Notes from PDF network call - Using Online Video to Grow Your Campaign

hosted by Micah Sifry, PDF founder

with Kate Albright-Hanna, who was online video director for Obama for America:

• targeted videos could motivate volunteers and supervolunteers, often better for videos with mass appeal to Americans at large
• not ratings driven
• analytics people checked to see whether video in email actually worked for email purpose, such as fundraising.
• dedicated player not a great idea for campaign, you tube great for getting message out. Also used other targeted players where people gathered, but you tube key.
• most powerful tool was email
• user generated video : first question campaign video staff asked, but big tension because big boo boo could put whole campaign in jeopardy. user generated video from the campaign became campaign volunteers who signed on to broader goals of the campaign and became part of team. Firewall between official user generated video and unofficial. Hopefully, set a tone with official that infliuenced unofficial.
• most important thing in video is sound.
• music and motion graphics great tools for explaining stuff. Video of talking head not interesting (person at desk). Need to tell stories.
• link for video in email, did not embed video. Having word video in subject line key element
• 30 second cartoon guy or powerful story arc : 2 possible techniques
• getting people to say somehing straight to camera (memorization) without teleprompter often a disaster (sometimes even with a teleprompter)
• interviews great
• interested in other campaigns videos, but stayed true to the Obama campaign grassroots movement message.
• some of the videos served as grist for political press core - give them something to chew on, more of in the attack "dark star" push back mode. feeding talk show news cycle.
• comedy is hard to do in video
• tea party movement really figuring out video
• forced spontanenaity (sp?) tough

Comments

[Skylark]

Arjun,

I'm in town for a few days. Would love to take you out for coffee and catch up, but cannot for the life of me find a number for you. Don't want to leave my personal number on the web, and am offline most of my visit...Leave a note with your number at my brother's if you're around and would like to hook up, okay?

Skylark

[Arjun Singh]

Hello Skylark - I will try to leave a note at your brother's tomorrow. If you happen to read this, I'm at 250 377 1797