[Nfbmt] Software and social media to grab Congress's attention

Sun Oct 18 22:05:48 UTC 2015

Heard this the other day on NPR and thought it was worth passing on.  Joy 

<http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/software-and-social-media-grab-co
ngress-attention> Software and social media to grab Congress' attention 

Kimberly Adams/Marketplace

James Pollack, legislative correspondent for Congresswoman Jackie Speier,
uses a software program to sort through the emails from constituents, and
says the office gets back to each contact in about two weeks. 

by  <http://www.marketplace.org/people/kimberly-adams> Kimberly Adams 

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - 05:00

<http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/software-and-social-media-grab-co
ngress-attention#story-content> Story

Lobbyists and advocates for various issues often encourage citizens to write
their member of Congress to nudge them toward a particular policy outcome.
But the old-fashioned letter, of course, is no longer the way most people
communicate.

The House of Representatives receives about half as much mail as it did five
years ago, according to the office of the Chief Administrative Officer,
which handles digital and paper communication for the House.

Representatives still do receive some mail. James Pollack, the legislative
correspondent for the office of  <http://speier.house.gov/> Congresswoman
Jackie Speier of California, said letters tend to come from a few regular
writers with issues they care strongly about, or groups writing at the same
time. 

"It is really cool when you get physical mail," Pollack said. "Especially,
they tend to be the cuter mail. So we'll get ... a bunch of Girl Scouts
writing in about bees."

Pollack said the most important aspect of his job is constituent
communication, and the vast majority of people email.

James Pollack

James Pollack

Kimberly Adams/Marketplace

"On a really busy week," he said, recalling the contentious net neutrality
debate, "[we'd get] anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 emails ... 80-150 calls.
The phones - you can't pick them up fast enough."

But on social media, it doesn't take nearly as many people to have a similar
impact. That's according to the
<http://www.congressfoundation.org/index.php> Congressional Management
Foundation. The group did a survey that suggested it would take just 30
constituents on social media to draw the attention of congressional
staffers. Bradford Fitch is president of the group and co-author of the
report, and said that number is pretty significant. 

"Because in this town," he said, "if you think about the kind of money
that's spent on trying to generate thousands of emails or letters or
postcards or protests or things like that - it's huge."

Several companies have built software to filter and sort that deluge of
emails, faxes and calls. Defense contractor
<http://www.lockheedmartin.com/> Lockheed Martin - which has provided
financial support to the Congressional Management Foundation - offers one
such platform,  <https://www.intranetquorum.com/> Intranet Quorum.  

"It has about two-thirds of the members of Congress using it currently,"
said Scott Gray, the vice president for IT and security solutions for the
company. "It integrates ... all the emails, the phone calls, the office
visits, even postal mail, and now social media feeds."

In Speier's office, Pollack uses the Intranet Quorum software to sort form
letters from unique communication. He said all constituent communication
gets counted, but there are certain things that will definitely make it to
the Congresswoman's desk.

"I think one really well-worded, compelling letter raises a flag," he said,
especially if it's about a piece of legislation the office might not yet be
following.

Pollack said it doesn't really matter if the letter is paper or digital. But
with dozens of empty filing cabinets once used for sorting mail now sitting
empty, an old-fashioned letter probably will have less competition for his
attention.

http://origin-www.marketplace.org/sites/default/files/factsheet2.jpg

(Kimberly Adams/Marketplace)

Featured in:
<http://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/marketplace-mor
ning-report-wednesday-october-14-2015> Marketplace Morning Report for
Wednesday, October 14, 2015

About the author

Kimberly is a DC-based reporter for Marketplace. She previously worked as a
freelance journalist based in Cairo, Egypt, covering the political, social,
and economic upheaval in the country following the Arab Spring. Her work has
been recognized with awards from the National Association of Black
Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council, and the Association for
Women in Communication.

 <http://www.marketplace.org/people/kimberly-adams> Read More >

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