The Impact of Publications on Networking (Part 2)

By Matthew Best, Political Editor

Last month we started to explore the relationship between political publications and networking by interviewing Chris Voccio of The Pennsylvania Republican for a conservative take on the issue.

This month I had an opportunity to interview Mike Lazzaro - known as “Hunter” on Daily Kos. Daily Kos, in case you were not aware of it, is the most visited political blog in the world. According to Mike, Daily Kos is a community website dedicated towards progressive, liberal and Democrat Party goal. It exists to influence the agenda by reporting on what’s going on and have opinions and providing a forum for those opinions.

When I asked Mike about what impact networking had on the website he said that what they are attempting to do at Daily Kos would be difficult without the internet. The Internet “allows people to come together with common interests” from all over the world, whereas previously, geographic boundaries isolated communities. “The internet allows interest groups to operate on a national level and as a result – have exponentially more influence than 100’s of local groups could ever have.”

I asked Mike what kind of impact the website had on networking. He mentioned that it has been slow in making an impact on politics, but recently Daily Kos has been seen as more of a part of the national media stream and hence had more influence on the Party and the media. “Our site is changing how politicians interact with constituencies because we can organize nationally. Subgroups start to form by states or causes making these subgroups more efficient structures.” Overall geography is not a barrier as it once was.

One of the main reasons I wanted to interview Mike was because of Daily Kos’ uniqueness. Beyond the number of hits the site receives every day, the site has also done some interesting activities to test “online work in the real world,” as Mike puts it.

The website sponsored a conference “Yearly Kos,” to gather fans of the site along with activists. “People wanted to test if online action and activism could have real world effects. So the conference was really an experiment.” It was a success by their standards and they have since renamed the conference “Netroots National Convention,” to expand the focus of the conference and cover what the convention is really about – online grassroots activism.

When I asked Mike for his thoughts on how well publications were tapping into established social networks, he said that they “don’t do a good job of tapping into each other,” or blogs, Facebook, etc. Mike stated that he didn’t know why it hasn’t happened yet beyond to answer that he thinks that most of the publications aren’t sure how to yet.

Lastly, I asked Mike about what trends he saw in political networking. He said that political networks are “getting larger and more professionalized” when it comes to online networking. He mentioned that the trend is to move away from the many “single-voice communities” like blogs where only one person is writing to multi-voice communities. The reason for this trend is that “members are demanding higher levels of quality” which means there is more work, and too much work for just one person anymore. Mike’s thought about trends in online publications is that they will continue to look more and more like newspapers, “but where the community writes the content.”

Stay tuned next month for an interview I did on government, business, and networking.

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The Impact of Publications on Networking (Part 2)

PR Web: Podcast Interview Series Analyzes Latest PA Election Results

Podcast Interview Series Analyzes Latest PA Election Results: The Keystone Report on Good Politics Radio

Host of the Keystone Report on Good Politics Radio, Matt Best, interviews Brett Lieberman, political news reporter about the recent elections in PA. Coming interviews are with two political science professors at Grove City College.

Olympia, WA (PRWEB) November 22, 2007 -- The Pennsylvania Keystone Report on Good Politics Radio presents an interview series providing expert analysis of the recent November elections. Host of the Pennsylvania keystone Report, Matt Best recently interviewed political news reporter Brett Lieberman about the statewide judicial retention races, the changes in the county courthouses, and the impact that this year's elections will have on the 2008 national elections. This lively interview is available online at www.pa.goodpoliticsradio.com. Lieberman is the Washington correspondent for the Harrisburg Patriot News and has covered elections for TV, radio, and print.

Listen now...

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PR Web: Podcast Interview Series Analyzes Latest PA Election Results

Podcast Interview Series Analyzes Latest PA Election Results

Coming soon on Pennsylvania Good Politics Radio are Best's interviews of Dr. Michael Coulter and Dr. Paul Kengor. The interview with Dr. Coulter, professor of Political Science at Grove City College, analyzes election results. The following interview with Dr. Kengor, Political Science professor, covers the recent elections, presidential politics, and Dr. Kengor's most recent book, "God and Hillary".

Matt Best is the President of Best Solutions, an entrepreneurial coaching firm and co-author of "Speaking of Success". He also serves as the Political Editor of The National Networker, an online magazine.

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Podcast Interview Series Analyzes Latest PA Election Results

The Impact of Publications on Networking (Part 1)

By Matthew Best, Political Editor Matthew's Bio Email article to a friend

Here are a few questions for you – how do publications affect networking? Do networks affect publications? Which came first the publication or the network?

These are questions you probably hadn’t thought of, but are certainly interesting to ponder. I decided to tackle those very questions by looking at the world of political publications. I interviewed individuals from a traditional print publication and from an online publication. Also, to make this a balanced look, I interviewed individuals from both the left and right side of the political spectrum to see what their thoughts were. I think you’ll find the answers interesting.

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The Impact of Publications on Networking (Part 1)

Lessons Learned in Political Networking

By Matthew Best, TNNW Political Editor

It’s been said that Thomas Edison conducted 10,000 experiments before he got the light bulb right. When asked if he ever felt like giving up during all those failed experiments, he answered that he didn’t fail 10,000 times at all – he merely found 10,000 ways not to do it.

And so it is with networking. Since networking is a jungle, there are at least 10,000 ways in which people are "failing" each and every day. Some times the best way to learn how to do something a better way is to learn how not to do it.

A great example of this was a recent e-mail I received about one of the numerous presidential debates that have been going on for several months now. This debate was sponsored by a large on-line news site that targeted their audience to a specific group of voters. I receive a ton of e-mail each day announcing debates, candidate positions, events, etc. What made me read the entire e-mail can best be explained as a great example of how not to get candidates to a debate. The sponsor of the debate announced the debate, but then proceeded to complain that the top-tier candidates were going to be no-shows.

Which leads to a nice concise set of lessons I’ll share with you about how to get candidates to ignore you. The same lessons apply to networking as well.

Lesson 1

Criticize the top-tier candidates. That’s right, that’s the easiest way for candidates to ignore you in the future. Why would anyone in their right mind decide to show up at the last minute after you just called them a "gutless wonder?" That’s not an exaggeration either, the moderator did just that.

In networking, how effective are you when you criticize someone else? How likely are they to connect with you? The simple answer is that they aren’t going to. In fact, they will do all they can to cut ties with you. Do you like to associate with people who judge you or what you do in a critical fashion right off the bat?

Lesson 2

Make your debate announcement more about the moderator than the candidates and debate. I’m not stretching it here, but at least one-third of the debate announcement was about the moderator - his background, a sales pitch for his latest book, etc. When you include quotes by the moderator in the e-mail, at least half of the announcement is about the moderator and not about the candidates or the debate.

The networking lesson here is simple – Remember - it’s not about you. If it is all about you, people can see through that. If you approach networking with a genuine interest in the other person, they will see that as well.

Lesson 3

Inadvertently downplay the candidates who decide to participate. The announcement identifies the top-tier candidates, which means the other candidates are what - second-tier at best, or not to be taken seriously at worst. Why not thank the candidates who are deciding to participate and raise them up. I don’t know, maybe something to the effect that "this debate will give the candidates who participate a platform and an opportunity to set themselves apart from the crowd."

Again, it’s all about the other person when it comes to networking. So maybe you aren’t connected to hundreds of people, or to someone you deem to be "really important." So what! Who are you connected to? Why not show your appreciation to those people who thought it important enough to connect with you. Reach out to them every now and then and show your appreciation to them.

Lesson 4

Make the debate as long as possible. The debate was set to run for three hours according to the announcement. You saw that correctly, three hours. I pity the candidates who are participating. Debates aren’t supposed be as long as some faster runners take to finish a marathon.

It’s one thing to invest time into your relationships – especially in this day and age of the thirty-second sound bite, drive thru lunches, instant communications, etc. It’s quite another to waste people’s valuable time. Time is one of our most valuable resources. When you respect other people’s time, they appreciate it and will generally give you a little more time.

Given these lessons, I’m not surprised that the top-tier candidates decided to skip this debate. Would you skip out on a connection given the same circumstances? Some of the best lessons out there are the mistakes that other people make. Hopefully the mistakes I’ve presented here will help you become a better networker.

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Lessons Learned in Political Networking

Matthew Best on Good Politics Radio

Matthew Best is the newest podcaster with Good Politics Radio. Matt lives in Carlisle, Pa, and will be podcasting and writing for the Pennsylvania GPR channel.

Matt has an amazing resume of experiences. He has worked for a U.S. Representative and for a Pa. state legislator. He has also worked for a lobbying organization. And he has experience working for political campaigns.

Additionally, Matt is involved with several political ventures online. He is the political editor for The National Networker, a portal website dedicated to networking activity and information, and Matt’s writings and interviews can be seen here. He is also working on a new website called Linked to Politics, which is all about networking in politics.

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Matthew Best on Good Politics Radio