Edward Erikson, Founder and President of Erikson Communication Group, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the possibilities of finding common interests and ways to unite local communities. As a political consultant, Edward emphasizes the value of snowball organizing to find additional supporters and the need to keep testing new methods to reach voters.

Deepak and Edward talk about:

• Finding common ground with voters in this partisan environment
• Role of social media and local media to educate about issues
• Mistakes candidates make in telling their story
• Rapid response and when not to respond
• Challenges for first-time candidates

#EriksonGroup @TheDemLabs #Voters #VoterEngagement #Organizing #RapidResponse #Childcare #WorkForce

EriksonGroup.com

TheDemLabs.org

Josh Justice, CEO of Peerly, has been working on an AI tool for managing and responding to the volume of text messages exchanged using the Peerly peer-to-peer texting platform. Now widely available, AMP {AI} enhances the value of voter engagement and provides rich data that reveals sentiment and real-time interest.

We talk about:

• The changing nature of voter engagement
• Optimizing voter targeting based on responses to text messages
• The shift from generic campaign messages to personalized messaging
• Managing follow-ups to requests and opt-outs
• How AI changes the role of volunteers and campaign staffers

#Peerly #AI #AMPAI #P2PTexting #P2P #VoterEngagement #VoterSegmentation #VoterOutreach

Peerly.com

Peerly.com/amp-ai

Molly Rima Hoopes, Senior Political Account Executive, Division D at VoterX, is working in the expanding arena where targeting and media offer new options for finding and persuading voters. Though traditional media buyers are still buying linear TV ads, cross-screen reach and targeting opportunities offer incremental reach for campaigns to find cord-cutters, deliver a call to action to specific audiences, and supply metrics about engagement for building relationships.

We talk about:

• Cross-screen reach and need for appropriate creative for each viewing experience
• Programmatic social display ad buying on social media to reach beyond the base
• Rich media formats that have been developed to increase voter engagement
• Targeting opportunities to reach new and low-propensity voters
• How Influencer marketing is being used in political campaigns

#VoterX #PoliticalAds #DigitalAds #Fundraising #Organizing #VoterPersuasion #VoterEngagement #PoliticalCampaigns #Election2024

VoterX.com

Gina Keller, Co-Founder of Distill Social, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to highlight how social media is used for grassroots activities in Michigan to drive voter awareness, voter registration, and turnout. Gina shares insights about using TikTok to offer something as simple as a sticker to raise interest and enthusiasm.

Deepak and Gina talk about:

• Building emotional connections with voters
• How content is shared on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media sites
• Turning words into visuals
• Multi-layered approach including online ads and organic content is needed to talk to those beyond the base
• Improving the chance of content to go viral
• Organizing online versus walking the neighborhood

#DistillSocial #Organizing #TikTokforOrganizing #RelationalOrganizing #OnlineAdvertising #PoliticalAds #Election2024 @TheDemLabs

DistillSocial.com

TheDemLabs.org

Richard Rose and Raymond McClendon Communities United for Justice join Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to review relational organizing using local leaders to build awareness about candidates and ballot initiatives. The topic is how grassroots organizers are using digital and traditional tools to build robust networks of organizations targeting specific voters to get out the vote. Richard and Raymond have started in Georgia, moving from there to demonstrate the power of collaboration to win elections.

Deepak. Richard and Raymond talk about:

• Competition to get voters excited about voting
• Voter mobilization, particularly of younger voters
• Fighting disinformation and misinformation about candidates and issues
• Using social media and text to build relationships with voters

#Cu4Justice @TheDemLabs #GOTV #Organizing #VoterTurnout #GrassrootsOrganizing #Mobilization

Cu4Justice.com

TheDemLabs.org

Matthew Hildreth, Executive Director of Rural Organizing, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to identify the elements of rural communities often missed by candidates in their search for voters. With a background in broadcasting and local engagement, Matthew points out the need for more funding for organizing in rural areas and leadership development at the local level.

Deepak and Matthew talk about:

• Growing the Democratic brand in rural communities
• Organizing in rural areas
• What campaigns do not understand about rural voters
• Civic infrastructure in rural areas
• The good and the bad of local media

#RuralOrganizing #RuralVoters #Organizing #Fundraising #Election2024 @TheDemLabs

RuralOrganizing.org

TheDemLabs.org

Rachel Levy, candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in the November 2023 election, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to provide a view from the front lines of running for office in a primarily rural, newly drawn district. Rachel is an activist, teacher, mom, wife, and candidate with a strong sense of the need for civic engagement to fight extremism.

Deepak and Rachel talk about:

• Diversity in rural communities
• Techniques that work for outreach and canvasing in a mostly rural conservative district
• Issues most important to rural and small-town voters
• Encouraging civic engagement
• Driving GOTV

#RachelForDelegate #VA59thDistrict #VAElection2023 #GOTV

RachelforDelegate.org

TheDemLabs.org

Michael Kaiser is the President and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization working with Federal campaigns to secure their organizations and staff against cybercrime. DDC is providing free and low-cost security tools not counted as a campaign contribution with special permission by the FEC because unsafe political campaign practices are seen as a national security threat.

We talk about

• Most significant cyber threats to political campaigns
• What cyber bad actors are trying to accomplish
• Security tools that DDC is making available to campaigns, staffers, candidates and their family members
• Focusing on what might happen, not what could happen
• Expanding this model to state and local races

#DefendingDigitalCampaigns #DDC #2024Elections #PoliticalCampaigns #AI #Deepfakes #Disinformation #Misinformation #Cybersecurity #CampaignTech

DefendCampaigns.org

Holli Holliday, lawyer and President of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to shine a light on the obstacles that are part of the system that keep first-time candidates from succeeding. While candidates supported by the established parties are told about access to voter lists and committee support, newcomers are often not aware of the resources that are available for fundraising and organizing.

Deepak and Holli talk about

• Paths to leadership development
• Overcoming the unknowns for women thinking about running for office
• Why leaders need to show up and not just rely on grassroots supporters
• Identifying and amplifying community problems using visualization tools and maps
• Examples of Black women leaders
• The power of collective thought to bring about change

#SistersLeadSistersVote #PoliticalCampaigns #WomenCandidates #BlackWomenLeaders #Leadership @TheDemLabs @Hollileshae

SistersLeadSistersVote.org

TheDemLabs.org

Annabel Roubinowitz, a high school senior living in San Francisco, surveyed her Gen-Z cohorts to find out what issues they are concerned about and why they do or do not vote. While young people seem excited about hot-button issues like reproductive rights and gun control, they are not registering to vote or turning out to vote in expected numbers. Annabel's research sheds some light on how candidates can tap into this rage and enthusiasm to engage more Gen-Z to vote.

We talk about:

• What turns Gen-Z off about voting
• What issues are relevant to Gen-Z post-COVID
• Advancing from online activism to voting
• Advice for candidates to get the attention of Gen-Z
• Role of peer pressure to change behavior and attitudes
• The podcast tbh: by, about, and for teenagers podcast Annabel did as part of the KALW Public Media project

#GenZ #Activism #KALW #BradyCenter #YoungVoters #GOTV #GunControl #ClimateChange #ReproductiveRights

https://www.kalw.org/podcast/tbh-made-by-about-and-for-teenagers/2023-08-24/why-gen-z-activism-isnt-reflected-in-voter-turnout