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Post date: Jun 18, 2018 11:53:45 PM
The State League of Iowa presented a Forum for eight people who are running for Governor on Saturday, April 21st: six Democrats and two Libertarians. President Mary Rae Bragg served as moderator. Each candidate got time to express his or her views on a variety of issues. People around the state watched the forum via Facebook Live posted on the League of Women Voters of Linn County’s Facebook page. Around 300 people attended the event at Kirkwood College in person. We had originally scheduled two Forums: one in the morning for the Democrats and one in the afternoon for the Republicans. Then, one candidate dropped out, and we learned that Gov. Reynolds was not participating.
A group of 20 gathered at the Community Foundation of NE Iowa here in Cedar Falls; we had plenty of food and drink and enjoyed watching and comparing the candidates—without making a drive to Cedar Rapids. This event was the product of weeks and weeks of planning, and dozens of email messages. My husband, Mike Dargan, recently retired Librarian, and my Geek guru, was our resident "techie."
Here are my takeaways from the event…..
1. Never underestimate the power of collaboration: a group of League Presidents, members, and techies around the state visited by email to work out details. Ten local Leagues, scattered around the state, plus additional groups, scheduled a place to gather and then logged onto Facebook.
2. Never again can we underestimate the power of video: being there at our site, watching the Live Forum, was exciting. We munched our treats, chuckled at the jokes scattered throughout the Forum, and enjoyed watching it TOGETHER. However, a day later, there are now over 2,200 views! (It had 2100 when I first began composing this blog post). People who had conflicts in their schedules were able to watch the video later in the day.
3. Facebook LIVE is a powerful tool for nonprofits, civic groups like League, and for candidates with not a lot of budget or name recognition at the beginning of their campaigns. It is FREE: all you need is a smartphone and a little planning. It helps to create a Facebook event and let people know that you will use Facebook Live to record the event.
4. Facebook LIVE fits our need for asynchronous communication! Yup: I have a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology, and my nickname is Geeky Grandma, so I get to use words like asynchronous: it means NOT at the same time, as opposed to synchronous—at the same time. When you use your smartphone to call or do FaceTime with a friend, it is synchronous. Facebook Live lets you pick up trash on the Nature Trails during the event and then head home for a snack and look at the Forum: that's asynchronous, as is email or surfing Facebook, or reading my blog post.
5. Even sophisticated people don’t always “get” Facebook Live. Several people called or emailed to apologize for missing the event but wanted to know if the Forum would be recorded, even though all of the advertising said it would be posted as a Facebook Live video. I said, “Yes – don’t worry about it. You can go to the video on Facebook and watch it when it is convenient.”
BONUS – the event was scheduled to go from 10 to 12; however, the final words from candidates spilled over after the noon hour. NO PROBLEM. It’s NOT Television: no one is getting bumped if we go a few minutes after the hour.
The Facebook Live video: watch for yourself
(Don't know what Tiny URL is all about? That's another blog post).
Last updated April 22, 2018
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