Politics
Jan 20, 2007
Todd Zeigler
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Campaigns are Conversations

Hillary Clinton formally announced her entry into the 2008 Presidential race today. And like Tom Vilsack, Senator Clinton appears to have spent some time with the Cluetrain Manifesto (“markets are conversations”).

The tagline “Let the Conversation Begin” is plastered all over her site and she begins her annoucement video with this quote: “I’m not just starting a campaign, I’m beginning a conversation.” I hope Cluetrain authors Chris Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger are getting some royalties here.

The site itself is pretty good. I’m a big fan of the look and feel of the Clinton website, just like I was a big fan of the five or six Senatorial candidates who used pretty much this exact same design in 2006 (most are down or have been edited heavily, but you can see the similarities on Maria Cantwell’s site).

In terms of features, here are the things I found noteworthy:

  • As a way of facilitating the “conversation”, Clinton will be participating in live webcasts at 7:00 pm EST January 22-25. Seems like a good idea.
  • The site’s blog apparently isn’t ready yet, but Clinton is asking users to write posts on their own blogs sharing “your ideas on how we can work together for change.” I guess the Clinton campaign will pick the best entry and highlight that as their first blog post. This is sort of a clever idea. If it works, Clinton will get a bunch of bloggers writing lover letters to her on their own sites in an effort to win the contest. How viral. Not sure many political bloggers will take the bait though.
  • The site includes an online fundraising feature called Hillraisers. Basically, this functionality allows volunteers to run their own online fundraising campaigns. This is a great idea in theory (and great for bloggers/people with websites). But in reality if a friend of family member emailed asking me to give money to a political cause I literally could not delete the email fast enough.
  • Clinton’s site also features a party planning feature which allows users to plan their own Clinton-themed event. It is sort of interesting that no one is using Meetup.com anymore for stuff like this. It seems like every campaign I saw that did this last cycle had built their own event planning module.

Others on the announcement:

  • http://blogcampaigning.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/clinton-is-in-and-blogging-will-play-a-crucial-part-in-her-campaign/ Clinton is in, and blogging will play a crucial part in her campaign « Blog Campaigning

    [...] Clinton is in, and blogging will play a crucial part in her campaign Cnn wrote yesterday that Sen. Hillary Clinton jumped into the fray as a 2008 presidential candidate with the words “I’m in” posted on her Web site, and as Todd Zeigler of the Bivings Report notes, Senator Clinton appears to have spent some time with the Cluetrain Manifesto (”markets are conversations”). [...]

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/hillary-clinton-posts-question-to-yahoo-answers/ Hillary Clinton Posts Question to Yahoo! Answers » The Bivings Report

    [...] Following in the footsteps of the likes of Bono and as part of her “conversational” Presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton posted a question to Yahoo! Answers two days ago.  I’m not a big fan of Yahoo! Answers, but this seems like a pretty good idea.  [...]

  • http://www.everythingismiscellaneous.com/2007/01/21/hillarys-conversational-site-and-why-house-parties-are-not-meetups/ Everything is Miscellaneous » Blog Archive » Hillary’s conversational site — and why house parties are not MeetUps

    [...] Now that Hillary has announced that her campaign is a “conversation,” Todd Ziegler rounds up the conversational elements of her site. Political campaigns are perhaps the most corrosive of genuine conversations because campaigns make run-of-the-mill control freaks look like drunken libertines. Their idea of a great conversation is generally the sort of Bush town hall meeting where citizens are frisked for ideas before entering. The best hope for a conversational campaign is one that brings supporters together and then gets out of the way. But campaigns want to be at the center of every conversation. For example, Todd wonders why campaigns have abandoned MeetUp.com for house parties. Part of the answer is that campaigns want to have more control over the meetings’ data and governance, and that’s not totally illegitimate; MeetUp.com is a civic-minded group (bless ‘em), but it’s still a private company. But campaigns generally are not re-creating MeetUp. They’re replacing meetups with house parties. That’s what the Kerry campaign did, and I could never convince Zack Exley (who’s also civic-minded, bless him), who was in charge of Kerry’s Internet campaign, that house parties are fundamentally different than the Meetups that fueled the Dean campaign. First, and most obviously, house parties traditionally are traditionally fund raisers. Dean Meetups were not. The house party message is clear: Have a nice chat while you take out your checkbook. Second, campaigns generally assume more ownership of house parties than Meetups. At times, the Dean campaign provided some topic they thought the group might want to talk about. A couple of times, Dean addressed the Meetups via TV. But there’s a real difference in feeling between that and arriving at a friend’s house and being dealt the official house party “kit” materials. Third, and most important, house parties are in private spaces. Meetups were in public spaces. A house party is put on for the attendees. The host has an obligation to make sure it goes well. But a Meetup in a bar or a restaurant is an empty space within which we are trusted to figure out what to do…what to do during the Meetup and what to do to take our country back (as Deaniacs put it). House parties are parties with guests. Meetups are meetings among citizens. It’s a subtle difference, and I can’t quite articulate it. But I’ve been to house parties and to Meetups, and the difference is very real. [Tags: politics hillary_clinton meetup campaigns marketing conversations everything_is_miscellaneous ] [...]

  • http://www.patrickruffini.com/2007/02/20/campaigns-arent-conversations/ Patrick Ruffini :: Campaigns Aren’t Conversations

    [...] “Campaigns are conversations.” If I hear this one more time, I swear my head is going to explode. Campaign 2008 already has its most overused cliche, at least among us techie types. [...]

  • http://bracken.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/hillarys-conversation-video-v-obamas-youtube-approach/ Media SITREP

    Hillary’s “Conversation” Video v. Obama’s Youtube Approach…

    So, the word went out today, Hillary’s starting her “conversation.” “Let’s talk, let’s chat lets start a dialogue,” she says. (The word “conversation;” is used six times in her “I’m in&…

  • nancy andrews

    hi would like to get some hillary clinton campain buttons.

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