Skip to content

Ten Reasons I'm Supporting Ryan Meili – #2 – He Dreams Big

I've mentioned in passing one of my first experiences when I chose to volunteer with Ryan's campaign.  I went to a planning meeting for his volunteers a few months ago.  When it was time to ask questions, I had a pretty important one.

“What's Ryan's big idea?  What's his Medicare?”

Dion Tchorzewski looked at me and said, “Well, he's talked a lot about an idea he's calling SaskPharm…” 

Dion and a couple others at the meeting went on to explain to me that Ryan's idea was to start a Crown Corporation to develop and manufacture genetic drugs that could supply both our needs here in Saskatchewan at cost.  They could also be sold to other jurisdictions at a slight mark-up to generate revenue for the province. 

As the campaign went on, more details about this program were released and the inter-connected beauty of the idea was revealed.  This wasn't just a doctor advocating for a pet issue – this was a massive idea that could have a number of positive impacts – from the use of our own agricultural products in the productions of these medicines to the development of our knowledge economy via research and development at our two universities.  It would increase the number of jobs and level of general economic activity in the province and yes, the good doctor's big idea would also have the enormous benefit of reducing our spiraling healthcare costs, especially timely given our aging population. 

Ryan is obviously idealistic (and often gets criticized for this quality.)  But what his critics don't acknowledge is that his idealism is tempered by a pragmatism and a political skill which both shine through equally, especially with an idea like this.  Pragmatism because SaskPharm's a big idea that's easily doable yet has the potential to change our society in a fundamental way.  Politically skillful because, as the Jurist observes, it's hard for anyone of any political stripe to come out as being against cheap prescription drugs (or increased funding for arts & culture in rural Saskatchewan – another idea Ryan has put out while no other candidate has touched arts & culture as an issue in any way that I've seen.)

Dreaming big is a bad thing if your head's always in the clouds and never back on the ground.  But if you have a fully developed plan and a track record of making “impossible” projects happen, dreaming big isn't really dreaming at all, is it?  (And to see how comittted Ryan is to making this idea happen, you might notice that SaskPharm is the only specific policy idea of Ryan's to get its own section in his “Issues & Ideas” menu whereas everything else in a bit more – no pun intended – generic – from Agriculture to Gender Equity to Seniors.) 

And of course you know which other social activist liked the big idea, right?

Next: #1 – (I'm Keeping This One A Surprise!) 

Posted 04 June 2009 § List § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (0) °

Meili Money Bomb A Major League Success!

The final numbers for the Meili Money Bomb have been released and it appears that Dr. Meili's campaign earned over $12 000.  That's 20% more than the $10 000 they hoped to raise (and I wonder if even the $10 000 figure was a bit of wishful thinking in some ways?  To be honest, I suspect nobody knew *what* to expect since this was the first time a money bomb was attempted in a political campaign in Canada.)  

The fact that it was Canada's first political money bomb (at least as far as I know – I stand to be corrected) made me think of a different way to put Ryan's money bomb into perspective.  He raised $12 000+ in a province that has a population of one million people.  If he were a candidate in the last US election, with their population of 300 million, that would be equivalent to a fundraising effort of $3.6 million dollars! ($12 000 x 300) On top of that, Ryan raised his money with a lot less media attention and viral attention than what was seen in the US (Ron Paul supporters, who did the first money bombs, set-up web sites with ongoing counters, promotional graphics and more.) 

Although his total didn't match the $6 million raised in the two most successful money bombs (one by Hillary Clinton, one by Ron Paul), it's more per capita than was raised by John McCain, Mitt Romney and even Barack Obama in their respective money bombs.   That's some pretty esteemed company (well, maybe not Romney! )

As I said elsewhere, whoever wins on Saturday, this definitely was a good test run for the types of techniques that will need to be used for the Sask NDP to be successful in the future! 

Posted 02 June 2009 § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (2) °

O Noir Restaurant – Montreal

This is where myself and two colleagues from Saskatchewan had supper tonight after the end of the CLA conference…




It's pretty amazing for a number of reasons.  This restaurant is completely in the dark once you leave the reception area where you order your meal and leave all forms of illumination in lockers (cell phones, lighters, LED watches, etc.)  Also:

1) it only employees vision-impaired or blind people as wait staff (a group which has one of the highest unemployment rates in society)

2) the lack of any light whatsoever in the dining area means that you focus more on the food and the conversation than might otherwise happen in a regular restaurant meal

3) there's also an environmentally-friendly message inherent since they literally use no lights or illuminated signs inside the majority of the restaurant (not that this is a green model other restaurants would follow!)

Here a summary of my experience…
– As the video clip says, you form a “train” with your vision impaired
waiter leading the way to your table, giving instructions along the way
(“Please hold this curtain back for the next person”, “We are turning
left now.”) 

– I'm not claustrophobic but when I first entered the dining area, that was the sense I felt.  Once the door shuts behind you and you walk through a black curtain, there is a complete cave-like darkness that we rarely to never experience in our day-to-day lives.

– A quick stop at the restrooms (which were softly lit luckily!) helped me get my bearings after that first immersion of darkness and I wonder if they subtly encourage patrons to make this pit stop intentionally for that reason?  (Or maybe the staff don't want to be walking us back and forth all night?)

– You are guided to your table over aisles that are carpeted while the table areas have regular floors (presumably so staff can help differentiate?) 

– The waiter does a great job of explaining where you are and helping guide you right into your seat. 

– You are brought fresh buns with butter on a plate and suddenly, something you've done your whole life without thinking about it is an incredibly awkward task (I think all three of us ended up eating mostly plain buns then getting huge clumps of butter, having thought we'd done a better job of spreading it than we apparently did.)

– the place settings are very minimal – a “grippy” placemat, two forks, a knife.  Nothing else on the table – no salt and pepper, no other condiments and definitely no flower vase centerpiece.  Oh, a napkin which I promptly tucked into my shirt, bib-style! 

– At first, it feels like your eyes are straining to see some light,
any light, but eventually the feeling wears off and you adjust to the
complete darkness then later yet, you start seeing all kinds of weird
white “blobs” swimming in front of your eyes (at least all three of us
had this happen – and all at roughly the same time) which never really go away though you do get used to them.

– Next up, a round of water and it almost feels like the meal is structured to slowly escalate in how challenging it is (I'd ordered wine before entering the dining room but it was served with my meal, not when we were seated or shortly after.)  The water is served in real, not plastic glasses which is what I thought we might get.

– We “cheated” a bit since one of our party had done an internship at CNIB so she was able to offer some insight that a “civilian” wouldn't have had.  She later observed that this experience probably topped any simulation that they did for her training since that was always such a controlled environment.

– Exploration was a big part of the experience – feeling as if it was the first time you'd ever held a fork in your hands or reaching out to see if there was anything beside you (there was – a table beside us at the same distance as any other restaurant would be – but no one was seated at it.)  I even stood up at one point and stood on my tippy-toes convinced the ceiling was really low.  My colleague observed “Can you normally touch the ceilings in restaurants?” and I had to admit that no, that was not usually the case. 

– Another big part was the constant sharing of what you were experiencing or wondering – “are you using your utensils or your fingers?”, “What color do you think the chairs are?”, “What about the napkins?”, “Did you take your glasses off?” 

– I did sneak in my watch in a pocket – only the hands are illuminated, not the hour markers – so it's not very bright.  But then, I ended up mis-reading it anyhow, thinking it was 9pm when it was really 8pm!  Still, one of our party observed that being without a clock was, in some ways, the most disorienting thing after the lack of any sight at all. 

– On that note, even though they had the room completely dark, you would occasionally (or at least we thought we did) see the briefest flash of a soft light on the ceiling.  We suspected this was maybe from a kitchen door opening somewhere (or less likely, from the bathroom door or maybe even if the door to the entrance or exit happened to still be open when the curtain was pulled back?)

– Your eyes would play tricks on you.  One colleague swore that there was a bar in the dining area when we first entered it and had that last glimpse of light from behind us.  I actually blurted “Who's there?” at one point, thinking our waiter had come back to the table or someone else was wandering around!

– We wondered if they would end the evening by flipping on the lights at the end to “reveal” the room (there are two seatings per night and we were the early one) but our waiter said they like to keep the mystery.  (My theory on that is that the restaurant was originally a Chuck E. Cheese and they didn't bother to re-paint the purple walls with cartoon mice on them!)

– Next up is the salad course (we all had avocado with lime dressing) and my main memory of this is that my strategy was to hold my face about two inches above the plate then try to shovel food in with the fork.  Still ended up using my hands to get some of it. 

– The main course was the scariest part – I'd ordered filet mignon and wondered a) if I'd have to wield a steak knife and b) if I'd make a huge mess.  Surprisingly (?) the steak came pre-cut into strips that I could fit in my mouth in one bite (someone who doesn't have quite as big of mouth as me might not have done this!  But there was no steak knife either so who knows?)

– Oh, this article says the food is sometimes pre-cut to lower the risk of choking.  It also says soup isn't available due to danger of burns but we were all a bit surprised to be offered tea or coffee at the end of our meal (one of each being ordered.)  The restaurant's “Press” page has lots of other articles and reviews including a story from Up! by one of my favourite writers from my time in Calgary, Marcello di Cintio. 

– our drinks were served (with the salad course I think) and so we now had to keep track of two glasses which we'd been instructed to keep at the top right of our placemats.  Again, surprisingly, it didn't take long to get to the point where your motion reaching for the glasses was almost as natural as it would be in a fully lit room – definitely not as slow and cautious as when the first water glass arrived.  But we did have one water glass knocked over anyhow, luckily it was nearly empty and even luckier, it didn't hit the floor.  (We asked after and they said they probably don't lose any more dishes than a regular restaurant does since most customers are being so cautious.)

– there were at least two birthday parties in the room somewhere – so we heard “Happy Birthday To You” once in English and once in French.  (The first time, the entire restaurant joined in.  The second time, there wasn't perhaps as much enthusiasm though we did join in again.)

– I think we were told afterwards that they can seat up to 87 people at maximum capacity.  At one point, I observed that our waiter didn't come around very often and wondered if this was due to some sort of traffic-management the wait staff utilize to not bump into each other or if it was just reflective of that slow-paced service you get in some pricey restaurants?  Turns out it was a more prosaic reason you'll find in any restaurant in the planet – someone hadn't made it into work so our waiter was the only staff member on the floor, managing all the tables by himself!  (Needless to say, he got a much larger tip than the one I'd already planned to give him!)  

– the price was $30 for either an opening course and a main course or a main course and a dessert or $37 for all three courses.  You had a few choices in each of the three categories plus could opt for a “surprise” in any of them.  (I had avacado salad, filet mignon main course and surprise dessert which turned out to be a chocolate mousse cake.  Passing that around so my two dining companions could have a bite was another interesting experience.) 

–  Their web site says another location in opening in Toronto at the end of June so if you get a chance to check it out in either city, I'd highly recommend it.  The librarian I heard about it from (thanks to Terri T. for the tip!) suggested it'd be even better to go with people you don't know very well or had just met (a conference being the perfect opportunity for this) although I enjoyed the comfort of being with people I knew a bit better. 

Posted 02 June 2009 § Canada § Library § Main Page § Video ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Ten Reasons I'm Supporting Ryan Meili – #3 – His Commitment to Saskatchewan

Brought up on the family farm in a small town south of Moose Jaw before going to high school in the mid-sized city of Moose Jaw then moving on to our largest city of Saskatoon for his undergrad and medical training, Ryan has experienced a variety of the ways that people live in this province. 

He has worked to expand that knowledge by choosing to live in Saskatoon's inner-city and also for extended periods in Saskatchewan's north where he felt his medical training would be put to its best use (with the side benefit that he has direct experience in dealing with people living in these communities rather than seeing them as a philosophical abstraction like so many people – those sympathetic and not – do.) 

Unlike many Saskatchewan-born and trained doctors, Ryan didn't choose to leave for the greener pastures of Calgary, Vancouver or the United States.  Instead, he went the opposite direction, choosing to work as a rural relief locum giving doctors in small communities around the province badly needed time off.  I think he had an ulterior motive with this choice – he's sincerely interested in the people of rural Saskatchewan and how he can help them and this was the way to do it. 

The final demonstration of his commitment to Saskatchewan for me is contained in his policies.  Something that's not even on the other candidate's radars – our vital arts & culture sector – becomes a policy that Ryan utilizes to discuss not only this sector in general but to connect with the strengths and challenges of rural Saskatchewan.   His anti-nuclear stance reflects a deep understanding of the costs – financial and otherwise – that this ill-guided path would hold for our province.  His take on the future of agriculture is the most innovative of any of the candidates (and as a slight tangent, Ryan is the candidate best positioned to prevent a bleed of young progressive NDP members to the Green party should Dwain Lingenfelter win the leadership.)

I will discuss his most exciting policy proposal and its implications for our province with my next post.

#2 – Ryan Dreams Big

Posted 01 June 2009 § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (0) °

Ten Reasons I'm Supporting Ryan Meili – #4 – His Openness

I've already written about how impressed I've been with Ryan Meili's use of technology
(today's the last day of the “money bomb” so if you haven't donated
yet, do it!  And if you've donated already, why not donate again?) 
Something that's closely related to technology is the idea of openness
and Ryan has demonstrated this in a number of ways.



The openness doesn't just refer to technology but how Ryan utilizes it.  As a personal example, when I first expressed interest in
volunteering for his campaign, I was given access to his online project
management software, Basecamp (which I know all of my techie friends swear by.) 



I don't think I'm peeling back the curtain too far if I reveal that
this software has sections where authorized users can collaborate on documents,
exchange messages, leave comments and collaborate in various other ways.  Ryan's site has sections
dedicated to Policy & Platform, Membership & Fundraising, Event
Planning, Communications and a general area for everything else called
The Lounge.  There are sections for To Do lists, Calendars and
Milestones and much more. 

Using that platform, the entire Meili team – from lowly volunteers like myself to the candidate himself – are able to work
collaboratively on documents including the development of policy
and platform.  Instead of using a traditional hierarchical top-down
management style which I suspect is what some of the other candidates
are using, Ryan uses a much flatter, equitable structure.  (And guess
what?  This shift in how organizations are run isn't just about Meili vs. Lingenfelter – it's
becoming a reality throughout the world.  Toyota famously has four
levels of reporting between the shop floor and the CEO.  I'm only
speculating but I would guess that Dwain Lingenfelter's campaign has
more intermediaries between volunteers and the candidate in some
cases!  For the Saskatchewan NDP to be successful in the 21st Century, they'll need to make this transition as well.) 



As I said, Ryan's openness isn't just about technology or his
organizational structure – it comes through in numerous other ways.  His openness in how
he speaks (and listens) to people.  His openness to some of the most
disenfranchised people in our society, both within Saskatchewan and
beyond our borders.  His openness in his blog posts and his writings about his experiences as a medical student and while doing international development work.  His openness also extends to his acceptance of what I (and other supportive bloggers) write without giving us either any direction or criticism whether he may agree with what we're writing or not.  The Accidental Jurist speculated in a post I can't find now that Ryan may have included endorsements from “common folk” rather than party elites as a way to pad his list of endorsements but I don't think that's the case – I think that's just Ryan showing his openness in another way with a strong statement that the average person should have just as much of a voice as someone who's an “elite” due to their connections or their position or whatever.  (And in what's truly the sign of a leader as far as I'm concerned, the fact that the front runner has recently begun copying this practice of Ryan's shows just how good Ryan is at convincing others of the merits of his ideas.  I would expect a “Loonies for Link” Money Bomb to be announced any day now!)

#3 – Ryan's Commitment to Saskatchewan

Posted 01 June 2009 § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (4) °

Ryan Meili – The Next Leader of the Saskatchewan NDP!

We're a week away from the Saskatchewan NDP convention and it's hard to believe how far Ryan and his campaign have come in a few short months.  From being one of three people all working hard for the second place spot in the minds of voters, I would say that all indications – money raised, number of donors, range of endorsements, Facebook support, etc. – show that Ryan is now firmly in second place.  He's still the underdog against the better-funded, better-known front-runner but I think Ryan has a real shot at winning – if not on the first ballot, then definitely on one of the subsequent ones. 

I also think the choice is clear – the Saskatchewan NDP can elect a young, dynamic, progressive, inclusive, politically savvy doctor as their leader.  Or they can elect somebody who's not. 

A CBC reporter has observed that a high level source within the Sask Party told her that Premier Brad Wall is more concerned about running against Ryan, “a social democratic doctor leading a social democratic life” than Dwain Lingenfelter who's been in politics for twenty years, the Alberta oil industry for nearly a decade and who is, for lack of a better term, a very traditional politician with all of the baggage and history that comes with that. 

Brad Wall knows how to compete with Link. I don't know if he knows how to compete with Ryan.  Because Ryan takes all of Brad Wall's perceived strengths and trumps them.  Youth.  Big ideas.  Being a nice guy.   Then Ryan goes beyond that and brings so much more to the table as well – commitment to Saskatchewan, commitement to some of society's most disadvantaged people, incredible political skills for someone so young.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, Ryan and everybody around him knows they have to get through next Saturday.    To celebrate the campaign and to help out people who may be looking to learn a bit more about Ryan, I put together one last video using some pictures Ryan had on Facebook from before he entered the race for leader. 

It shows a different side of Ryan – his work in Saskatoon, the far north of the province and Africa.  There are photos of his family and his fiance.  There are photos of his “home 40” near Courval, Saskatchewan and there is even a shot of Ryan as a child with one of his young friends.  Enjoy!  (Oh, today's also the last day to donate to the Ryan Meili “money bomb” so if you haven't already, why not send in $5 or $10 or $34 to be a part of Canadian political history?)

Posted 31 May 2009 § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan § Video ‡ Comments (0) °

Scroll Down for A Pic of Some Dork at the Emerging Technology Interest Group Pre-Conference

My session this morning went okay but for the second time in less than a month, I was disappointed that I didn't “nail it” the way I wanted to.  In library school, I used to regularly do presentations that kicked ass (he says humbly).  One got a comment from a student who won Highest Academic Average-type awards (that I could only dream of) that it was the best presentation she'd ever seen.  Another was worth something like 75% of my final mark and ended up getting me my highest final mark of library school. 

So a combination of having high standards for myself along with perhaps not as much time to prepare as I used to have (weird thing to say when I think of library school versus now in terms of workload!) and maybe a bit of intimidation being on a line-up with some pretty accomplished, well-known speakers means Jason disappoints himself – even if everybody seemed to enjoy it (I guess it would probably be rude to come up to a speaker and say “wow – that sucked!”) 

What else?
– met a bucket load of great librarians who are really cool and fun and WAY into technology (obviously!)
– special mention to Bruce Harpham who earns the nod for saying he reads my blog (and hasn't totally abandoned it with all my politicking lately!)  I sometimes forget that my blog is still serving it's original purpose even though it's a long way behind me now – as a guide to various things new library school students, mostly at Western but elsewhere as well, might like to know. 
– Bruce is one of a number of students and recent grads who were there and are looking for their first “real” jobs post-contracts, post-internships, post-graduation, etc.  That led me to wonder if The Partnership job board dropped the ball, not only by not having RSS feeds for new jobs but also by not having a corresponding registry where new grads and job seekers could post their resumes and what they're looking for so that recruiters might find them as well as them looking.  (I'm reading _What Would Google Do_ by Jeff Jarvis, pimped it at the end of my presentation and really enjoying it – that respository is exactly the type of thing he's talking about)
– actually, I don't know if CLA's had Mr. Jarvis keynote but if not, he'd be an excellent speaker for next year! (hint, hint)
– I still don't get Twitter (though I figured out how to get to all the tweets posted with the tag #etigcamp all by myself.  Of course, I had to click on a link to a similar list for fans of the Jonas Brothers to see the format to use!)
– man, that is a WEIRD situation to be talking and know a crap-load of people are blogging/tweeting/responding to everything you say in real time.  (Now I now what my library school profs felt like.  Except people weren't even engaged via tweeting – they were surfing around or doing other homework or playing games or whatever.)
– at the same time it was very cool to equalize things out a bit – instead of having “speakers” and “audience”, we all joined together to create an interactive conversation.
– I was surprised that many in this tech-focused group seemed to have never heard of a “money bomb” before (or Home Lotteries – is that only a western Canada thing?  Or maybe better to say they'd only seemed to hear of them in the context of hospital fundraising.  In Sask, we have home lotteries for the hospitals, Ronald McDonald House, one for the Riders, maybe a couple others and of course, RPL itself for the last four years.

I need more time to digest some of the things I heard today and look forward to reading/looking through all the tweets/blog posts/live blogging/Flickr photos when I get a chance but those are some quick initial thoughts. 

If anybody from the session is reading this, it was sincerely great to meet you.  As I said to someone afterwards, I don't think the online social world will ever replace the magic of face-to-face meetings.  Feel free to add me on Facebook, Twitter (maybe I'll start using it more!) and add this blog to your feed reader if you want (I promise, I'm off politics in a week and back to libraryland!)

Posted 30 May 2009 § Library § List § Main Page § Photo ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Ten Reasons I’m Supporting Ryan Meili – #5 – He Gets Things Done

Ryan has a long and proven track record of accomplishing big goals at a relatively young age.  This begins before any of the things he’s perhaps better known for with the fact that he not only completed medical school but earned an award for highest standing in his medical clerkship.  I don’t want to get into the rumours and innuendo about education that’s coming out in this campaign.  But I will state that Ryan is the only candidate who can legitimately be referred to as “doctor”.  (Actually, I do have something to say about that – I don’t care what level of education Deb Higgins may or may not have, you don’t become an MLA without having at least some level of intelligence.  As much as I’m proud of my own Master’s degree, I think too often we get into degree snobbery that does no one any good.) 

Anyhow, back to the subject at hand, Ryan has a number of notable accomplishments:

  • co-founder of SWITCH, a student-run interdisciplinary inner-city clinic
  • Chair of College of Medicine Social Accountability Clinic
  • runs the College of Medicine’s Making The Links
    program which gives medical students the opportunity to work at clinics in Northern Saskatchewan, Saskatoon’s inner-city and inthe rural communities of
    Mozambique in Africa.
  • he co-organized a project called Limbs and Light for Latin America,
    raising money to purchase a school bus which he then filled with
    prosthetic limbs for landmine victims and drove to Nicaragua.
  • Some don’t see this as an “accomplishment” but for many (including myself), his getting arrested for his principles during a peaceful protest in Quebec City in 2001 speaks volumes about his character.
  • Ryan speaks three languages and part of a fourth (English, French, Spanish and part of an African dialect I believe)
  • he a musician who plays guitar well enough to get on stage and perform (the same can not be said for myself which is I why I give people who take the time to learn an instrument such credit)

Someone observed that Ryan’s accomplished more in his few years in adulthood than many politicians accomplish in thirty-year careers.   But more than that, even with all he’s accomplished as a physician and activist, Ryan realised that there was more he could do.  And seeking political office was the way to do it.  as he’s said himself, as a physician, he’s limited to treating one patient at a time.  As leader of the NDP (and given past history, likely the eventual Premier), he would be in a position to make the broad, societal changes that could help hundreds and thousands of people at a time.  As just one example, take a look at the Senior’s Policy Ryan released the other day.  With an aging population, this is a critical issue that needs the kind of progressive yet level-headed approach that Dr. Meili is proposing.  And of course his SaskPharm proposal (link includes a video clip of Dr. Meili speaking to Moose Jaw senior citizens) is the single best example of the scale of the change he hopes to implement to effect positive change for each and every citizen of our province and beyond. 

Next: #4 – His Openness

Posted 30 May 2009 § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (3) °

Me in Montreal

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23etigcamp
http://jambina.com/blog/cover-it-live

Posted 29 May 2009 § Internet § Library § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Ten Reasons I’m Supporting Ryan Meili – #6 – His Innovative Use of Technology

It’s ironic that I’m sitting in Calgary airport as I type this, on my way to Montreal for the Canadian Library Association conference where I’ll be presenting on “Emerging Technology Use in Public Libraries” to the CLA’s Emerging Technology Interest Group.  I’ll be part of a line-up that includes one of the best known tech-savvy librarians out there in an event organized by two other stars of the biblioblogosphere – a librarian who taught the social libraries course at UWO and a recent winner of Library Journal’s “Mover and Shaker” Award. 

I’ve written quite a bit about Ryan’s use of technology in this campaign, especially in the post I did when he launched his YouTube campaign videos but here’s the ironic part – when I first got interested in his campaign, it was all of the other stuff that drew me to Ryan. The effective use of cutting-edge technology was a bonus I was hoping for but didn’t necessarily expect based on what I’d seen in provincial politics recently (ie. not much!)   

But I guess if I think about that statement, it shouldn’t have been a surprise at all.  Facebook and YouTube are still new and foreign to many digital immigrants.  For someone of Ryan’s age, as a digital native, this is simply expected that he would not only have the standard fare – a web site, a Facebook group, an online donation form – but would use the full range of online tools that were available to him.  (In an early argument online with a Link supporter, he expressed the old school view that poor showings at Ryan’s early events meant Ryan wasn’t doing well.  I replied that if 10 people came out, every single one of them might go home and e-mail 10 or 100 or 1000 friends at the click of a button!)

Or similarly, Ryan didn’t have the resources or the time to visit every constituency in the province like Dwain Lingenfelter has done (remember, Ryan’s still working one week a month as a rural relief locum through all of this!)  But via his use of the Internet, anyone who wants to can visit with and learn about Ryan – at his web site, via his snazzy e-newsletter (sign-up at bottom right of page), at his YouTube page, via Twitter updates sent to their cell phone, via the variousbloggers and mediaoutlets which are closely covering the leadership campaign and many other online options as well. 

And Ryan’s really using this technology – not just giving the illusion that he is.  Someone changed a quote I put on Ryan’s Wikipedia page about his campaign’s use of technology.  (I’ll humbly submit that Ryan was also the first candidate to regularly have his Wikipedia page updated as the campaign progressed as well.)  This person changed the Wikipedia entry to basically say that two other candidates are using Twitter too, you know!  Except that when I looked a bit deeper, I saw that Link’s Twitter page hadn’t been updated (and still hasn’t been updated) since April 3, nearly two months ago.  Yens Pedersen’s has never had a single Twitter update! Deb Higgins doesn’t have a Twitter account at all. 

The person also claimed that Link had video on his site first.  Except that misses the whole point of Web 2.0 services – you put information where people will find it, not where they have to go looking for it.  By using YouTube, Ryan allowed supporters (and detractors) to respond to his videos, favourite them, comment on them, embed them in other locations, subscribe to them, add an RSS feed to their feed readers and so on.  His campaign videos speak the language of the web – short, snappy, information intensive, dynamic.  By comparison, Link has one video on his YouTube page – a static, badly-lit, one-shot of people speaking at his campaign launch (that’s what the videos on his web site are like too – except better lighting but seriously, sitting in front of a fireplace talking?  I made a parody video of that style of video when I was in grade seven in 1986 – no word of a lie!)  As for his single YouTube clip, it’s from last November which is about five years ago in Internet time.  It only has 166 views.  By comparison, Ryan’s most viewed video (not surprisingly given the events in this leadership campaign) is his one on First Nations & Metis Issues.  It has 619 views.  That’s not even counting the dozens and in some cases, hundreds of hits all of his other videos are getting as well. 

Besides the YouTube campaign videos, the other major technological innovation Ryan has introduced is a “money bomb.”  Those were used reguarly in the 2008 US Election but haven’t been used before in Canadian politics as far as I know.  An anonymous poster (who I suspect must be someone connected with the campaign) wrote that the money bomb has generated $7000 so far and Ryan still has a few days until the end of the month deadline for this fundraiser.  (Give Now! )

That number made me do some calculations.  Previous US money bombs have raised anywhere from $131 000 to $6 million dollars with all kinds of figures in between.  But to keep the math easy, let’s say the average money bomb makes $3 million.  Assuming a US population of 300 million, that’s one penny donated for every person in the country.  So if the same figure was applied in Saskatchewan with a population of 1 million, that would mean Ryan would have to raise $10 000 to have his money bomb be comparable to one of the more successful money bombs in the US.  Given that this election isn’t even part of an election battle with another party and with the paucity of media attention here compared to the US, I think Ryan’s money bomb needs to be regarded as an enormous success, no matter what the final figure is! 

Murray Mandryk of the Regina Leader-Post recently reported on the huge successes that the Sask Party is having with fundraising efforts targeted at the business community.  And $400 000 is a huge sum to raise at one dinner.  But as Obama proved in the US, hundreds and thousands of small donations can level the playing field against those who attend $250/plate fundraising dinners.  Ryan’s “money bomb” shows me that he’s laying the groundwork for that to happen should he become leader.  If it’s a success as a “test run”, imagine what Ryan could do in a couple years, having been elected Leader and with that much time to build his mailing list and improve on what he already has in place.    (In fact, the money bomb’s such a good idea, I’m going to sneak a
mention of it into my presentation on technological innovation at CLA
tomorrow.  Who knows?  Maybe one or two progressive librarians will
decide to donate as well!)

Anyhow, I hope the party’s paying attention to the technological and other innovations that Ryan’s bringing to politics in Saskatchewan.  Come 2011, these are the kinds of new tools they’ll need to have a real shot against the Sask Party.


Next: #6 – He Gets Things Done

Posted 28 May 2009 § Main Page ‡ Comments (3) °