From: Johnny Chatterton <[email protected]> Date: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 8:58 AM Subject: [ECF] Update: Tory MP tells constituents "Don't e-mail me" To: [email protected]
Hi everyone, Thanks for all your advice last week. Here's a quick update. We've decided to let our members decide what happens next. This morning we launched a poll of our members in the constituency asking them what we should do next. We've also published a blog explaining the situation with copies of the e-mails here so people can make their own minds up: http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2010/08/09/dominic-raab-tells-constituents-dont-email-me Since then it's gone viral. See: Twitter: http://twitter.com/#search?q=raab http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/08/tory-mp-tells-constituents-dont-email-me-its-becoming-a-real-nuisance/ http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/8/9/tory-mp-tries-block-voter-e-mail/ http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/360145/tory-mp-wants-official-email-address-kept-private http://www.tomharris.org.uk/2010/08/09/not-at-home-to-pests/ http://melpoluck.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/mp-says-no-to-constituents-emails/ I'll let you know how this progresses. Cheers, Johnny On 5 August 2010 17:18, Harmit Kambo <[email protected]> wrote: > > William, > > > > That’s a really interesting point to throw in indeed. But one person sending > the same identical letter to 200 different people (i.e. each will only > receive the letter once) is very different to one person receiving identical > letters from 200 people. > > > > And while I’m starting to sound like an apologist for the political class (I > really don’t know what’s wrong with me today), just like MPs, every company, > charity etc sends generic mail merged letters to their > constituents/customers/supporters. With technology as it currently stands if > you want to communicate with 100s or 1000s of people, there isn’t a viable > alternative. We’re no different to MPs in this regard. > > > > Furthermore, if you’re saying that you don’t like the fact that with > ‘campaigns I have been involved with have received a number of identical > responses from different MPs of the same party’ well, maybe that’s a another > reason we shouldn’t be playing the same kind of game! > > > > > > > > Harmit Kambo > Communications Manager > Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) > [email protected] > Direct: 020 7700 8128 > Main: 020 7700 8231 > www.smk.org.uk > > Sign up to www.campaigncentral.org.uk, our website that connects, informs and > supports campaigners > > Follow us on Twitter: @SMKcampaigners > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William > Summers > Sent: 05 August 2010 17:02 > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [ECF] Tory MP tells constituents "Don't e-mail me" > > > > I am not sure responding to these letters takes up a lot of resources. Once > the first one is done, it is just a case of changing the name and address for > the others (or doing a mail merge), so the marginal effort is fairly minimal. > > > > I also have another related point to raise about this, after discussing this > thread with a colleague... > > > > It is quite ironic that MPs complain about standard letters being sent to > them when the vast majority of MPs send standard letters back to their > constituents anyway. The general process is that when an MPs start getting > these standard letters, the party spokesperson on the topic signs off a > response and then all MPs in his or her party use this suggested reply to > respond to constituents. For a complicated subject many MPs will not even > understand everything in the letter they are sending back! > > > > As I'm sure is also the case for many here, some campaigns I have been > involved with have received a number of identical responses from different > MPs of the same party. Just another thought to throw in the mix - it works > both ways! > > > > William. > > >>> "Harmit Kambo" < [email protected]> 05/08/2010 16:42 >>> > > What to add to an already very thorough debate. > > > > I know it's easy to forget, and difficult to believe, but MPs are only human. > How would you feel about getting 200 identical messages in your inbox? If > you'd be annoyed by it, then maybe give the guy a bit of a break. My concern > is that we are spamming people when we do this, and I think I would not blame > the Information Commissioner's Office (or whoever the relevant authority is) > to eventually crack down on this approach. > > > > And while I recognize that as an MP, he has certain duties to listen/respond, > well actually so do charities, companies and anyone else whose work impacts > on us. So, my expectations of an MP are not significantly different to my > expectations if I wrote to a charity expressing a concern about one of their > policies/campaigns etc So if as an organization that is publicly funded it > would unnecessarily divert your attention/resources to deal with 'spam' > complaints (rather than a few, intelligently considered, self-penned ones, > which you should rightly be dealing with!), maybe the same thing applies to > the public servant? > > > > All MPs, even those with duck ponds, still only have only a finite amount of > resources. And while I agree with much that has been said about the value of > this kind of bombardment, my concern would be that having to read/respond to > the identikit letter might take up an MP's resources that could be better > spent elsewhere. > > > > Harmit > > > > Harmit Kambo > Communications Manager > Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) > [email protected] > Direct: 020 7700 8128 > Main: 020 7700 8231 > www.smk.org.uk > > Sign up to www.campaigncentral.org.uk, our website that connects, informs and > supports campaigners > > Follow us on Twitter: @SMKcampaigners > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jess Day > Sent: 04 August 2010 16:31 > To: Johnny Chatterton > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ECF] Tory MP tells constituents "Don't e-mail me" > > > > I think Kaye raises an important point. I remember an article on BBC > > Radio 4's Feedback programme (maybe 4 years ago?) suggesting that (UK > > evangelical lobby group) Christian Voice's outcry about Jerry Springer > > the Opera was completely bogus because, shock, horror, someone had > > WRITTEN A TEMPLATE LETTER!!!! (My email, pointing out that just because > > someone had provided them with a template letter didn't mean the people > > who sent it didn't care about the issue, was actually read out on the > > radio, though unfortunately they left out the bit where I pointed out > > that I am not an evangelical Christian and really didn't care less about > > Jerry Springer the Opera. But I digress...) > > > > 'Bombardment' is an issue, though the wonders of modern technology > > ought to assist. (Surely someone in his office can help him set up a few > > filters? Maybe you could offer to help? ;-) ). When Duane and I did the > > eCampaigning Review last year MPs were the most popular targets (84% of > > organisations had run one of these actions. 61% had done a petition). As > > someone tweeted at the launch event, 'Pity our poor MPs'. > > > > On the other hand, I'm pretty worried at the idea that MPs would start > > to discount emails and only pay attention to paper mail... I don't even > > own a printer! > > > > As campaigners I think we need to think carefully about getting our > > campaigns taken seriously. One of my personal bugbears is campaign > > actions which present the user with a highly technical message that they > > would be highly unlikely to compose themselves, and crucially, which > > they won't feel confident editing to make their own. I can't help > > feeling that an MP will just look at it and think, 'You didn't write > > this, you probably didn't even understand it. Why should I take you > > seriously?' > > > > There's a real challenge to get the balance right between ease for the > > user (and therefore hopefully higher numbers) and 'quality' of > > personalised contact, which of course requires more time and confidence > > from the user. (Though not necessarily passion - people can feel quite > > strongly and struggle to express it) At the last organisation I worked > > at, we kept count not only of the number of emails sent to our campaign > > target, but also of the proportion of them which had been personalised > > (about 30% as far as I remember.) > > > > Jess > > > > _________________________________________________________ > > Do you use the internet to campaign? Join in the 2010 eCampaigning Review > > http://tools.fairsay.com/registration/benchmarking/register/is > > > > Eugene Flynn wrote: > > > Hi Johnny, > > > > > > >From the way your email is phrased my instinct is to go public as it > > > appears he/she simply is trying to silence constituents voices. > > > > > > I'm curious, have they indicated that they simply do not want to hear > > > from constituents or that they don't want 38 Degrees bombarding them > > > with emails? > > > > > > However, I've encountered this before where Politicians asked to be > > > removed from a database saying they didn't want to receive emails from > > > a campaign. After discussing it with them it transpired that they were > > > feeling overwhelmed by the volume of form generated email they were > > > receiving & considered it spam. It was the quality of the > > > communications that they had most issue with. > > > > > > After some discussion they understood that it was about opening a > > > dialogue and the benefits & opportunities this presented to them. This > > > was over 5 years ago & I thought Politicians had all accepted and > > > adapted to the ecampaigning model. > > > > > > Going public will certainly cause embarrassment, but I'd ensure that > > > their reasons for asking to be removed are clear first of all. If > > > > > > Slightly aside, there is a strong case for working together with > > > campaign targets to ensure communications are dealt with efficiently & > > > in some cases delivering 1000's of similar emails in a short space of > > > time doesn't help this. Giving advance notice of a campaign isn't > > > necessarily a bad idea if you can deliver what you promise, it > > > demonstrates strength & your power to mobilise. > > > > > > All the best, > > > > > > > > > Eugene > > > > > > On 4 August 2010 14:51, Johnny Chatterton <[email protected] > > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > > > We've got an interesting situation here and I wondered if anyone could > > > give us some advice. > > > > > > A Tory MP contacted us a few weeks ago demanding we stop our members > > > in his constituency e-mailing him about issues they care about. > > > > > > After a while he started to threaten that if we didn't stop his > > > constituents e-mailing him he'd report us to the Information > > > Commissioner. We've been advised that the IC that there is no grounds > > > for a complaint as he's an MP and his details are in the public > > > domain. > > > > > > I wondered if anyone has heard of a similar situation before or had > > > any thoughts about how we should proceed next. > > > > > > I feel strongly that an MP should be available to their MPs however > > > their MPs find it most convenient to contact them whether that be in > > > person, mail or e-mail. > > > > > > One option I'm weighing up is going public as soon as tomorrow and > > > telling his constituents what their MP is up to. > > > > > > Any thoughts? > > > > > > Thanks > > > Johnny > > > -- > > > Johnny Chatterton | Digital Campaigns Manager | 38 Degrees > > > 07901332038 > > > Skype: johnny.chatterton > > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > > > > > > > > 38 Degrees brings you together with other people to take action on the > > > issues that matter to you and bring about real change. Find out more > > > at http://www.38degrees.org.uk/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Do you know anyone who may be interested in joining this list? > > > If so, direct them to: http://fairsay.com/ecflist > > > > > > To post to the eCampaigning Forum Practitioners list, email: > > > [email protected] > > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > > > > > To change your email address, settings or unsubscribe from the > > > list, simply go to: > > > http://fairsay.com/ecflist (see right, middle) > > > (or email [email protected] > > > <mailto:[email protected]> to > > > unsubscribe) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > 54 Degrees New Media Consulting > > > > > > Online Advocacy, Fundraising, Email & Content Management Solutions > > > > > > -- > > > E: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > > W: http://www.54degrees.com > > > T: +353 71 9127434 > > > M: +353 87 6662777 > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Do you know anyone who may be interested in joining this list? > > > If so, direct them to: http://fairsay.com/ecflist > > > > > > To post to the eCampaigning Forum Practitioners list, email: > > > [email protected] > > > > > > To change your email address, settings or unsubscribe from the > > > list, simply go to: > > > http://fairsay.com/ecflist (see right, middle) > > > (or email [email protected] to unsubscribe) > > > > -- > > PK > > ________________________________ > ________________________________ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Do you know anyone who may be interested in joining this list? > > If so, direct them to: http://fairsay.com/ecflist > > > > To post to the eCampaigning Forum Practitioners list, email: > > [email protected] > > > > To change your email address, settings or unsubscribe from the > > list, simply go to: > > http://fairsay.com/ecflist (see right, middle) > > (or email [email protected] to unsubscribe) > > > > ________________________________ > > This e-mail is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual > to whom > it is addressed. 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