MUST read post about networking, with a great essay about jk.com & what it accomplished

[beachmom]

This post is largely about my.barackobama.com, and what future it will have going forward. Within this discussion, Brian Young, JK's internet director, is quoted, and there is a link to a fantastic essay about what John Kerry created with his e-mail list and "JK" community, which was unprecedented.

http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/33065/what_next_for_my_barackobama_com

Be sure to read the essay: "Political Leadership in the Web 2.0 World" by G.R. Boynton, which is a download linked in the post. It starts:

Five months later -- John Kerry was recovered from the rigors of a presidential campaign and was back in the Senate.

Then he did something rather unusual. He constituted the JohnKerry.com community.

The task at hand was the 'nuclear option' of senate Republicans. It was an arcane argument about what majority should be required for the advice and consent of the Senate, but the implications were profound for nominations to the Surpreme Court.

Kerry sent an email to the mailing list he had accumulated while running for president asking them to send their signatures to add to the petition Senator Reid was organizing and to send money to purchase an ad in USA Today.

Then he reported.

I am proud to report that 236,498 of those signatures were submitted by you and other members of the johnkerry.com community. We added our nearly quarter of a million names to those collected by the Democratic National Committee, MoveOn.org and other citizens' groups. . . .

We still have a lot of work to do before the Republican leaders abondon their so-called "nuclear option." But, you helped make a powerful statement yesterday when 2.1 million people saw our ad in USA Today -- and today when you stood on the steps of the Supreme Court with Senator Reid. .

A week later he did it again. This time it was about easing regulations for families of military personnel. And he reported.

These measures passed, in no small part, because I was able to read some of the more than 3,000 personal stories that johnkerry.com community members shared in response to my call for help.

Several Senators were so moved that they asked on the spot to be added as co-sponsors. We still have work to do . . . But, right now, I want want to thank you. We gave voice to our values and won.

And two weeks later he did it again.

Thanks to you, our Kids First health care bill has more than half a million citizen co-sponsors. By signing our Kids First petition, you have given voice to our values. And this week, America will hear your call for health care loud and clear as I travel the country in support of Kids First.

And it has continued. The most recent call was April 11, 2008 -- three years, almost to the day, after the first appeal.

Leadership

I want to tell the story of the johnkerry.com community, but I want to tell it as a story of leadership.

'Leadership' is a word we use in many ways with only family connections between one use and others. So I will briefly recount three uses of leadership that are common, but are not what I would call to your attention.

1. By the power vested in me -- official position is one of our uses of leadership. Here the focus is on what justifies my ability to issue orders to 'you.' It is a conception of leadership that works equally well for presidents of universities, CEOs of corporations, and the president of the U.S. -- I have the office.
2. Charismatic leadership -- in this conception of leadership the focus is on the followers and how they feel about the leader. We have a bit of charismatic leadership in the U.S. right now -- his name is Obama. And like other instances of charismatic leadership not everyone feels the charisma.
3. Representation -- representation is itself multiple, but the one I would call to your attention is the most common appeal of candidates. Elect me and I will go to Washington and act for you. It is the central story of representative democracy that is celebrated from the mouth of my president to the students in our classes. That it is not a very accurate story does not stand in the way of its being a very good story.

Then Leadership that aggregates action -- this is the leadership of the johnkerry.com community. Generally, it is just leadership; leadership without modifiers. It is the relationship between leader and followers in which the leader is 'out in front' and followers are joining together taking his or her lead.

Leadership that aggregates: 'Aggregates' is an often used word in the web 2.0 lexicon. Feed readers aggregate blog postings. Friendfeed aggregates all of my actions on the web and the actions of my friends.

John Kerry did it this way.

John Kerry was a leader who created community by calling individuals to action, by aggregating their actions into effects, and then reporting those effects back to the community. And doing it again -- and again.

More at the linked post.

[sandnsea]

1. And they still miss the blog & forum volunteers

that were the foundation of the JK community to begin with. *sigh*

[karynnj]

2. This is a great article

It is interesting to see this in perspective and it really does describe what Kerry did. He really did create an activist community - and it was not focused on him. You saw it as well in the appeals he made to support people. His appeals always made solid cases for those being pushed based on those common issues. (They really contrasted to say the JRE appeal for Casey that spent nearly half the mailing speaking of JRE, then Santorum, than some vague praise of Casey)

It is nice to see credit being given. It is hard to imagine 2005 without the Kerry emails. (I can see why the first one - that was general and speaking of fighting on and was in late 2004 was not included - as it could have been the last.)

[ProSense]

3. Really good stuff.

Great find, thanks.