K Street Cafe

Mobile Voter Registration Has Arrived (techPresident)
Last week, the Santa Cara County Registrar of Voters accepted electronically signed voter registrations. This may be the first place in the country to accept an electronic voter registration from a source other than a government website.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Come to Work (Freep)
Does social media suck workplace productivity? The debate continues.

The Hill today ran an article about a group of lobbyists launching a PR effort to defend the practice of earmarks.  As recent voter signals show they no longer want lawmakers to allot federal dollars to projects back in their district, the Ferguson Group, a large earmark organization in Washington, announced it was seeking donations to launch a media campaign promoting the benefits of earmarks.

We have decided to form an informal coalition, tentatively called the Earmark Reform and Education Coalition, with the overall goal being to foster a rational conversation about earmarking among all interested parties, so that we can preserve what works and reform what does not.

The initial campaign, launched to correct misconceptions about the earmarking process, is projected to cost nearly $25,000 and may include writing press release, op-eds and pitching certain reporters in an effort to influence earmark coverage in the 2010 midterm elections.

The Hill was not the only Inside the Beltway publication to run a story on earmarks. Today’s Politico ran a opinion piece by Allen Levin, dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences making the case that earmarks may fund vital research. Levin discusses programs funded by earmarks that range from food safety and child nutrition to soil conservation and climate change.

What do you think? Are earmarks going away or here to stay? Can a public relations campaign have an impact and convince the general public that earmarks are beneficial?

This guest post comes from Ellie Brown, a graduate student at American University studying internet advocacy campaigns and blogging at the Daily Social.

Well what do you know? Nestlé listened. Following a two month Greenpeace assault on palm oil purchasing practices of the food giant, Nestlé announced earlier this week that they will stop purchasing palm oil (used in many popular products like Kit Kats) from companies that own “high-risk” plantations and farms. These high-risk plantations are accused of driving the destruction of natural habitats for animals like the orangutan. The new “zero-deforestation” policy is in partnership with The Forest Trust that will work with Nestlé to amend its palm oil purchasing policies.

Nestlé’s decision comes after a tumultuous 8-weeks in which Greenpeace released a provocative video on YouTube to raise awareness of Nestlé’s questionable methods for acquiring palm oil. The video, which likens eating a Kit Kat to eating an orangutan, was subsequently removed by Nestlé; an action that spurred an even greater backlash from the Greenpeace community who bombarded Nestlé with calls, emails and Facebook page comments. Now enter social media “meltdown” as Nestlé representatives responded to Facebook comments with mild requests for users to stop using altered versions of the Nestlé logo as their Facebook profile picture or risk their comments being taken down. Needless to say, users were not happy with this restriction of their right to publicly protest on an open forum like a company’s Facebook page and the comment threads were shared on blogs and news articles across the Internet – directing even more negative attention toward Nestlé.

As a result of the targeted Greenpeace campaign and the added headache of a social media crisis, Nestlé was forced to pay attention and had to address the problems with the palm oil it buys. Hopefully, Nestlé’s new policies will help save some orangutans and make some of us feel better about eating Kit Kats.

DC Activists Stage “Virtual Sit-in” on Local Politician’s Facebook Pages (The Huffington Post)
Gone are the days when a “sit-in” consists of taking over a physical space with actual bodies to make a point – last week the Save Our Safety Net campaign hosted a virtual sit-in on a DC council member’s Facebook page.

There’s an App for that: Dems, GOP take 2010 Campaign Fights to iPhone, iPad (Hillicon Valley)
Ahead of tough upcoming midterm elections both parties are poised to take campaign battles to the iPhone and iPad.

Where To Find Your Congresscritter: Facebook? (techPresident)
Earlier this week Facebook announced “Congress on Facebook,” a new page  that highlights innovative uses of the platform by members of Congress and serves as a directory for federal legislators on the social network.

Putting a Value on Facebook Communities (Adweek)
A new Web app will tell you how much your Facebook page is worth.

Sweet to Tweet (The Economist)
Twitter makes politicians seem more accessible, but that only matters of they change their behavior.

Politics in Sync Across Atlantic  (The Wall Street Journal)
What can Britain tell us about American politics?

Obama and Democracy: The iPad is Hardly the Problem (techPresident)
Did President Obama declare war on technology?

Oil Execs to Brief Senate Panels on Spill (CNN)
Presidents of BP will appear before two Senate committees today to answer questions about the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last week The Economist’s Lexington column profiled a community organizer in Seattle who faced a $10,000 fine for not reporting her grassroots efforts to oppose government takeover of private property.

She ran into a second little-known state law. If she prints some fliers, calls some meetings and urges her neighbours to write to their state representative demanding change, she has to register as a “grassroots lobbyist”. This rule applies to any group that spends more than $500 in any given month trying to influence the legislature. That sum includes not only cash but also anything else of value, including voluntary labour, the use of office space and so forth. In other words, it could cover nearly any grassroots group.

In response, she filed a lawsuit to have the law repealed arguing that it would have a chilling effect on free speech.

What do you think? Should every act of grassroots organizing warrant disclosure? At what point does grassroots activity cross a threshold that should trigger registration and transparency regulations?

POIA Would Make the Government Work Better (Sunlight Foundation)
Some believe the recently introduced Public Online Information Act (POIA), which will make public information available online, will empower citizens to hold their government accountable, therefore making it work better.

Hand-Deliver Your Emails! (To Congress) (e.politics)
Did you know that it’s usually more effective to print e-mails out and hand-deliver them to Congress?

By Erica L. Fitzsimmons

Overheard on the DC metro this morning – “The best way to get in touch with me is definitely through Facebook.”

Really? I thought, as the train doors opened.  Facebook as the easiest way to contact someone?

While I’m still somewhat of an old-fashioned e-mail girl myself in terms of the best way to contact me, that may all be about to change. On a Wednesday afternoon in April, while you were probably busy at work, Facebook made what may be it’s first real advance in taking over Internet as you know it.

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