Being social is hard work! | Lets Talk Social

So there you have it the local election here in Kelowna, BC, for a new city council member is over. For the culturacive web site it has been as much of a ride as for the nominee candidates themselves. With some very appreciated comments and media coverage.

So congratulations goes out to 19 year old Kevin Craig this time, however I am sure we will hear more from the other candidates who were in the running when the next full Municipal election comes around.

Reading a few facebook comments there now comes the question, can a 19-year-old “kid” handle the job?

Facebook comment: I’m a little shocked at the by election results…but congratulations to Kevin. I thought there were only really 3 serious contenders and any one of them would have done a crack up job. Now we will find out if youth can make a difference.
Facebook Reply 1: Guess that’s what happens when you can rally the campus. Good luck to the guy, but personally I’d prefer to see someone with a little more “life experience” in the position.
Facebook Reply 2: Craig missed by 39 votes last time so he deserves this from hard work.
Facebook Reply 3: I am not surprised that he got in, he’s been working hard, and has been a regular at council meetings for a long time. What he lacks in life experience, he compensates for with perseverance and focus. Will be interesting to see how he does. He rallied his age demographic to support him, but it also speaks to a cynicism towards the status quo in politics, before him, Neis was elected Mayor in West Kelowna on the strength that she was not like the others. People want something different.

So this blog post is a little follow up from my first article City Council Candidates Not So Social . As I stated in that post Kevin Craig was probably one of the most active to use social media as a tool to add to his campaign. And was eager to share these thoughts:

“I’d say that some candidates have certainly made an effort to use social media to support their campaigns, but it has played more of a supporting role than sitting at the centre of a campaign strategy. I’m reasonably happy with my efforts on Facebook and Twitter, but I know that I’ve done a pretty mediocre job at posting media articles mentioning my campaign to Facebook, and directing followers on Twitter to new blog posts on my website. It’s a work in progress for just about all the candidates but I firmly believe social media will continue to play an ever-increasing role in elections and governance.”

Another place that may shed a few openers is the movie ‘The Youngest Candidate’ is a feature length documentary film directed by Jason Pollock. It is produced by David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, in partnership with Oscar winner Lawrence Bender (producer of ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, etc..) and Balance Vector Productions.

It follows the story of 4 teens that ran for public office in America. Funny, inspiring, poignant, and ultimately uplifting, ‘The Youngest Candidate’ is not just a film about running for office. It is the coming of age story of four idealistic young adults who dared to confront the corrupt political systems in America. Through their journey these young candidates learn about fair play, leadership development, racism in politics, the importance of family, and many other lessons that they will carry with them throughout their lives. In the face of great adversity, these four young adults braved all the odds to make it to Election Day to show that regardless of the outcome, it didn’t matter… It’s all about how you play the game.

But I want to highlight and make comment on the Facebook Reply 2 and 3 and also a quote from this article from Kelowna.com. “But Craig is not spending the whole campaign just sitting in front of his computer. He is also one of the more active candidates when it comes to putting up signs and going out door knocking.”

People ask me do I think social media works… often I reply, “no I don’t”; and I get various strange looks, or I reply “yes as long as your work your ass off at it”.

What I am trying to say is that just like anything in life nothing seems to come easy (well not for me anyway, you may have found some kind of magical wand). Also there is usually not just one answer especially when it comes to marketing and business. I am a strong advocate of what social media can do for a business, service or organization of any size. But I am much more of an advocate of telling you that it can only help as long as you have a good strategy, and a comprehensive mix with lots of other effort. Marketing fusion is what I consider the only way to go about making a noticeable difference into a very diverse cultural world.

Just like our new member to city council, you have to knock on a lot of doors and have to try opening a few that you may not have tried before (ie Twitter, Facebook, linkedin) along the way. But if people are looking for something different from you or you business you are simply going to have to give it a lot of hard work…. Sorry for the bad news

Actually I know this is not news to any of us and know it does not take a newbie 19 year old or the wise learning of a 90 year old to figure it out. But you can earn a lot of respect and gain a lot ground in this world whether it’s on a personal level or a business level by working hard, working smart, working in lots of different areas, and sharing your experiences along the way.

So a couple of points that I would love to hear comment on:

1: Do you think hard work alone can take you to where you want to go in life or do you have another idea?

2: Can hard work compensate for such things that we may find people hold against us such as youth or ‘life experience’?

Scott Davis

Phil,
Thank you again for the comments and feedback. I listened to Kevin talk on Jessica Samuels talk show on AM1150 and he also admitted that he was disappointed with the turn out. Contributed it to the amount of voting that Kelowna has seen this year ( not the best reason for Kelowna not to show up), I think lethargic may cover it.

I have read the Tipping Point and every time I read that 10,000 hr stat I feel like if I keep writing, perhaps one day I can spell, but I am sure I have surpassed that figure and no such luck :)

Interesting that you should bring up press coverage, and public opinion. Working in Marketing for many years I understand the power of PR, but sometimes think the effort to get good PR is sometimes harder than knocking on doors. I will stick to adding some more time sharing thoughts here and perhaps I may yet still learn how to type and spell.
Phil Ashman

Reflecting on your comments about the election results, although I haven't seen the stats on the voting demographic, I expect the low voter turnout played a critical role in Kevin's success. I would assume his demographic counted for a much higher percentage of the vote than they might have in a full election. Although saying that, I did find it interesting that many of the questions were aimed at him specifically during the candidates' pitch at the Senior's Centre. He certainly has worked hard for this and was rewarded for his effort this time. I think it's an amazing feat for a 19 year old, but equally incredible is how little I hear about this in general conversation. Sadly I would guess there are still a large number of people in Kelowna who have no idea Kevin got a seat.

Here's my 2c on your questions.

If you take a page out of Malcolm Gladwell's book Tipping Point on their being 10,000 hours of practice at a skill to be successful, then the answer to your first question is yes. However, in order to dedicate that much time to a skill it is likely you have a passion and maybe an innate ability. To quote the rhetoric of financial advisors, it's not a guarantee but a good indicator.

As far as hard work compensating for any preconceived bias, I would hesitate to give a percentage because there are so many variables, but it definitely can sway opinion if the right press and coverage makes it known. Obviously a lot of behind the scenes effort can work wonders with a campaign, but the perceived public opinion needs to hear and see you are a tireless worker for it to sway those mulling their decision. Hence the power of social networking and door to door. However there are always those people who are so set in their ways nothing on earth can change their mind.