*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** From: http://www.business2.com/content/channels/ebusiness/2000/09/20/19110 For Whom the Election Day Tolls What happens to voter education Websites when the 2000 election buzz ends? Several hope to stay alive by selling slick polling technologies to corporate America. For others, the word will be "consolidate." September 20, 2000 Elizabeth Hurt The 2000 elections have spawned a slew of Websites hoping to invigorate the American public with political news, opinion outlets, voter registration, and campaign contribution services. But after November 7, can sites like Voter.com, Vote.com, and Speakout.com survive until the next presidential election in 2004? Content alone won't keep enough cash on the balance sheet. So some players are now trying to sell their research and polling tricks to business clients, for jobs like market research. For example, at the Republican convention, Speakout.com introduced its patent-pending "Ntercept Dial Poll," which lets users register opinions on a speech or event as it happens. As George W. Bush accepted the presidential nomination, viewers mouse-clicked on an on- screen dial to show approval or disapproval as he talked about taxes and education. "This can be adapted as an entertainment tool or as an opinion research survey tool," says Joshua King, Speakout's vice president of national affairs. "It could be used by anybody--it could be a TV network testing a new pilot to a certain demographic. It could be an advertising agency figuring out whether an ad works or doesn't. It could be a sports network based in Europe that wants to create a way for people watching a boxing match at home to be able to score the match second-by-second." - end clip - ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
