Comments on: What if a Congressman or Government Agency had a Community Manager?

By: Digital Asset Management Conference | Digital Asset Management

Digital Asset Management Conference | Digital Asset Management — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:09:31 +0000

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By: We Need Congressional Online Community Managers - Marketing Conversation - New Marketing and Social Media by Abraham Harrison LLC — Marketing Conversation

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:45:32 +0000

[...] for members of Congress and key government offices and personnel. I like the way he thinks, What if a Congressman or Government Agency had a Community Manager? What if a congressman or government agencies had a community manager? This would be a person that [...]

By: Congressional Online Community Managers < Chris Abraham

Congressional Online Community Managers < Chris Abraham — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:15:11 +0000

By: Justin Thorp

Justin Thorp — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:48:25 +0000

@JT: I think you’re always going to get the passionate and vocal minority that’s going to have something to say but what about the rest of us. 90% of the time I really don’t care enough about what’s happening in government to become involved (unless it’s an election).

So… I think that Congressional offices need to be seeking out to hear my opinion instead of expecting us to come to them. Congressional offices risk only hearing one side of the story.

Heh… when there are technological problems at my company, I and my entire team face just as much of an angry mob but it’s our job (just like it is that of public facing folks in congressional offices) to listen to it and learn from it. We don’t have to agree with everyone who’s frustrated that demands action but we do have to listen.

Yes, there may be a problem with the firehouse of people but that’s a technical problem that we can solve. I think government needs to start using GetSatisfaction.com.

By: JT

JT — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:59:48 +0000

I wonder though – they have so many people who come to them already that many of our friends who work on Capitol Hill are paid letter/email writers.

It seems like press secretaries and some of the support staff in each office play a big part of the role. Could they be trained to better use the technologies available (and would they find it worth it in less tech-savvy districts)? The question would be how could a community manager make the processes that are in place more effective. Would it add to the often overwhelming wave of communication a congressional office must do, or would it streamline it, make it more effective, and allow the Congressperson to sleep better at night?

Also, that community manager would have to be a pretty brave fellow. At times of political turmoil, he could face a murderous mob of angry constituents.