I had an interesting experience this weekend. My travels took me to a neighborhood gathering and because t'is the season, there were politicians present. One such politician (I'll reference this individual as "P") had done some homework because P made it a point to say hello to me, sit down next to me and engage me in conversation.
At first the conversation was the usual I encounter when someone who doesn't really know me wants to talk with me; what do I think of MySpace? Is LinkedIn better than FaceBook and for what purposes? Does YouTube really achieve user goals? What's the best way to salt Google search?
I'm use to these types of questions. It was the intensity of them that clued me that this conversation was far from casual.
I explained that I was uncomfortable with the conversation due to NextStage's work analyzing campaign sites.
P asked if I wanted taxes to go up 20%. Did I know how much taxes had gone up during the current administration?
I again stated that I wasn't interested in pursuing the conversation.
The line of questioning went to "No Child Left Behind". I also noticed at this point that P's voice was indicating stress. I explained that I wanted to get a drink.
It was at this point that P announced in a louder voice that the problem with people was voter apathy -- A PA THEE -- and that if people didn't care enough to vote they should get what they deserved. Much more interesting, did I know there were websites out there where you could go and look up all kinds of dirt on people? P even told me of using such a site to gain an advantage over someone in business.
I stated that the conversation was over, thank you. I also noted how the crowd in my immediate vicinity had gone quiet and was focused on the interaction between P and I. P then went and sought someone else out.
Note to P and other politicoes; take your cues from your possible constituency. Don't get upset if their views aren't yours.
...and definitely don't try to get information from researchers who are paying close attention to how you behave in front of your audience and how said audience responds.
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
Links for this post:
- BizMediaScience Political Blog Posts
- DC Emetrics Summit on 14-17 Oct '07
- Society for New Communications Research Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala on 5-6 Dec 07 in Boston.
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