Happy Friday – here’s a little visual for you on what not to do.
This is part of the virtual town hall the Biden campaign wouldn't post
Garbled/cut out audio, blank screens, randomly going live to unsuspecting participants
A complete disaster pic.twitter.com/eLGgHyPm91
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) March 14, 2020
Don’t let this be you or your campaign. Call me and let CampaignHQ help.
Have a good weekend,
Nicole Schlinger
How do you know how many patch through calls will be effective in your attempt to influence legislation? CampaignHQ can help you come up with a plan that fits your needs!
Your voters and donors WANT to hear from you. But you must communicate in the right way. Thanks to Iowa Field Report for letting me share in this article.
Schlinger says that she was initially hesitant about advising her candidates to continue fundraising, however, after monitoring the current environment over several days, she realized that campaigns need to stay engaged rather than go into hibernation.
“They [Campaigns & Candidates] need to be sensitive to the situation, but they should be engaged. People are at home, and they’re following the situation closely. Voters want to be involved. They do not want to be shut out” said Schlinger.
We are living through times you will speak about with your children and grandchildren.
People are starved for human interaction. Unable to go to church or school, they are searching for new ways to gather, connect, and communicate.
Candidates and organizations who never considered a Telephone Townhall are scrambling to set up events at a record pace.
But some of our friends have been using Telephone Townhalls and Microforums for years.
So, who should use a Telephone Townhall and who should use a Microforum?
If you are looking to engage a small group, less than 1,500 people, then you should consider a Microforum. You still communicate directly with your audience and they can communicate with you.
If you want to reach out to a larger group of people, then a Telephone Townhall is what you need. You can dial out to 2,000 or 200,000 people. The choice is yours.
In any event, try to secure a well-known person to join your call. Advertise the call to your donors or constituents so they don’t miss a minute.
One of our recent events even had a surprise appearance by President Trump!
CampaignHQ can facilitate an interactive conversation with you, the members of your organization, your voters, and your constituents.
We are so honored to help our clients meet their goals, and we would love to get to work for you today.
How can we help you in this time?
Hey political friends –
Due to what’s happening across the country and here in Iowa, there are people looking for work or a career change due to a very uncertain job market. The good news is, CampaignHQ is hiring. This may be the best time in your life to join our band of scrappy fighters in Brooklyn, Iowa.
Now that I’ve got you interested … let me tell you about the positions we have open:
Campaign Director
As a Campaign Director, you will be the main point of contact for a group of our clients. You will help them craft their plans and manage the execution of their telephone voter contact, telephone townhall, and conTEXT message campaigns. You will play a critical role in business development, building and maintaining relationships with candidates, campaign managers, and consultants across the country. Strong preference will be given to those who have an existing network of contacts in the political and public affairs arena.
Deputy Campaign Director
As a Deputy Campaign Director, you will be a vital part of the team delivering millions of text messages, live and automated calls on behalf of candidates and issue advocacy organizations across the country. You’ll help with price quotes, project setup and execution, script writing, data handling, and many other important tasks. At the end of the day, your mission is to support our Campaign Directors and exceed our client’s expectations.
If you are looking for an entry-level position with a nationally known firm, this could be your dream job! If you’ve worked on a campaign for one or two cycles, that’s fantastic, but not required.
Data Management Specialist
As a Data Management Specialist, you will be involved in the daily preparation of campaign reports and other data needs. This includes maintaining existing reports and databases, creating new reports and databases, accuracy and functionality of CRM data, collaborating with sales and operations to identify problems and solve them. You must be proficient in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables and advanced formulas. Proficient in Microsoft Access table and query creation. Familiar with Visual Basic for Applications. Familiar with SQL and Python preferred. Recent graduates or those finishing remote study are welcome to apply.
These are all PERMANENT full time positions. If you love campaigns and hate unemployment, I encourage you to learn more and apply.
Interested? Email Marlys@chq.us, Senior Campaign Director, and we’ll send you a full job description and instructions to apply for the position in which you are interested.
As Americans enter week two of COVID-19 lockdown, what seemed like a new adventure last week has turned into impatience and unrest. Posts of happy parents working alongside their kids have been replaced with angry rants about lack of toilet paper.
At this moment, your audience is thinking about what kind of world they expect and demand when this is over.
Do you want them to form these opinions while reading dubious posts on social media, or while hearing straight from you?
With door-knocking and in-person events off the table, here are four ways you can make a difference right now …
Telephone Petition Drives
Want to enter the post-COVID-19 era with an army of brand new supporters, ready to get out of the house and take action? Then a telephone petition drive is for you! We invite people to add their name to your petition in support or opposed to a particular policy. This works best with issues that provoke a strong response, like an increase to the gas tax. People who agree to lend their name are asked for their email address and to volunteer for your organization in the future.
Patch Through Calls
Any time a government body is meeting, you can influence them with patch through calls from the voting public. Senators, governors, state lawmakers, and even mayors, county, and city officials have changed their vote based on grassroots pressure. Even in times of crisis, it’s important to remember that politicians work for the people and not the other way around. Since your army of supporters cannot meet with lawmakers in person, you can make sure they are heard.
Petitions to Get On the Ballot
While some states have pushed back their primary election, not all have extended the deadline to return ballot access petitions. So how do you collect physical signatures in the time of social distancing? Ask likely petition signers by text and phone call to sign your petition to get on the ballot. When they agree, offer to send a volunteer to their door to (safely) deliver and collect the signatures, or share a link with instructions to download the petition, sign and return it by mail. Don’t let COVID-19 keep your name off the ballot!
Introduce yourself via MMS Video
This may be your best chance to capture the attention of young voters, women voters, and swing voters. You can introduce yourself or share your vision in a 20 second video we deliver via conTEXT (peer-to-peer texting) and ask each person to watch your video and share their opinions. Remember, the value of peer to peer texting is that a real human being is making a connection with another. Make sure whoever is doing your texting promises to read and respond to every reply.
While it’s important to be respectful of the fears and uncertainty Americans are facing, what we’ve learned in the last week is that people desire connection, they want information, and they most certainly do NOT want to have their voices silenced.
You may never have an audience more available, more willing to listen, and more eager to share their opinions than right now.
Seize the moment!
We are here to help. Call (888) 722-4704, or email me at nicole@chq.us.
Nicole Schlinger
Happy Friday again! Here are a few of my favorite links recently.
Thanks to Family Research Council for allowing us to assist with this event. You can read more about it here: https://loom.ly/OGEEfbI
THANK YOU Broadnet for re-posting Nicole Schlinger from Campaigns & Elections about how to effectively communicate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At last … something from the NYT that’s not #Fakenews. “Phone conversations last in your memory; they have weight and consequence.” THANK YOU!
Have a great weekend,
Nicole Schlinger
In this unprecedented time, my personal mission is to make sure you can stay in contact with your audience, whether that’s constituents, members, or voters. I wrote this article for Campaigns & Elections magazine to share the best practices we’ve learned and implement for our clients.
As social distancing and self-quarantining become the new normal, Americans want to hear from elected leaders more than ever. Battling the COVID-19 virus has ground community events, campaign rallies, small meetings, and door-to-door canvassing to a halt. But that doesn’t mean you should halt your communications with constituents, voters or members of your advocacy group. You can still safely communicate with a large audience using a telephone town hall. With sports, school, and church events cancelled, people are at home, available, and ready to take your call.
Step One: Spread the Word (Not Your Germs!)
Lawmakers using a telephone town hall for official business may dial out to a large audience of both landlines and cell phones. Campaigns and issues organizations may only dial out to landline phones or those with cellphones who have opt-ed in.
But the most active and involved participants in any telephone town hall are those who proactively dial in to your event so; focus on getting the word to people who will be interested.
Step Two: Have an interesting, worthwhile conversation
Successful lawmakers and elected leaders approach their telephone townhall with the same level of preparation as they would any in-person event.
We can help you to ensure you hold your audience with a conversation WORTH having:
Step Three: After the event, keep sharing!
After your successful event, where you spoke with thousands of constituents, shared valuable information, and answered questions, we can help you take it to the next level.
Now is the time to take the most valuable segments of your interactive conversation and share them with an even larger audience. Here’s how:
Remember, this is a unique moment in history. You’re speaking to folks who aren’t used to being sequestered at home, who may be irritated, bored, confused or scared.
This is your chance to build a meaningful connection that will last much, much longer than any virus.
Call me if we can help 1- (888) 722-4704.
Nicole Schlinger
Now that the Coronavirus has reached the U.S., we’re seeing lawmakers cut back on townhall meetings and public events and associations cancel their “Day on the Hill,” in an effort to stem the spread. While it’s important to keep the public safe, it is also problematic for lawmakers trying to interact with constituents, or organizations trying to use grassroots pressure to make headway on a critically important issue.
CampaignHQ can help you reach voters without the worry.
If you’re an elected official, CampaignHQ can help you still have an open, in-person conversation with a telephone townhall. This is particularly helpful and reassuring that your constituents will be protected but still have that important dialogue with you. Voters have the chance to ask questions, voice their opinions, and this serves as a way to relay your message about important legislation or updates on the public health assessments in your state.
While door knocking may become difficult as voters are even more apprehensive than normal to open their door, you can still open the door to a meaningful two-way conversation with conTEXT peer to peer text message conversations. ConTEXT reaches voters right where they are with a quick note, link to important information or even a brief video message from you.
If you’re an organization, you may soon find your group is less inclined to visit the capitol to lobby their legislators – but that doesn’t mean the lawmaking has been halted. CampaignHQ can help you still reach elected officials, making your position known and your voice heard on important issues with patch through calls.
Now more than ever, it is important for legislators and voters to interact. CampaignHQ is committed to helping you keep the conversation open in this difficult and uncertain time.
If you are concerned about how to communicate with your audience in this uncertain environment, please respond to this email or give me a call at (888) 722-4704, and let’s set up a time to talk.
Nicole Schlinger
Just like we do every year, CampaignHQ will be closed starting on Good Friday and through the Easter holiday weekend.
We want to give our CampaignHQ employees time to be with their families, worship and rest. While we will not be having any events or trainings this weekend, our team will be back to work on Monday, ready to help you be successful.
If we can get anything started for you, please reach out to me right away.
Have a great holiday weekend,
Nicole Schlinger