At both Make Something Happen and The Point, we talk a lot about the Carrot Model. For this reason, we couldn’t help sharing this bit from Maureen Dowd’s op-ed in today’s New York Times:

[Sen Obama's] meeting with Angela Merkel taught him a whole new expression.

“When we were talking about Iran,” he told me, “it turns out that carrots and sticks in German is sweetbread and whips, which I thought was a little more evocative.”

-Filed in The Point

I very recently had the pleasure of talking with Ze Frank, a web personality who continues to show that he “gets it” more than others [especially with regard to the art of communicating with and moving people online]. Frank is already well known to many for several handfuls of reasons, which include his year-long web show and, most recently, for co-hosting Color Wars, “an internet-wide game in which players from a number of self created teams compete for prizes and medals.” We discussed, in particular, the value of resonance with regard to capturing and motivating an audience, both on and off line.

Frank stressed that resonance, not a necessarily logical or quantitative exponent, is one of the most important variables when it comes to connection with an audience or a crowd. This is important for movement-makers of all shapes and sizes to internalize when trying to mobilize a base.

Consider that before he won the primary, there was an element of faith that was projected unto Barack Obama by his supporters. For many, support for Obama the figure [strong, transcendent, untraditional, "post-partisan"] did not necessarily mirror or represent support for Obama the public servant (based on a number of votes, etc). This embrace was, and case of many continues to be, rooted in part in illogic — to some, the Senator fro Illinois represents youthful optimism, the reinvention of American mythology, opportunity for the disenfranchised, and so-on. Sen. Obama’s allure lies in his mythology; he resonates with people in a way that the other candidates did not.

Understanding how to connect on a movement-to-person level is as fundamental as knowing how to maintain databases, properly leverage the power of Facebook, frequenting all of the right blogs, etc.

Having been to many conferences, talks, and seminars, where suggestions regarding the how-to of maneuvering in a “post 2.0″ world are thrown around with varying degrees of authority; having read thousands of blog entries dealing with “the right components necessary” for putting together successful social movements; having attended hundreds of hours of rigid panel discussions and keynotes about how networking will change everything, I find a topic like resonance to be as refreshing as it is ethereal

The road to establishing a sense of resonance with the audience—be they viewers or potential supporters of a revolution—requires a brand consciousness. I consider one particular episode of Frank’s show, entitled Jon-Benet, to be required viewing when it comes to “getting” branding. In it, he says, “A brand is an emotional aftertaste that’s conjured up by, but not necessarily dependent on, a series of experiences.” Further, “The shared emotional aftertaste of brand is platform-independent. If you leverage those aftertastes, people will pay attention, regardless of where they are. And whether the emotional aftertaste is good or bad is irrelevant! As long as they’re watching.”

Frank is not only excellent at articulating this, he is great at putting it into action. His knack for comprehending resonance is very much the difference between the successful cult following of The Show with Ze Frank and why many other daily vlogs go nearly unwatched. It is the reason he was able to help to put together an Internet-based game and why he knows that people will be really into posing as younger versions of themselves or why they might be willing to compete in a nerd rap battle. His comprehension of how all of this fits together is the reason why there are thousands of people waiting to see what he’ll do next.

Understanding resonance works similarly to what they say about getting your shit on Digg: You can go through the motions but content is key. The only way that one can harness a true sense with any degree of authenticity is not by attending conferences and learning the calculus of maneuvering online, but by knowing who people are, what they connect to, and what they want. To do this, we are required to listen much more than we talk, be willing to digest input as much as we love creating output, and maybe, once in a while, turning our backs on Twitter here and there and talking with someone, outside of our apartments, face to face.

For tomorrow, we’ll take a look at some successful instances of branding.

-Filed in Ideas

On this day, June 30th, 2008, the news brings to our attention a grassroots cry for help to Bob Barr, a reminder that “real change” happens offline, a look at what happens when you make the netroots angry, and much, much more.

• Sally Kohn, senior campaign strategist with the Center for Community Change, reminds us to log off once in a while.
• It looks like Bob Barr’s supporters would like to see him read Ms. Kohn’s article.
• With regard to environmental issues, Chinese Millennials are starting to make something happen.
• Don’t piss off the Netroots.
• Community organizes to help family (aw).
• With regard to mobs, does ’smart’ necessarily equate ‘wise’?
• Perhaps you’d like to know the (speculative) future of e-politics.
• And finally, want to win a campaign? Bring a camera

-Filed in Ideas, News, Uncategorized

Here’s a quick gander at/guide to some of the great folks we look forward to talking to and/or profiling this week:

Beth Kanter

Imagine if you held so much Internet power, you were able to Google your first name and your very own website were the first to come up. Beth Kanter is able to do just that.

It is impossible to describe Kanter accurately without wholly offending a large bloc of people, but here goes: Beth is God. There. We said it. Beth Kanter is God. Dare you you disagree? Have you ever seen this woman at a conference? Faced with her, you’re rendered awkward, graced, and feeling somewhat irrelevant by comparison of accomplishments. Back up a little bit and observe those around you; they’re all trying to figure out how to get involved in a conversation with her, how to somehow connect with her. In [the extremely approachable] Kanter’s 25+ years of involvement in web-based organization, she has seen it all and she graciously shares slivers of her brain on her blog every single day.

David Sirota

Having been employed by the likes of Ned Lamont and Sen. Bernie Sanders, it is easy to understand why the New York Times has described David Sirota as a “populist rabble rouser.” Sirota has appeared on countless television and radio shows as an all-around sage on all-things political and civic engagement. Further, he has written for The Huffington Post, and The Nation and he serves as senior editor of In These Times. The Uprising, his new book, has won the praise of Bill McKibben, Tom Hayden (legendary Students for a Democratic Society organizer), Naomi Klein, and Matt Taibbi, and it outlines how the netroots can lead a populist rebellion. Also, he is sort of beautiful. But then again, he is also married, so he [unfortunately] wont be appearing in a most-eligible-netroots-activist section any time soon.

Check out this talk at STRAND Books featuring Sirota discussing The Uprising.

Scott Heiferman

Every evening, Howard Dean slips into his PJs, kneels before his bed, folds his hands and thanks Scott Heiferman for everything he has. Dan envisions the great Scott Heiferman and says, “Scott. Thank you so much for helping to get my name out there. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Sure, I lost the Democratic nomination ‘04, but here I am at the head of the party. Not a bad consolation prize, sir.”

I bet you didn’t know that about Howard Dean.

Through creating Meetup, Heiferman essentially put into action one of the original bridges of Internet and grassroots organizing, helping to breed and popularize the term “netroots.”

Oh. And his “notes” are also awesome.

David All

Of Barack Obama, David All recently praised the candidate’s appreciation for “people-powered revolution.” All is especially interested in making this revolution fruitful for the American conservative movement. In the context of the 2.0 activism world, he is essentially the Little Conservative That Could, as he works his tail off to catch the Republican Party up with the left when it comes to Internet political organizing, and he is doing a darn good job at doing so far. Further, All is not only an advocate with respect to bringing the netroots to the right, but also by bringing the entire process to the netroots. He is an all-around advocate of Internet people power.

-Filed in People

“Saul Alinsky is referred to in this piece. He’s Hillary’s spiritual leader in terms of creating her own chaos.”

Rush Limbaugh, April 9, 2008

“This sort of clever manipulation was at the heart of Alinsky-style ‘community organizing’ in the interest of revolutionary change. He taught, through his books and seminars for radical acolytes, how to convince the common folks that the organizer was merely their tool, willingly offering his own time and service so that they could succeed in throwing off the yoke of their masters.”

www.patdollard.com, “Hussein, the Money Wizard,” June 9, 2007

Media and blog coverage of Barack Obama, his field program, and his campaign’s ascent has been especially interesting in its overall confused treatment of legendary community organizer Saul Alinsky (Hillary Clinton, as detailed above, has suffered the same kind of muckraking). The memory of Alinsky (now dead 26 years), who popularized and largely put into motion the organizational styling that have been credited for Sen Obama’s most recent successes, has been handled in some circles similarly to the way in which the Reverend Jeremiah Wright (and Sen. Obama’s middle name, for that matter) was; as if he were an erratic, anti-American aggitater whose influence should cast an air of doubt onto that of the candidate.

A leftist who so openly identified with the term “radical” might not so much mind these associations.

However, considering how much Alinsky influenced the tactics of the American left and right, this pot-stirring is simply inaccurate. Alinsky pushed for a people-powered revolution. He might not have fully understood the scope of how his tactics would by systemized and used by folks on all sides of the spectrum, but used by social justice groups for more than a decade, the ascent of his techniques is not just limited to radical leftists. They would become the tools of an increasingly-organizer-oriented mainstream Democratic Party, especially within the context of Howard Dean’s 50 State Strategy. The GOP would nearly perfect the art of the GOTV push thanks to the very same tactics. We would see his rules used to popularize the issues and image of mainstream political candidates. Reaching even further across the spectrum, John Altevgot, a former Christian radio host and conservative political activist, has called Alinsky his hero.

While it might politically sexy for partisans to attribute a sense of “anti-American” guilt unto Sen. Obama by association with Alinsky, this is a deceitful, inaccurate attack. Alinsky’s methods, while rooted in a partisan divide, came to transcend them and have been used by those on all sides of the spectrum. Alinsky was the grandfather of the way that we all — right or left, pre or post partisan— organize, and his actions have influenced how we all perpetuate our respective causes. Right, Left, Center, mainstream or fringe, the honest thing for all of us to do would be to celebrate and civilly discuss the tools that Alinsky brought to our table.

-Filed in People

On this day, May 22nd, 2008, the news brings to our attention South Korean web activists’ continued crusade against American beef, how an Internet “juggernaut” is expected to “crush McCain,” courtroom drama for a young member of Anonymous, the feasibility of creating “Big Brother” in the UK, Scarlett Johansson’s perceived roll in inviting YouTube jihad, and more.

• Joshua Hill adds to the discussion about creating two classes of the Internet.
• Looking for student loans? Have you considered borrowing P2P style?
• The UK Times pooh poohs the feasibility of constructing a modern day “Big Brother.“
• A 15-year-old member of Anonymous is summonsed to court in the UK.
• Surprise! The Internet was key in Sen. Obama’s victories!
• To quote “The Russian” from Rocky 4, Obama’s Internet juggernaut will reportedly “crush McCain.”
• South Korean web users/text-hounds are continuing their fight against US Beef.
• Hate is on the rise in the 2.0 universe.
• And finally, YouTube, Scarlett Johansson, and the rise of Internet terror.

-Filed in Uncategorized

On this day, May 12th, 2008, the news brings to our attention Chinese organizers 2.0, social media against Obama, a righteous answer to YouTube, hasty (and frightening) repercussions are taken against Egyptian strike organizers and more.

• Feeling otherwise alone, mommies find a friend in online social networking.
• Human Rights watch claims that an activist who used Facebook to organize a general strike in Egypt was beaten and threatened with rape.
• A plan to grab the Olympic torch by way of flash mob was thwarted when the organizer was arrested by the Chinese government.
• Social media leveraged against Sen. Obama.
• Facebook quickly announces its answer to MySpace Data Availability.
• Obama channels Alinsky, who encouraged the importance of getting people invested into an issue by making any contribution possible, no matter how small it might be.
• Chinese dissenters are coordinating general strikes by way of Facebook and SMS.
• Do you find YouTube to be offensive due to its relative godlessness?
• And finally, if you don’t like a candidate, the Internet is a lovely place for a smear campaign (Bonus quiz: Which Democratic candidate refuses to put his hand on the Bible, preferring instead to put it on the Quran?)

-Filed in Uncategorized

On this day, May 9th, 2008, the news brings to our attention the collective prowess of South Korean Internet geeks, the growth of Jihadi web-recruiting, Young Citizens of the Year, MySpace’s attempts to play nicer with the other kids in the social networking sandbox, and more.

• Having trouble with your online recruitment efforts? Maybe you can ask a Mujahideen what works for him.
• The UN suggests that microfinance efforts have yielded successes among poor borrowers in the developing world, though successes with agriculture are questionable.
• The MySpace Data Availability project! Content transferability! The future is now!
• And the Young Citizen of the Year Award goes to… Teenagers already daunted by their everyday goings on focus their efforts on community organization.
• South Korean “Internet geeks” wage cyber-war against “tainted” US beef imports.
• Water-slinging flash mobsters destroy award-winning garden.
• Different web strategies were signs of different results for Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama. Slowed enthusiasm leads to slowed Internet returns for Clinton.
• And finally, mobile technology in the time advanced social networking.

-Filed in Uncategorized

On this day, May 7th, 2008, the news brings to our attention gay Russian flash mobs, the rise of “Dot Com Mompreneurs,” Anonymous’ continued crusade against a one Mr. Tom Cruise and more.

• It’s sort of an oldie, it continues to be relevant and it was recently reprinted - Barack Obama, Community Organizer in Chief?
• Are you a Mompreneur?
• Taking a look at the place of the “YouTube moment” in modern politics.
• Russian Gays flash mob for acceptance.
• And finally, Anonymous continues its battle against Scientology.

-Filed in Uncategorized

On this day, April 29th, 2008, the news brings to our attention flash mobs in Bath, Egyptian outrage taken to the web, Gordon Brown’s fund raising envy, and more on the rising popularity of shareholder activism:

• Egyptians are using Facebook to defy government attempts to keep incidents of police brutality quiet. One young woman, Esraa Abdel Fatah, 27, is highlighted for or organizational efforts using the site.
• A flash mob takes on Bath Abbey. The mob freezes for five minutes, people stare, and the The Bath Chronicle deems it a success (seriously).
• UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is apparently looking to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for tips on raising lots of cash via the Internet.
• Speaking of Sen. Obama, it’s not just the money that he’s raising online that will potentially make him a powerbroker in the party, even if he loses.
• And finally, another discussion about the rise of shareholder activism and it’s impact on US corporations as the economy continues on a downturn.

-Filed in Uncategorized