K Street Cafe

How Governments Deal With Social Media (The Atlantic)
A look back (and forward) on social media and its influential role in the political sphere. “If governments are not engaging in social media, they are essentially ceding influence and power,” says Alec Ross, senior innovation advisor to Hillary Clinton.

5 Sure-fire Ways to Produce Winning Social Media Content (TNW Social Media)
You have a significant fan/follower base, but are they truly engaged with your organization? Check out this post for some creative content ideas that will get your fan base buzzing.

Amidst Chaos, Britain’s Community Newspapers Gather Facts, Clean-up Crews Gather Members, All Online (techPresident)
As riots are continuing throughout England, UK residents (and the London Police) are taking to social media to document the mayhem. Simultaneously, Twitter movement #riotcleanup helps mobilize citizens to repair their neighborhoods.

Does the Right Hashtag Make A Tweet A Success? (PR Daily)
Hashtags are more important than you may think when it comes to writing a catchy tweet. #creativitycounts!

Facebook Adding More Washington Staff (NextGov)
Facebook is once again expanding its Washington office and bringing on two officials from the administration of former President George W. Bush.

Now You Can See Twitter The Way I See Twitter
(Washington Post)
Now on anyone’s Twitter profile, when you click on the “Following” link, you’ll be able to see exactly how they see Twitter.

Originally published on PMPU.org.

The Congressional Management Foundation and its Partnership for a More Perfect Union present “Inside the Hill”, a web series that allows you to hear directly from Members and staff on how technology is changing the way Congress works. It is produced by Fleishman-Hillard.

In the fifth installment, “The Power of Online Video,” congressional staff discuss how online video can help connect citizens and Members of Congress.

Previous editions of “Inside the Hill” are also available:

How The Public Is Heard

How and Why Does Congress Use Twitter

What Makes An Award Winning Website

Congress and New Media: The World Has Changed

Each member of Congress receives hundreds of thousands of e-mails, letters, visits, and other attention grabbers every year. Adfero Group managing partner Jeff Mascott, whose firm has run advocacy campaigns for the US Chamber of Commerce, American Medical Association, and many others, tells us how to break through the clutter and how new media is changing the game.

Jeff, who spent seven years working on the Hill, says most members do record, categorize, and respond to most communications that come into the office. He tells us there’s actually a better chance of getting your message recorded in a timely manner if you send an e-mail. Snail mail is not only scanned for security purposes, but actually scanned and sent to each office digitally. Nearly every congressional office regularly produces a report that lists out by issue—pro or con—how many constituents have written in, visited, or contacted them. Jeff says that members will often go to their mail managers and ask for a report a few hours before a big vote to get a gauge on the numbers.

Of course, it’s not just about quantity. Quality in-person visits are still the #1 way to get your message heard. But direct interaction with members of Congress is also becoming easier thanks to social media. If the member of Congress is active online, organizations should encourage their members to write on their Facebook walls, tweet them, or send them personalized videos. Late last year, Congress reinstated the use of Blackberries, iPads, and other electronic devices on the House floor. Jeff tells us, “Some Members are now down there with their tablets following their Twitter accounts and tweeting, which means you have an opportunity to reach themduring floor debate.”

To read the entire article on BisNow, click here.

Originally published on PMPU.org.

The Congressional Management Foundation and its Partnership for a More Perfect Union present “Inside the Hill”, a web series that allows you to hear directly from Members and staff on how technology is changing the way Congress works. It is produced by Fleishman-Hillard.

In the fourth installment, “How The Public Is Heard,” see how citizens’ voices are heard on Capitol Hill.

Previous editions of “Inside the Hill” are also available:

How and Why Does Congress Use Twitter

Congress and New Media: The World Has Changed

What Makes An Award Winning Website

Cross-posted from The Partnership for a More Perfect Union

Recently, I have had several people ask me about what is appropriate when it comes to communicating with congressional staff.

Obviously, Members of Congress have a constitutional responsibility to interact with their constituents because the First Amendment extends us the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” But what about the chief of staff, the legislative director, or the legislative assistant for small business issues? Do I as an individual citizen have a right to communicate with those individuals?

When I was a kid, Spam was just a canned, processed meat product. Today, though, we’re all much more familiar with its alternate meaning. Wikipedia (the source of all earthly wisdom, which I chose because my dusty dictionary didn’t contain the word) defines “spam” as “the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.” There are three important components to that definition (and all three should be present): something is spam if the recipient is not expecting the communication from you and hasn’t asked for it; if the same or similar text is sent in bulk (to many people at once); and if it is sent indiscriminately, which is defined as “lacking care, judgment, and selectivity”. To ensure your communications aren’t viewed this way, consider the following suggestions based on my experience as a former staffer and our research with congressional staff:

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Facebook is getting into the spirit of Election Day with a poll locator widget along with an “I Voted” button that you can post on your page which includes a tally of those that clicked the button.

On the U.S. Politics on Facebook page, they have a post which tallied the number of Republicans, Democrats and Independents that have voted. I presume this information is coming from their members who have self-identified themselves politically and have clicked on their “I Voted” button.

This got me thinking… could a social media widget like Facebook’s help create a larger wave of voter intensity, given that most people friend those they know and share common interests and values with? And what is the impact of one politically savvy friend on Facebook?

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In pitching Twitter to a client, there invariably comes a point in the conversation where your client is intrigued but not yet sold. “I like the idea,” she says, “but I don’t have anything to tweet.”

Sure you do! Unless your organization produces no content whatsoever, you’re no doubt already swimming in possible tweets: op-eds, videos, speeches, congressional testimony, memos, blog posts, podcasts, news clips—even, if you must, news releases.

For example, whenever the Manhattan Institute publishes an op-ed, it tweets it, with the preface, “New Op-ed.” Whenever the Heritage Foundation releases a policy paper, it tweets, “New Policy Paper.” When the Cato Institute finishes a podcast, you can finish the sentence. New content is tweetable content.

The beauty of these arrangements is that once you create them, they run on auto-pilot; a free tool like Twitterfeed can auto-tweet new material as you release it. Simply spend 15 minutes on the setup, then watch as your mission and message spread to those who otherwise might never hear about them.

To be sure, while a combination of pushing and pulling—i.e., engagement—is vastly preferable to just pushing, rare is the client who wants to go all-in immediately. But there’s no rule that says to partake of social media, you need to go big or go home. Instead, it’s often best to start with the low-hanging fruit, and work your way up, as Google does with Chrome, incrementally.

Originally published on Epolitics.com

Update: See also Kate Kaye’s earlier coverage at ClickZ.

Politico’s Morning Tech column has highlighted a clever use of mobile advertising in last week’s Florida primaries:

As the Sunshine State headed to the polls yesterday, down-ballot candidates bought Google online ads on mobile geo-targeted to specific districts, hoping to capture people who are doing last-minute research while waiting in line at the polls. Democratic State Senator and Attorney General hopeful Dan Gelber, who easily won his primary, used mobile Google ads for a 24-hour blitz on primary day. Lisa Small, likely soon to be declared winner of her circuit court judge race, also used the strategy, Google told us.

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