Behind the Scenes of Rock the Vote & the ’08 Obama Campaign: The Story of a Real Job

This is a guest blog by Eric Zoberman. Eric is currently seeking full-time employment within a marketing firm/agency. The story below is what Eric has been doing for the last five years and the skills that he has developed over the course of his most recent adventure. Any way you can help Eric is greatly appreciated. Enjoy the story, it is pretty damn good. 

Like most college students, I spent the majority of my senior year desperately searching for ways to put off the inevitable transition from carefree student to active, contributing member of what my friends and I affectionately referred to as the “real world.”  When I was offered a job in Iowa organizing for then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign, I was thrilled to journey into the unknown, work for a boss I believed in, and as was an equal priority at the time, not have to sit at a desk all day.  Best of all, the job was only 6 months long and afterwards I would have the opportunity to re-asses whether or not it was time to get a “real job.”

Then, on January 3^rd 2008, my candidate defied the odds, won the Iowa Caucus with the help of a strong showing in my county, and before I had a chance to catch my breath I was driving down to Missouri to work on the next primary.  And then Texas.  And then North Carolina.  And then, for the General Election, back to Missouri where I managed a team of 14 paid staff and hundreds of volunteers.

I had traveled the country “talking the talk” for 16 months and I decided that it would be hypocritical not to DC, join the new administration, and “walk to walk.”  Once again, the “real world” would have to wait.  I was honored to receive a presidential appointment to the Corporation for National and Community Service shortly after President Obama’s inauguration.  After serving for almost a year, I was hired to manage the state operations for Rock the Vote’s 2010 election program.  It was while I was there that I saw firsthand the impact that social media, paid and earned media, and exciting spokespeople can have on reaching an audience that would not otherwise be receptive to our message.

Last August, I move back home to Chicago and re-joined the Obama campaign as the President’s National Youth Vote Deputy Director.  It was my responsibility to work with the campaign’s other departments to run a “campaign within a campaign” targeting 18-35 year olds.  I was, in essence, the account manager for the campaign’s online, on the ground, and media-based marketing targeting young Americans.

My previous employer kept bringing me back in the fold because I demonstrated value and could be trusted to oversee national, high profile events and campaigns.  As Election Day approaches, the plan I developed is being implemented in competitive states and the work of headquarters-based aides such as myself is largely done.  Now, five years after college graduation, I am excited to finally contribute my unique and non-traditional set of skills to exciting and innovative clients.  Most importantly, I no longer view the “real world” as something to be avoided; I view it as the next outlet for my creativity, energy, and passion.

If you or anyone you know can help Eric, please contact him at ezoberman@gmail.com. 

Where to work? Julius Meinl

The first time I went to Julius Meinl was about three years ago. It has been a while, but like a fine wine this place continues to get better. Not much has changed, at least anything I

Julius Meinl is located on the corner of Southport & Addison in Chicago.

can remember. The service is fantastic, the beverages are spectacular, and the pastries are mouth-watering. My favorite part of the establishment is the environment. Now, that I think about it, something has changed. It seems that there are more professionals conducting business meetings at Julius Meinl. That was why I first went there in 2009 and that is why I went back there three weeks ago. As I was concentrated on the story of the very interesting person in front of me, I could not help, but notice the sea of professionals holding court at this beautiful café. My ADD got the best of me. It holds true that I am not the only person who enjoys the atmosphere. Moreover, it could be that more and more people are mobile and working remotely, whether they have an office or not.

The decor, atmosphere, and furniture really help professionals to be productive.

Working Out of the Office

Julius Meinl is definitely a café I would recommend for any professional looking to host any sort of business meeting. Whether you are looking for a good place to work, to host a networking meeting or meet a potential investor, this coffee shop is the place to go in the Lakeview, Wrigleyville neighborhood. As you can see from the pictures, the décor is soothing and you cannot go wrong with anything you order. One of my favorite amenities of Julius Meinl is the furniture. It is not your normal wooden tables with wooden chairs. You do have some of that. The majority of the furniture are comfortable love seats and chairs. The noise volume is exceptional. It is not too loud. It certainly is not too quiet. It is just right. Goldilocks and the three bears would be proud. Unlike Starbucks, where the noise level is always at 11, you can conduct phone calls without the recipient asking if you are at bar at 10:30 in the morning.

Impress Your Network

The next time you are in the Lakeview/Wrigelyville area make a point of stopping at Julius

The delicious beverages are served by the incredible servers.

Meinl even if it is to just punch out a few emails or you’re in the market for a near perfect latte. I don’t drink the fancy coffee drinks; I am more of a black coffee drinker myself. If you look at some of the photos online of their lattes, you will see the point I am making.

Have you ever been to Julius Meinl? What was your experience like?

Do you have any recommendations of places to host meetings and/or camp out, in Chicago?

How to Open a Business Before You Open Your Doors?

 

Social media has started revolutions. Social media has kept us in touch with people from our past. Social media has even allowed us to generate new business with a couple clicks of a button. Now, social media can launch a business before you even open your doors, per se.

 

Did you start a social media presence before you officially launched your company?

3 Simple Ways to Properly Use LinkedIn Groups

There are over a million LinkedIn Groups. Membership ranges from two people to over a million in one group. The categories and subjects for the groups are endless. You have professional groups, association groups, networking groups, alumni groups, corporate groups, and the list goes on. If you are looking to prospect or establish yourself as the expert, LinkedIn groups are the perfect platform to do so. On LinkedIn.com in the About Us page, they describe LinkedIn Groups as, “LinkedIn members are sharing insights and knowledge in more than one million LinkedIn Groups.” Groups is the place to share insights and knowledge to audience that can benefit from using that information. There are proper ways to use groups and then there is spamming.

This is a list of 3 Simple Ways to Properly Use LinkedIn Groups:

1. Post information in the form of articles you published, articles you read, ebooks, and blog posts. The more original information the better.

2. Start your own group. Maintain a community based around a subject matter that will help you been seen as a leader. Make sure to describe the purpose of the group thoroughly and put the necessary filter system to keep people true to the goal of the group.

3. When joining groups, abide by the rules that they have in place. This is the number one rule of using groups…do not and I repeat do not solicit in groups. Soliciting is pushing people to buy something or offering a free consultation. That is not what the purpose of LinkedIn Groups are for. It is a place to start conversations and provide useful content.

How do you use groups?

Fear Experiment

Fear Experiment
Are you looking to:
– immerse yourself in an uber-supportive community of positive people?
– challenge yourself?
– learn a new skill?
– be a rockstar?
– have an experience of a lifetime?

Then Fear Experiment is for you!

• People who aren’t amazing at a particular art form sign up solo to rehearse for three months and then perform in front of a Park West audience of 700+
• You choose the art form you want to try — this Fall is a capella singing and stepping (not sure what stepping is?  Check out this video!)
• Fear Experiment Three will begin this Fall and conclude with a Park West show in December

“Participating in FE was one of the most transformative experiences of my life.” – past participant

Attending an information session this summer is mandatory to apply, and only one remains!  Go here for more info/to sign up.

Fear Experiment is produced by Saya Hillman of Mac ‘n Cheese Productions.

Building a Community Online: Introducing Spreecast

There are a number of ways to launch your own live video stream or have your own online TV show. Google+ has Hangout’s where you can video chat with up to nine other people, plus you can stream live onto YouTube. It is pretty cool. We have talked about Ustream in the past. That is the original live streaming site. Now, there is Spreecast.

Spreecast allows you to stream live via video with a large group of people. Actually an unlimited amount of people. I was on a Spreecast that had 180 people from around the globe. It is a fantastic site that has similar features to Google+ Hangout’s, YouTube, and Ustream. The difference is you can interact with every single person in the stream. All you have to do is click on the person and boom, they will appear in a split screen. You can chat with them live and move on to the next person. There is no limitation. The similarities are there as well. Spreecast has the chat feature and social plugins for Facebook and Twitter. The session can be recorded as well. It is a social platform itself, so you can build a community within the site.

There are few ways you can use the site for your business. You can host a live Q & A session for your community members. You can host a panel discussion or a one on one interview live for your community. If you want to put on a product demonstration, pop on to Spreecast and start showcasing your skills. Another way, is to use it for live presentations. When you are hosting a speaking engagement you can bring your laptop or plugin the camera to stream live and boom, you have your online community, as well as your live audience. It is quite wonderful. I suggest you get creative and start using the site. Keep an eye out for future Spreecast sessions from DoughMarket.

Until next time, be well.

Do you see yourself using Spreecast or Google+ Hangout’s?

The Journal: New Experiences and Life Lessons

 

Did you learning anything this week?

A Quick Guide to Understanding the Open Rate of Email Marketing

Email marketing is a sticky tactic if you do not use it effectively. There are certain ways to read the numbers that will give you a better understanding of the influence you are having on your community. Recently, the EVP at my company, Pepper Group, wrote this piece for the staff members. It is an important piece of information on email marketing that you should see.

It is not clear on exactly what an “open” means in the email stats from an email system like Constant Contact or Act-On. As many of you rely on these to measure success, I think it’s important that you know what they are. We wrote this for a client and thought I’d share with everyone…

Open Rates: Here’s a great article that clearly articulates what an “open” is. In short, if the person views it through their preview pane but doesn’t “download pictures” it’s not counted as an open. Something like >70% or so of B2B prospects read email in a preview pane that’s automatically blocking images. So there are two approaches. The first is to make the email as clear and readable as possible without downloading pictures. This means that more people are more likely to see your message since it’s clear and right in front of them as text. The second approach is to obscure some information or put it into images so that the recipient has to download pictures in order to get the meat of the message. This means that fewer people will see the message, but those who do will also download pictures, and be counted as an “open”. This will give you a higher open rate statistic, but fewer readers actually seeing your message. We want the most people to read it as possible, therefore we design the message to be readable without having to download pictures. This means a lower open rate statistic, but a better overall result. Here’s a great article from Constant Contact that explains the meaning of an “open”. http://www.constantcontact.com/learning-center/hints-tips/ht-2009-06c.jsp

A greater number of B2B emails are being opened and viewed on mobile devices. The number was supposed to be 50% or more within a couple of years. So we have to be aware that our emails are more and more likely to be opened on a mobile device.

Is the text of your emails separated from the pictures? 

3 Easy Steps to Increase Traffic

To have a powerful message with a crisp, clean design is just not enough to accomplish your goals. Unless your goals are to look pretty, to communicate effectively, and not be noticed. Traffic is the key ingredient for success on the internet. There are different ways to increase traffic. We are going to walk through three easy steps to increase traffic to your website.

1. Have a blog on your website.

2. Set up a keyword strategy. You can use Keyword Tool to help guide you.

3. Use social media platforms to push the content out there and bring back readers, customers, and influencers.

It is easy as one, two, three. The hardest step is to take action.

What other methods  are you using to drive traffic?

3 of the Funniest Viral Videos Ever!

Yesterday, we went through our weekly critiques of the week at the PG office. This week big T brought to our attention one funny viral video. Which sparked an idea. Let’s showcase 3 of the funniest viral videos that I have had the distinct pleasure of watching. If you ever dreamed of making a video that will go viral for your company’s marketing efforts, these are the 3 you should take notes from. They are funny and effective. I actually use the product from video number two. Not just because the video is hilarious, however the product is sweet, too. Some have gone as far as saying, it is the best viral video, ever. I’ll let you be the judge. Enjoy!

Video #1: Holy Pine-Sol!

Video #2: F*cking Great Razors

Video #3: Girls Fart Too

Do you have any viral videos you like?