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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    Right Online: Saturday Afternoon


    By kenmatesevac, Section News
    Posted on Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 09:08:48 AM EST
    Tags: Right Online (all tags)

    Cross-posted at Bible, Math, Politics, and More!

    There was certainly an enormous mass of information shared at this conference--and it's only summarized here.  I will try to prepare a digest of key points and post it later in the week.

    Many, many thanks to Nick at RightMichigan.com and to Americans for Prosperity for making my trip possible!

    Two sessions remained in the afternoon, and both dealt with reaching out to youth. One highly telling statistic is that 67% of the youth vote went to Obama in the recent election. This is troubling. Obama's use of social media to drum up support was masterful, and it is possible for us Republicans to learn some lessons from this.

    A variety of speakers addressed us. We were reminded us that engagement is critical with youth. Young people under 30 are different from previous generations, and not only because they seem to like the social media and the cell phone. The group born between 1981 and 1994 are the largest generation in American history. 52% of this demographic voted in the 2008 elections; this percentage has grown every two years. 70% of young voters have gone to college; on average, they graduate with $20,000 in debt (and therefore, have reason to be concerned with the economy). Only 28% of them self-identify as Republicans, although this group is usually "die-hard." A majority see the economy as the most important issue right now; Iraq was second with only 12%.

    Today's youth like to travel in groups, whether to the movies, on dates, or to the mall. Mobile technology is the primary means of communication; the average teen reportedly sends 3000 text messages per month. They care what their friends think. They operate by cooperation and strive for life/work balance. This group almost without exception is on social networks, but only 22% of them use Twitter. Most find e-mail antiquated and don't trust political campaign ads. They value change, and tend to be a bit "ADHD." They tend to focus on participation more than information.

    The premise going forward, then, is that we must be able to meet youth where they are. To that end, websites like campusreform.org (full rollout coming soon), theycc.org, smartgirlpolitics.org, and pinkelephantpundit.com have been developed. We need to find out what they value. We should not hesitate from using emotional appeal with them; they are idealistic, and it tends to work [Note from Ken: Yes, those of you over 35 can see problems with this; but we're dealing with political persuasion, not core moral issues, etc.].

    And finally, a topic came up that I really, really wanted to hear about: How to drive traffic to your blog. Some of the suggestions that were given included:

    1. Use twitter. Make connections with lots of other people; send your blog postings via twitter. (Note: In case you haven't noticed yet, Twitter was a huge topic throughout this conference. Opinions on its efficacy varied, but most contributors found it to be invaluable)
    2. Link to other blogs. Links are often reciprocated. Link to specific posts in addition to the overall blog; these are often more track-able.
    3. Post comments on other blogs, and make sure your blog can be linked from the comment.
    4. Do all of these things often.

    My scheduled flight prevented me from going to the final session without running too high a risk of missing my flight out of town. Many, many thanks to RightOnline, a project of the Americans For Prosperity Foundation; and to RightMichigan.com, for having the Bloggers' Challenge contest last June!
    < Right Online: Saturday Morning, Part 2 | *ACTION ALERT* ATTEND THE STATE SOVEREIGNTY BILLS COMMITTEE MEETING >


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    sea change (none / 0) (#3)
    by live dangerously on Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 08:55:24 AM EST
    Great minds think alike lol.

    Posted a blog Sunday called Sea Change, at my site "Bottom Up Politics" all about how the Dems have lost the momentum and the moral superiority and are losing the "little people".

    We need to keep our momentum going.  Your comment is a concrete example from on the ground of the progress we are making; and why we are making it.

    We have to keep wracking our brains to come up with ways to keep this going.

    Kudos to you for that and Right Online for putting on the get together in Pittsburg. Kudos also to Kenmatesevac for reporting on it.

    Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

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