Visit www.WashoeCountyGOP.org to get your tickets

The Nevadan by Choice Awards dinner recognizes individuals in Nevada by awarding “The Nevadan by Choice” and “Defender of the Constitution” awards to individuals who have demonstrated their determination to pursue the American dream and who work to promote and defend the United States Constitution.

The “Nevadan by Choice” award is presented by CORE, Congress of Racial Equality, to outstanding individuals that have made a significant sacrifice or contribution to their adopted home of Nevada by overcoming great challenges to become a resident of Nevada. They are individuals who serve their community and are outstanding examples of individual determination and selfreliance. Through their endeavor to reside in and serve Nevada, they demonstrate their patriotism for America.

The “Defender of the Constitution” award is presented by The Americans for Prosperity Foundation- Nevada, to individuals in our community that have gone above and beyond to ensure that the principles set forth in the Constitution of the United States of America are passed on to our next generation of Americans. The Constitution of the United States of America was drafted by our founding fathers to clearly outline the principles and ideals that the American people hold so dearly. This award honors individuals who work to continue educating our youth on these iron clad principles ensuring for the continuation of these ideals, from generation to generation.

With the emergence of cheap and easy email marketing programs, it is much easier to send mass emails than it used to be. Unfortunately, not all email marketing is created equal. In fact, cheap email marketing is the number one thing holding you back. Not only do they scream “unprofessional”, they are often riddled with hidden costs that confuse and drive away potential supporters.

Before saying, “I do” to an email vendor, here are a few things to look out for:

The true test of an email vendor is their commitment to your success.

Their Logo Is Bigger Than Your Logo – Most email vendors will have some sort of identification, but it varies by vendor. Most vendors use a small link or logo in the bottom corner of the email. Make sure to see a test from your vendor before it goes out to your supporters, and look at it from all different angles and with different software. There is nothing worse than your logo shrinking and the vendor’s growing on a different email or smart phone.

Who’s Promoting Who? – Almost all email vendors now offer social network share buttons on their emails. This is great for putting tools in the hands of your readers, allowing them to share and grow your network. Sadly, these great share tools are often pre-written by your vendor. Constant Contact is guilty of sabotaging Twitter links, eating up 20 of your precious 140 characters with their marketing tag “via #constantcontact”. Not only does this look unprofessional, it also appears that Constant Contact was the author of the Tweet. Luckily this one has a quick fix…delete the tag before you post to Twitter.

They steal your web traffic – It’s a lot of work to get traffic to your website, so why give it away? Make sure your email sign up form does not create a dead end for your website viewers. The best way to accomplish this is to require that your thank you page be on your website, not your vendor’s site. However, if that is not an option, be sure that your remote signup page has an easy path back to your website. This can be done by making sure your logo can be clicked or by providing a link after the signup is complete.

Email marketing doesn’t have to be a headache, but it’s time to demand more from your vendors. Remember – it’s your campaign, not theirs.

Auto dials go by many different names (autodials, robocalls, robodials, automated calling, voice broadcast, etc.) but the concept is the same. Auto dials are recorded messages that can be delivered to supporters quickly and effectively. Previously GrassRoots 2.0 has only provided full service auto dials to Nevada campaigns, but we’ve decided that for some campaigns, putting that control in the hands of the campaign is much more effective.

Our “do it yourself” automated calling interface can be easily accessed from the GrassRoots 2.0 website where you can create your call using your own universe, your own message and your own schedule without leaving your computer, and best of all, it’s affordable. Our “do it yourself” automated calling starts at 7 cents per minute (that’s 3.5 cents per 30 second call), and we offer some pretty great bulk discounts.

If you’re still not sold, where else can you make 250 voter contacts per minute? Better yet, those contacts are only 7 cents, 3.5 if your message is short.  Auto dials allow you to make 500 phone calls in the time it takes most volunteers to make one call. In addition to simply doing it yourself, our automated calling interface can also accommodate single question polls and “press 1 to connect” calls.

This may sound too good to be true, but it is true. GrassRoots 2.0 wants you to have the automated calling tools you need to make your political campaigns successful. If you’re ready to learn more, check out our website for pricing or contact us to get your account setup.

It’s time to take control of your auto dials, and GrassRoots 2.0 is here to make that happen.

When public salaries come up, conversation quickly changes to tax increases. After all, according to Assemblywoman and union rep Peggy Pierce, the working class has cut enough. If that was true, why haven’t we seen any movement on salaries? Unions often claim that salaries must not be cut because it’s hard enough to keep talented people working for our governments during the good years. Well, it’s time to get back to reality. A secretary doesn’t need a starting salary that rivals that of a public sector CPA. Additionally, we don’t need to be paying 2 people when 1 will suffice. Our governments have proven that they’re just as capable to provide essential services with a skeleton crew as they were previously.

When our governments actually call on big labor to help solve our budget deficits, it’s too much to ask. Recent figures show that public employee pay is more than 50% higher than their private sector counterpart but all that their labor representatives are willing to offer is deferred cost of living increases, and when the government calls their bluffs, labor cries foul.

The Las Vegas City Council is now seeing the wrath of their firefighters union. When the Council called on them to help fill an ever growing deficit, labor said no. When the Council filled their deficit by cutting the firefighters special teams, labor filled a lawsuit claiming retaliation. How is being a responsible steward of taxpayers money considered retaliation?

We elected our representative to make the tough decisions to solve our economic crisis. We call on them to make cuts, and follow the example of the private sector, and when elected officials actually do cut the fat out of their budgets, overpaid public employees go on the rampage, wasting more taxpayer dollars.

It is time for the spoiled unions to be reminded that bullies only hurt themselves in the long run. Fiscal conservatives will win this fight because our budgets have been bloated by labor union greed long enough.

The first and most severe is the non-existent website. Most candidates, and even some elected officials, who suffer from non-existent website syndrome are difficult to spot. Sometimes they are older candidates who try to avoid newfangled devices, sometimes they’re indecisive and sometimes they just don’t think they can afford a website. These are not reasons to possibly give away up to 25% of your votes! The first step to fixing the non-existent website is to admit you have a problem. At that point you should find someone who can help bring you into the 21^st century, help you fill it with information about your campaign or simply help you find a website that fits your budget.

The next syndrome is the I’m beginning to show my age website. This website looks like it was built 10 years ago, and it probably was. The website may have been updated, but it probably has an out of date logo, bio and issues. Websites need a good once over every election. If your website is too expensive or too difficult to update, it’s probably time to invest in new technology. That technology doesn’t need to be intense or expensive, but it is time to help your voters know where you stand today.

Finally, we have the so cool it’s no longer a website syndrome. Candidates with this website often view it as the pride and joy of their campaign. It is a technological wonder that, with a few more tweaks, has serious potential to wash the dishes and dust in addition to telling voters about your campaign. The sad truth about this website is it doesn’t accomplish anything for people who are trying to figure out who to support. Take a deep breath! It’s time to sit back down and prioritize what you want your website to do. If you can’t find your issue pages, chances are voters won’t be able to either.

It’s easy to forget how important your website is when faced with a fundraising shortfall. Campaign websites don’t need to be overly fancy or exciting, but they do have a job to do, and that’s get you votes. It’s time to take a good hard look at your website and decide if it’s earning you votes or turning them away.

Dear Sherm,

I wanted to take a moment to share a response to your blog entry about Sharron Angle’s Facebook fans. Funny enough, I wrote about this topic just last week, before Sharron Angle claimed “fan” victory over Harry Reid. The truth is that this is an award that we cannot predict the true winner of until Election Day, and even then, that award will go to the campaign that spends the most money on Facebook advertising. There are only a few reasons why fans are helpful to a campaign, but in the US Senate Race, fans are being used to compensate for other campaign problems.

Candidates and campaigns are getting more and more caught up in the competition to have the most fans. There are easily a hundred reasons why someone would “like” a politician on Facebook, but to campaigns only three reasons really matter: money, volunteers and voting. Unfortunately, most fans aren’t in a position to provide any of the three for a variety of reasons ranging from location to the economy. This presents a problem when campaigns invest hundreds or even thousands of dollars into acquiring fans who they will receive no benefit from.

We have an interesting phenomenon occurring in the Nevada US Senate race. Both candidates are encountering public relations issues for very different reasons. This has created one more reason to win the Facebook fan competition: goodwill. Harry Reid is going into the 2010 election with alarming low approval ratings due to the current political climate, time in office, etc. Sharron Angle is dealing with increasing negatives from the ads that are targeting her as well as her reputation within the state. Both candidates are attempting to cope by winning the competition for Facebook fans. It is a great strategy to offset the local negativity with national support, but it will do little to gain volunteers or votes in Nevada.

To gain that goodwill, candidates and campaigns are buying their friends and fans through advertising. Most often candidates are extending these networks far beyond the area where they are campaigning. This adds another dimension to the competition for growth. It can take upwards of 500 impressions to gain a fan which provides a lot of opportunity to share messages. Sharron Angle is still hanging her hat on the “Defeat Harry Reid” theme, while Harry Reid is using his Facebook advertising to push campaign messages as well as recruit fans, helping to make his case that “no one can do more”. So even with less “fans” Harry Reid may be leading in terms of messaging.

While Harry Reid has slowed or even stopped the Facebook ads since before the primary, that doesn’t mean he’s going to let Sharron Angle keep the lead for long. He allowed Sue Lowden to hold the lead for less than one week before launching a series of ads that easily propelled him beyond reach.

A Facebook campaign cannot be judged by fans alone. We must take into consideration the ad buys and the messages that got them there.  The evolution of Facebook use and the activeness of the fans will likely change over the course of the campaign to create a new definition to the value of a fan.

Sincerely,
Megan Jackson, Partner
GrassRoots 2.0

I had more friends…

In late 2009, Sue Lowden emerged as the front runner, and the campaign invested large amounts of resources into looking like a front runner with a fancy website, positive television and a substantial lead in fans on Facebook. On June 8^th Sue Lowden, with more than a 2,000 fan lead, found herself behind by almost 14% at the end of election night.

A fan is very different from a voter. Social network fans are all there for different reasons, but there are only three reasons that benefit a campaign: donations, volunteering or voting, but, more often than not, fans are not in a position to provide any of the three. On a US Senate race, especially one for the opportunity to take out Harry Reid, the Lowden campaign attracted national goodwill and support that obviously couldn’t translate to votes on Election Day.

This doesn’t mean Facebook pages are useless for a campaign. It just means that campaigns need to keep the number of fans in perspective and don’t forget that a majority of fans will not be able to translate to money, volunteers or votes because of sheer logistical challenges. Campaigns need to work on targeting fans as close to the district as possible, ask supporters for what they need and remember that it is possible to be beaten by candidates with much smaller web presences but more powerful overall campaigns.

I used Facebook ads…

Chad Christensen used Facebook ads as a last ditch effort to gain some traction in a campaign that was all but over, but he did discover one exciting trend. The “Dump Reid Truck” had the potential of going viral on Facebook, but when the ad buy ran out, so did the excitement. Other campaign specific ads ran the last few weeks of the campaign, but were quickly outbid by candidates with more money and more at stake.

Not all impressions are created equal. Facebook ads are a very quick and cost effective way to dramatically increase impressions within a targeted audience, but campaigns need to remember that an ad impression doesn’t carry as much power as other types of impressions, such as television, radio, direct mail, etc.

Facebook ads come in many shapes and sizes, but if clicks are your goal, then creativity is a must. Television ads give viewers two choices: change the channel or listen to the ad. Online ads don’t have that option. The ad creator needs to set the tone which will determine if viewers just let it pass them by or if they stop to take a look.

I posted more messages…

Danny Tarkanian and team used social networks for a very early, very aggressive push for money and volunteers. Not one day would go by without multiple messages reminding early fans of the importance of giving money and volunteering. About this time, I felt the need to hit that small, conveniently placed word on the right side of each comment in my news feed – hide.

Online, there is a fine line between talking too much and not enough. Tarkanian, early on, posted for the sake of posting, and messages felt very repetitive. Other campaigns use social networks as a campaign bulletin board for posting links and news stories they want to use but aren’t sure how. As the campaign heated up and there was more “meat” to talk about, candidates post a wider variety of messages in faster succession, causing fans to reach overload.

Social networks provide campaigns a great opportunity to share more of the day to day news with fans and supporters, but it’s easy to start treating them like they, too, live and breathe the campaign. Online messages need to be selected and posted with as much care as they are given in any other area of the campaign. Before you post, take a deep breath and ask yourself if this message is worth all of your future messages being hidden by an overwhelmed supporter.

Every campaign media brings a valuable piece to a successful campaign, but you cannot win on one alone. Facebook may feel like the ultimate campaign tool, but it cannot replace tried and true campaign tactics. Candidates with no or little social network presence are continuing to win. There is no silver bullet for campaigns, only hard work and a lot of trial and error.