Norther BC Dipper and Le Revue Gauche think that it’s time for the NDP’s communications director, Brad Lavigne to go. My Journey With Aids on the other hand, thinks Mr. Lavigne just needs to be convinced to open up his eyes.
I think either would be an acceptable solution, though given Lavigne’s utter disregard for blogs I doubt he’ll be convinced to change leaving his dismissal as the only realistic option.
The fact that the London North Centre Riding Association website still redirects to Megan Walker’s campaign is clear evidence that Brad is simply not savvy enough to deal with the changes Canadian politics are going through right now. The NDP’s complete disregard for bloggers–something that Mr. Lavigne was only too happy to point out during the last election campaign–has put them even further behind than they already were when it comes to media messaging. If any party desperately needs bloggers, it’s the NDP. They have no one going to bat for them in the mainstream media. The Conservatives have their stable of Ezra Levants and the Liberals have their Warren Kinsellas. Who does the NDP have? Right, nobody. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to getting their message out to the people or defending against scurrilous attacks. Thus the job has fallen soley on the shoulders of a small group of bloggers who aren’t given the time of day from the party.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how Brad Lavigne has failed to develop a sound web strategy for communicating the party’s message. And while I’m willing to give him a chance to open up his eyes, it’s probably best to simply replace him with someone whose eyes are already wide open.
Update: Accidental Deliberations and Scott’s DiaTribes have some thoughts on the subject.
While I share a lot of the same concerns with the NDP’s communications strategies lately, (as I commented over here), the fact that the London North Centre Riding Association’s site still points to Meghan Walker’s campaign has little to do with Lavigne. That’s something the riding association should be maintaining and updating. Blame the local (dis)organization for that one.
As an aside Robert.. I sure wish I could figure out why when I click on your “Trackback this post” page nothing happens for me to be able to do a trackback. It tries to load something and then ends up back at the original post.
If the NDP can’t get a more effective net communications structure in place by the next election, let alone traditional media communication structure in place, then perhaps they should. After all the internet isn’t something you just dump a bunch of stuff on.
If anyone takes a look at the impact that websites like Huffington Post, or Daily Kos, or MyDD, and many, many more have on the Democratic Party and compare that with the impact that bloggin’ dippers, or any other NDP’ers who blogs has on the NDP, one can see that we’re in the stone age. The entire Canadian blogosophere is well behind the American one, in general. But one would think that the NDP, who needs to rely on alternative sources to get their version of the story out there, would’ve realized the importance of sources like blogs in doing this.
In the US anyways, Blogs have been a key source of fundraising, not to mention a key way of creating buzz for candidates, and recruiting volunteers. As well as spreading the message, and jumping on the mistakes of one’s opponents. Just take a look at how effective blogs were in destroying George Allen’s political career after the infamous “Macaca”….”welcome to America” moment. I’m pretty sure the Liberals are begging to understand this, after all they did bring Howard Dean up here, to give them pointers on how to run a campaign (etc) and one would think that using the net properly, would’ve been a key part of his advice.
Don’t all communications have to go through the federal secretary? Or atleast I think that is the way it is provincially.
I’m not defending or blaming anyone. But I think if we feel there is a problem, we should call for a review, before pointing fingers and firing anyone. I’m not for attacking an individiual… he may not be the problem. I’d call for a review of the communications strategy.
I wonder why the party would choose to ignore blogs that attack hard-working, talented staffers like Brad Lavigne without taking the time to get their facts straight. If you want to be taken seriously maybe you should take the NDP seriously and use an effective, less damaging way to voice your discontent. How does it help the NDP to publicly call for someone’s head because a website re-direct for a riding has not been updated yet? I am pretty sure that you could have just emailed someone at party office (not even where Brad works incidentally) to get the whole thing cleared up. Aren’t there some Liberals or Conservatives you could be attacking instead?
without taking the time to get their facts straight.
How can I get my facts straight when staff incompetence ends up feeding me bogus facts. Do you not get it?
I am pretty sure that you could have just emailed someone at party office
Is this the first blog you’ve ever read?