Campaign? What campaign?

We are proud to announce the re-launch of MarkHillman.com. The site is the online presence of Mark Hillman, a former Colorado State Treasurer, State Senator, and life-long wheat farmer. Through this easy-to-update website, Mark can share his unique insights on Colorado politics. He also maintains a priceless list of local coffee shops around Colorado.

Mark is hardly new to us at Flat Creek. In addition to re-designing his website, Flat Creek has long hosted Mark’s email newsletter, Capitol Review. In fact, we’ve integrated a archive of past issues into the new site. Take a minute to check out markhillman.com to see what’s going on. If you like what you see let us know so we can help you take your interests online, just like we helped Mark.

Just catching up on news feeds and came across a great post by Seth Godin about the “Nearly infinite” options online.

“…infinite is everywhere.

“There’s an infinite number of books at Barnes and Noble…

“There’s certainly, for all intents and purposes, an infinite number of web pages. And even Facebook, just a small subset of the web, has an infinite number of friends for you to make.”

This is a trend we’ve talked about before, and the answers aren’t easy. As the blogosphere began to take off prior to the 2004 election, becoming a promintent blogger was pretty straightforward – blog a lot, build an audience, and contribute to the conversation. Today, Technorati tracks over 112.8 million blogs, a literal infinity to anyone who might attempt to read them all.

So with the established trend of nearly infinite material online, there are two ways to try to find what you want. Seth Godin discusses the pros and cons of the first, which is search:

“Search makes the infinite finite (at least for a while). With search, we turn the infinite selection on Amazon into a nearly manageable finite selection. Except search (no matter where you look) is pretty lame, and it doesn’t really turn infinite collections into manageable choices.”

The other trend is aggregation. Large communities have formed around blogs that have taken the best of what they read and then put up links to their favorite slice of the blogosphere. For a reader daunted by the infinite options to read, such aggregator serves a very important role.

For a blogger, authority (and traffic) can come through the simple act of directing readers to other blogs. By taking on this function, the aggregator becomes a hub of traffic and influence. Once other bloggers begin to see traffic spikes from a noteworth link from the aggregator, they might begin to write for the aggregator.

This concept is not new. It’s the same concept as a magazine’s “Best of” issue or a summer reading list. It’s why we watch award shows. By going to that one place, we get to see what we want, as chosen by someone whom we respect.

But aggregation suffers from the same problem as the original content itself. If there is nearly an infinite number of blogs out there, mathmatically, there also could be a nearly infinite number of aggregators. In the face of this possibility, it seems then that the online properties best poised to capture this trend of aggregation are the very properties who have taken a leadership role in the current blogosphere. Only if they fail to adapt to this new trend of user-generated content will they be able to keep their leadership. The one exception I would make here are old media newspapers going online. If these papers would be willing to add links to their favorite blog posts alongside their own articles (beyond the current “who links here” footnote), their traffic would increase dramatically. People who get their news online read blogs, and if newspapers refuse to link to blogs via their own websites, they are missing a huge opportunity for eyeballs and ad revenue.

For the political campaign, capitalizing on this trend isn’t hard. Hillary Clinton’s campaign did it with their Hillary Hub. By aggregating all of the stories about their candidate — at least the positive ones — the Clinton campaign made their site a de facto source for information. Campaigns will often resist putting information online because they believe it provides “opposition research” to their opponents. I have news for you — your oppenents already have all the research they need. Instead, there are two audiences a Hillary Hub attracts: supporters and undecideds. And who doesn’t want to reach them?

So as talk of Web 3.0 builds, and the search mechanisms that will accompany it, aggregation needs to be a key part of the conversation as an evolving trend in online communications.

Who offers the best political campaign coverage? Which networks and anchors bring us the in-depth news and interviews to give political junkies an angle on the inside workings of their candidate, or their opponents? Some would argue CNN or Fox. Others would clamour for ABC or NBC. Few, obviously, would make a pitch for Katie Couric.

But The Fix, a Washington Post blog written by longtime DC reporter Chris Cillizza (which is itself an addicting read), recently discussed the difference in two of the most powerful political news programs on television: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colber Report with Stephen Colbert.

“Forget the ongoing primary fight between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.). The primary that really matters is the one between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for the hearts, minds and, yes, even the eyeballs of America…

“So, who’s better? A new poll conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics gives us some answers about how the young set — ages 18-24 — come down on that very question…

“Stewart led the way as the preference of 30 percent of those tested while Colbert checked in at 26 percent. Roughly three in ten chose neither while a shocking 16 percent said they had never heard of Colbert and Stewart. Who are these people?”

Read the full post here.

(Cross-posted at PolicyMedia.com)

In the past few months, Notes from Flat Creek has emphasized the need to recognize the growth in digital communication, and work to incorporate it into your communication strategy. But what are the benefits of digital communication? Why should you put your valuable resources into digital communication? The answer is: because that is the direction where all types of communication are evolving, and your message stands a good chance of being ignored if you don’t.

We’ve recognized the three areas that digital communication will most impact your communications strategy:

1. Delivery – Consumers today can choose the times when they want to be communicated with. Developments like blog readers and e-newsletters allow your audience to organize communication, and process it when they choose. By incorporating these features and others like podcasts, into your strategy, you will be able to deliver your message in a way that is convenient and continually accessible to your audience.

2. Access – Closely connected with delivery is access, and in two important ways. Digital communication allows consumers to access your message when they choose, and to store it for later use if it is applicable. Also, digital communication allows you access to a consumer’s undivided attention, through tools like opt in newsletters. When your audience chooses to hear your message, it will resonate much more than if they are bombarded unwillingly.

3. Management – Digital communication offers far more organizational and analytical potential than traditional methods. Email newsletters offer the ability to track open and click through rates, so you can better determine how to present your message. Customization is much easier through digital communication. You have the ability to tailor your message to virtually unlimited parameters. Also, anybody who has experience in bulk mailing knows that hitting the send button on an email is much easier that hauling bulk mail to the post office.

Beyond incorporating digital communication simply because of shifting trends, it offers significant benefits in accessing your audience, and managing your message. Recognize the benefits, and re-align your strategy.

Let us know if you or a friend may be interested…

Flat Creek is one of the fastest growing online public affairs, marketing, and technology firms in the South. The firm provides a variety of services in online technology, political strategy, and public affairs. Clients include advocacy groups and political campaigns across the country.

The E-Marketing Account Executive will be responsible for managing client projects, updating websites, conducting e-marketing campaigns, and other duties as assigned, including:

* Serving as a liaison between clients and vendors
* Managing vendors to ensure deadlines and budgets are met and high quality work is delivered.
* Ensuring creative design and code are delivered according to strategy.
* Managing project timelines and budgets.

Desired skills:

* BA/BS degree in marketing, communications, computer science, or similar discipline.
* 1-3 years related e-marketing and/or political experience.
* Experience with paid search marketing (i.e. Google, Yahoo!, MSN and second-tier engines), search engine optimization and online media.
* Demonstrated ability to be highly organized and excellent at multi-tasking.
* Excellent Microsoft Office skills.
* Must be HTML proficient and have significant exposure to web development and editing work (Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks or other web development software).

Location: Murfreesboro, TN
Hours: Full-Time
This job is salaried.

(Opening also listed on Facebook)

Flat Creek is proud to be a sponsor for Podcamp Nashville, taking place right now at the Cannery Ballroom. The room is very full for a Saturday morning with new media early adopters and those just curious about podcasting.

Podcasting has had its ups and downs with political campaigns. It’s a terrific way to reach an audience long before a candidate starts their media buy. It’s also a great way to reach out to the media through an innovative channel.

We look forward to hearing new ideas and case studies today – and bringing those ideas to our clients.

If you need advanced notice that the internet’s importance will continue to grow in campaigning, here it is. AdAge, the well-known magazine that reports analysis of marketing and media, completed a study that found the internet has passed TV as an information source for voters under 30.

While many political strategists dismiss youth vote trends, due in large part to their historically low turnout, those young voters will carry the internet with them over the years. Not only that, but as with other studies on Internet usage, the Web moves quickly across age brackets.

For instance, AdAge reports that 26% of all voters — regardless of age — have viewed a political candidate’s profile on a social networking site. This is an indication that the trend is already expanding beyond the 30 and under crowd. The need for a strong web presence may be a lesson that becomes more clear in coming election cycles.

Flat Creek is expanding, and your web development expertise may be the perfect fit. For details, check out our listing on Facebook or take a look at the description below:

Flat Creek, an interactive marketing and online public affairs firm, is seeking a part-time or full-time web developer to manage the technical development and implementation of our online projects.

The ideal candidate will be a self-starter, capable of full-service web development from concept through production, and be excited to learn new skills for working in a Web-enabled world. The successful candidate will be the primary web developer in a marketing and public affairs company developing applications and mark up for a variety of web sites. Necessary experience includes a working knowledge of ASP.Net, Dreamweaver, XHTML/CSS, Javascript, and PHP. A well qualified candidate understands today’s changing web development/design landscape, and possesses excellent communication skills, as well as the ability to work independently. This candidate also functions well in a detail oriented environment that requires prioritizing multiple tasks to meet tight deadlines. This position will enable the candidate to coordinate the implementation of larger projects by working with terrific independent freelancers and small development firms as well.

To be considered, candidates must either be a current college student or have a college degree and background in web development. Experience developing technical specifications for web projects is a plus. Ideally, the position will start part-time and require a work commitment of 20-30 hours per week, with the potential to turn into a full time position. The Web Developer will work out of our office in Murfreesboro on the Square. Interested candidates should send a resume and writing sample to jobs@fcreek.com.

Although it is just temporary, Flat Creek has launched a new website for Senator Roger Wicker, who was appointed to the United States Senate today. His new campaign site features a biography and links for contributions and volunteers. It also contains a section on the announcement, with the Senator’s prepared remarks and reaction from public officials, including the President.

Flat Creek has also launched an early social media strategy, setting up accounts for the campaign on Twitter, Facebook YouTube, del.icio.us, and more.

The full version of the site will feature advanced grassroots resources for both volunteers and campaign staff. Stay tuned for details!