Chris Dodd Internal Campaign Email "Snafu"?

*UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF POST*

I don't know how I got on the Chris Dodd email list, but here I am, getting weekly updates from his campaign. Most of those updates are (understandably) requests for donations from his supporters -- sometimes blandly and obviously so.

However, none of them were accidentally transmitted internal emails from Campaign Manager Sheryl Cohen to fellow strategist Tim Tagaris.

Until today.

(Evidently, Ms. Cohen figured out how to email the WHOLE mailing list after all -- see below.)

Transcript of Email from Chris Dodd Campaign to ENTIRE Mailing List:

From: Sheryl Cohen [EMAIL ADDRESS@chrisdodd.com]
Reply-to: EMAIL ADDRESS@chrisdodd.com,
To: JUSTIN'S EMAIL ADDRESS,
Date: Nov 30, 2007 12:36 PM

Tim,

I made a few small changes to your email draft -- you'll see them below.

Would have sent to the entire list myself, but I could only figure out how to send this test.

I know you're concerned about sending another fundraising email, but we're only $40,000 short of hitting our November goal, and that money will help keep us on the air and talking about ending the war in Iraq and the Constitution. And honestly, our supporters online are so terrific and have come through for us every time.

Plus, with votes on the war and retroactive immunity coming up, our leadership will help keep the pressure on other presidentials to keep their word.

Ask people to give at this link so we can track the goal publicly.

http://chrisdodd.com/goal

Thanks,

Sheryl Cohen
Campaign Manager, Chris Dodd for President

On Nov 30, 2007, at 10:53 AM, Tim Tagaris wrote:

>
Chris Dodd for President


Dear Friend,

Think about it for a second. Do you truly know what you'll get from the other candidates if they win the nomination?

If you really want the answer to that question, don't ask a person where they are going -- ask them where they have been.

Why do some candidates spend as much time apologizing for a career full of bad votes as they do talking about how they'll remedy the fallout if elected?

Why can't we get the simplest of answers to the straight questions from others?

And why do some just flat out skip the tough votes?

From authoring the Family and Medical Leave Act to his often single-handed efforts to restore the Constitution, you know what to expect from a Dodd Administration.

We set a goal about a week and a half ago to raise $100,000 online and we'll need your help right now if we're going to meet it.

Please get us there by contributing $25 right now.

http://chrisdodd.com/goal

Thirty-four days.

If you feel strongly about our fight to end the war in Iraq, prevent war with Iran, and restore the Constitution, we need your support right now.

Our field operation is humming along and our current "Restoring the Constitution and Rule of Law tour" is drawing larger crowds than we've seen at any point in the campaign.

But we need your help to keep it going.

Thirty-four days.

Your contribution right now will ensure we have the resources necessary to continue the fight through January 3rd.

http://chrisdodd.com/goal

You've come through for us every time.

Not much time left.

Let's get it done.

Tim Tagaris
Chris Dodd for President

********

The Lesson Here?

Actually, two very important lessons can be learned from this conundrum:

1) If you're going to accidentally email thousands of people regarding internal political communications for a presidential candidate, make sure you don't say ANYTHING that could be used against you if it fell into the wrong hands. (Good job, Ms. Cohen!)

2) Please, please teach everyone on your staff how to use the email system.

Please.

*UPDATE* Immediately after posting this blog, it occurred to me that the Dodd campaign may have purposely "leaked" this email, knowing that the blogosphere would swarm to it.

At least, if they DIDN'T do it on purpose, that's how I'd spin it, anyway. (Notice how the email is actually entirely positive, and meant to draw attention to a campaign that's obviously not among the "major names" in the news these days?)

*UPDATE* All of which brings up a valid question: What's worse: gaming the social media system to make $40,000, or being legitimately incompetent?

Caught in the Endless Email Loop

I've realized it's entirely possible -- even likely -- to spend my whole workday in the following endless loop:

1. Open Firefox, where Tweetbar and Gmail automatically load.
2. Catch up on Twitter.
3. Answer pertinent Gmail.
4. Check STBD and PodCamp mail (using, easily enough, MAC Mail).
5. Spend the next 15 minutes answering pertinent emails.
6. Take a break to read SI.com and Newsvine.
7. By the time that's done, there are invariably new emails in all 33 of my inboxes...

So you see the loop, eh?

Half the problem is the overinundation of information. The other half is entirely in my own hands: how do I deal with that overinundation?

The solutions are obvious:

- Allocate a set time to check emails (say, 9 AM, 12 PM and 4 PM)
- Allow myself 10 minutes per hour, tops, to check all 3 email lists
- Disrupt the loop by only taking one Newsvine break per day.

Etc.

Funny thing about life: no matter what you've been trained to do in school, you've almost definitely NOT been trained to productively manage your own time. You want to fix the education system in this country? Start there.

(And follow by improving school lunches...)

My Mac Mail Program Is Getting Senile

I woke up to 82 messages in my inbox today. Of them, 80 were spam. That's not a very good ratio.

Is there a way to make my Mac Mail program better at sniffing out spam? It seems like it's actually getting stupider over the years. You'd think by now it would realize that anything involving penises, cash transfers and Hoodia belongs in my dreams, not my inbox.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all applicable readers!

Quick Flight Notes

I'm in New Jersey, staying with John C. Havens of About.com's guide to podcasting. He asked me if I wanted to work with him on a freelance project that had come his way and I agreed, so here I am.

This means I rushed around town all day running errands because I knew I'd be out of communication for most of tomorrow. So I get to the airport and I have 80 unchecked messages in my inbox. I answer those, and now I logon to my account and find I have 30 more responses in the 4 hours I've been away from my machine.

Egad. If this is busy for me, I can only imagine what the Jeff Pulvers and Andrew Barons of the world are greeted by when they click their "Mail" icon...

******

Meanwhile, I saw a fantastic example of customer service in action today. I went to Quizno's in the Pittsburgh International Airport food concourse and ordered a vegetarian sub (which is not on their menu, but they have the ingredients to make it; interestingly, it IS on their register keypad...).

While waiting for the sandwich to come through the mini-oven, the girl who adds the post-oven toppings dropped my order sheet on the floor. She stared down at it, perplexed. She was wearing plastic gloves, and she knew that picking up the paper would mean she'd need to throw the gloves away and get a new pair.

So she TURNED THE ORDER SLIP OVER WITH HER FEET, which was not an easy task -- many failed attempts preceded her success -- and read it (accurately) off the floor.

Now THAT'S finding a creative solution to a simple yet vexing problem...

PS The sub was excellent.