <

        p>
        So this is what the future is like…

  8. karen says

    May 20, 2007 at 8:49 pm

    It wasn’t what I expected from the title–I thought it was going to be about message crafting–but I learned a lot and you were thoughtful and articulate. Thanks!!

    <

    p>
    karen  đŸ˜‰

    • charley-on-the-mta says

      May 20, 2007 at 9:14 pm

      I barely was aware of the title of the session.

      • karen says

        May 21, 2007 at 10:02 am

        I probably just misunderstood.

        <

        p>
        karen  đŸ˜‰

        • bob-neer says

          May 21, 2007 at 2:34 pm

          He had been pounding malt liquors before the great event, I think.

  9. ryepower12 says

    May 22, 2007 at 2:02 am

    I wish I could have come!

  10. shiltone says

    May 22, 2007 at 4:02 pm

    Sorry to be so late leaving this feedback, but I thought the session was on-target and well-presented.  Although I’m no novice to blogs and BMG, I came away with a better understanding of the context and an appreciation for what Bob, Charley, and David have had to deal with operationally and politically to make this work.  Good job, Charley.

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