Campaigners, Please!

So I’m looking to hire a campaigner for my online progressive group. What does a campaigner do? Well, the basic process looks like this:

1. Read the news and look for a political fight that might interest people.

2. Think of a way that ordinary people can get involved.

3. Write an email briefly explaining the issue and persuading people to take action on it.

4. Channel those actions into a wider impact, e.g. by informing the press, delivering petitions, running ads, etc.

People who might be a good fit for this include political bloggers, who have a lot of experience with 1 and 3, and people who have run campaigns on local issues, giving them experience with 2 and 4. It’s also helpful if you have experience with web design and HTML.

But the most important thing is just being creative and persuasive and passionate about the issues. Every campaign is different and each one has to be run differently to seize people’s attention. Someone who can think outside the box and try something new each time is going to be more successful than someone who’s an expert at the standard way of doing things.

Having done it myself, nothing competes with the thrill of running a campaign. Instead of just getting upset about the news, you get to do something about it. You get to rally people to action, explain the story to the media, and really get into a fight with the bad guys. And every once in a while you actually win a victory that improves the lives of millions of people. It’s ridiculously exciting, fun, and rewarding.

If you’re interested, send a resume and a short note persuading me to take some action to me@aaronsw.com with “campaigner” in the subject.

You should follow me on twitter here.

August 4, 2010