For those of who missed the on-the-record conference call with the RNC's New Media Director, Todd Herman, here is the inside scoop. (There is much to be excited about.)
The Friday morning call, hosted by David All of the David All Group, was an opportunity for grassroots leaders across the country to speak candidly with Todd on his vision for the RNC moving forward and to ask Todd some tough, hard-hitting questions.
Todd’s talk centered around Five Strategic Pillars, or online mantras that the RNC needs to adopt to advance its online strategy:
1. Use New Media Properties to expand the RNC’s Reach: Todd believes that 1-1 empowerment starts with an effort to harness the power of viral social networking to reach more voters. With social media, 400,000 supporters can quickly become advocates who then share the RNC’s message to 4 million people. Reaching this outreach goal will require a fundamentally different website. (Expect some major changes to www.gop.com down the road.)
2. Acquire Actionable Data: Todd thinks that the RNC’s data is good, but not as accessible and dynamic as it can be. We all know how extensive Voter Vault’s current database is. Imagine its power if all of a sudden that information was integrated with new media technologies and crowd-sourced data.
3. Broadcast Impeccable Logic: Todd hopes to create an online repository of policy data gathered from multiple different thought leaders and conservative think tanks around the country – a repository that is available to grassroots leaders across the country. Todd fears that Republicans have forgotten how to talk about what it means to be a Republican. By creating more accessible and transparent data, the GOP give its supporters the tools they need to tell their story.
4. Curate Passionate Stories: Storytelling is key. Right now, grassroots level Republican supporters don’t own the GOP brand. We must confront the problem that people want to believe our brand is somehow owned by Jon Stewart, or Rush Limbaugh or--for that matter--those of us in DC. WE, real Republicans, are the party. The American people deserve to hear real stories.
5. Establish Real Connections with Voters: The RNC hopes to give activists the ability to have and to record meaningful conversations with elected officials and party leaders. The same goes for conversations that volunteers have with voters when they go door-to-door. Think authentic, digital handshakes.
To achieve these ambitious goals will require a major cultural shift within the RNC toward a more open environment that embraces creativity to build an open, yet secure web presence.
Below is a snippet of some of the questions that were raised. You can catch the full conversation by listening to the Mp3 file attached to this post.
Justin Hart (Chuck Devore for Senate): I heard a lot about brand management, but how does the RNC plan to provide the tools and online training that grassroots activists desperately need at the state level?
Todd: The Chairman has made it very clear. He believes that elections are won at the local level. The RNC will start by creating a platform that is easy for states and for individuals to use.
Steve Pearson (Project Virginia): When it comes to finance, how do you see the RNC reconciling its fundraising mission to raise more money online?
Todd: The RNC’s goal is not to raise money, but to get Republicans elected to office.
We don’t need to reconcile online & offline fundraising, we need to integrate the two. At the end of the day, raising money is a tactic, not a mission and In addition to raising money, we need to raise activists.
Not everything the RNC does should incorporate a financial ask. We need to listen to our volunteers and encourage them to get involved. People at the RNC were EXCITED about the GOP Tech Summit report, because its suggestions came straight from the grassroots – the people that matter most.
Todd wants your feedback and so does TechRepublican. Leave your thoughts in the comment section.
If you have any additional questions or suggestions you can email him at therman@rnchq.org.
