Our interns were so excited about the post I wrote about them yesterday, they decided to send me a blog piece of their own. Take a look at what Laura and Ariel had to say about their experience this summer (and get excited for their video to be released next week).
In Laura and Ariel’s words…
One of the things that we learned about campaigns and grassroots organizing in general this summer is the importance of pursuing every outlet and opportunity to the fullest. Social media and volunteer outreach are essential in getting the word out, especially on a low budget campaign. Email, Facebook, Twitter, my.jerrybrown.org, and the campaign website are organizing tools that can reach an almost unlimited audience.
We rely on you – our Internet savvy followers – to help spread our message to a broader audience. We are entering a new age of campaigning, and here at the Jerry Brown headquarters, we are rewriting the unspoken guidelines. We want the voters to come to us with their concerns, ideas, and proven interest in the future of California. With that said, please don’t think that we have forgotten about you.
One of things we work on as interns is Facebook outreach. With limited funds to spend on Facebook advertisements, we learned what it’s like to spread the word to many without using expensive resources. So we joined Facebook groups: college and county Democrat groups, environment groups, politically-minded groups, and even the “Ask Jerry Brown to support ferret legalization in California” group to encourage them to become a “fan” of Jerry on Facebook. We strategically invite our friends to check out articles on Jerry or to watch videos about the campaign in order to attract attention back to his profile without exhausting our efforts.
If you are reading this right now, we can assume that you found this blog from one of the social media outlets we mentioned above. And this is where we ask you to do like us, click the “Share” button, re-tweet, email blast, and “Suggest to Friends” so that they, too, can get the real, un-manipulated truth, straight out of our headquarters in Oakland.
The office in and of itself is filled with college interns, recent graduates, and professionals taking time off just to work on the campaign; the majority of us are full-time volunteers. We try our best to leave no stone unturned and to make sure that your support is appreciated and feedback heard.
One thing we observed is the loose interpretation of the roles of each person in the office. With the exception of Campaign Manager Steve, Campaign Spokesman Sterling, and, well, Jerry, everyone is self-made and self-motivated. The two or three words that each person uses to describe their role is an understatement of all the work that they do here. Volunteer Coordinator is a simple title for reaching out to every county chairman, devoted patron, working professional, and student to help to spread the word. The same goes for our title, Intern.
That’s why we scripted, directed, edited, and starred in a video tour of the office. We wanted to show the personality and passion that bounces off the walls at our headquarters in Oakland – lime green and electric blue walls decorated with gear from past campaigns, family photos, art, books from Jerry’s personal collection, and, of course, us: the interns who occupy the long wooden picnic table that you see when you first walk in.
Believe us, with the exception of a few coffee or Diet Coke breaks, everyone is working nonstop to get Jerry back to Sacramento and to reach out to you, the voters of California.
Interns rallying for Jerry at the San Francisco Pride Parade; Ariel and Laura are 4th and 5th from left
on the california trail 