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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce approached Adfero to design a creative means for fighting against legislation that would remove private ballots in union elections. As the world’s largest business federation, the U.S. Chamber is a frequent user of grassroots outreach. This time the goal was to move beyond the basic letter writing campaign, in order to find a method that would energize grassroots activists while effectively reaching out to members of Congress.
Adfero enhanced the U.S. Chamber’s grassroots letter writing campaign by developing an online “virtual march on Washington. Using a “Google Map mash-up”, which is where a set of data from one web site is linked with a Google map to create a new interactive map, Adfero created a site where U.S. Chamber activists calling on Congress to “Save the Secret Ballot” were displayed on two uniquely created maps. The first was a satellite view of the National Mall filled with avatars of engaged activists. The second map showed where these activists resided around the U.S., putting direct pressure on legislators from these districts.
The U.S. Chamber’s virtual march on Washington generated tens of thousands of contacts with Capitol Hill in less than five days. The campaign has also gone viral with activists encouraged to get their friends involved through easy “forward to a friend” links directly from the Goggle mash-up map. Unlike the usual letter writing campaigns that few people ever hear of, this U.S. Chamber effort created quite a buzz on the Hill. Wonkette and a number of other influential blogs picked up the story and many Congressional offices have been checking the maps to find which of their constituents are actively involved. |
The Challenge
