With the 111th Congress set to convene on Tuesday, and in the spirit of the holidays, here’s a free creative communications idea for House Republicans:
House GOP leaders should encourage every new incoming House GOP Member to buy a little Flip video camera to document his or her first day in office next week.
They could announce to the media today that they’re going to give their constituents back home an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their first day as their new Representative. Then they just shoot video throughout the day — a first-person look, as opposed to third-person footage always showing the Member — showing the experience through his or her eyes.
Maybe open with a brief message shot that morning in their hotel room/apt. etc., introducing themselves and setting the stage. Then they film short clips of their commutes, their first steps into their new office, showing well-wishers coming through the door, filming the walk over to the Capitol for their swearing-in, their first steps onto the House Floor, etc.
Maybe they could conduct a short interview with a member of the GOP leadership in the Speakers Lobby or the Rayburn Room about what they hope to accomplish this year. Finish with a short clip of the new Member in his office toward the end of the day, tie loosened or removed altogether, saying how much he appreciated being able to share the first day with the folks back home, how he wants to hear ideas from the viewers about how to fix the nation’s problems, etc.
Mix in a little footage of the mock swearing-in ceremony, quickly edit the footage and post on YouTube and blast out to constituents and local media by the end of the day, preferably in time for the local 6:00 news, but definitely in time for the late local news.
These quick, easy videos would provide the same kind of voyeuristic behind-the-scenes glimpse that the Obama Transition Team has been providing over at change.gov, but they’d be localized for each individual Member. They’d also represent a dramatic change in the way Republicans have been communicating with their constituents. The big question is whether they’ll be willing to pull the trigger on something like this, or whether they still haven’t learned any communications lessons from the last campaign.
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