Minneapolis School Board Update #1

I just received an email last night from the Richard Mammen Campaign (email below). I read this email on my phone, and my first impression was very good. He seems to have a pretty good resume that spans quite a time frame. Looking at an email on my phone usually means I only look at it quickly and don't give much thought to content, so when I looked at it on my computer I started having some reservations about the organization of the campaign.

First of all, they put every email in the 'to' line which means that all those emails are open for anybody to see. Obviously by having a blog I'm not worried too much about my email getting out but I know others don't enjoy this. Note to the Mammen Campaign: please start putting email addresses in the BCC line or invest in something like Constant Contact.

Second, is the timing of the meet and greet. I learned early on in my campaign days that you should avoid weekends and holidays for meet and greets. A lot of time and effort goes in to these things, and the worst possible outcome is that nobody shows up. Well, the Mammen Campaign managed to break both of those rules on their first try. This event is scheduled for April 3rd at 6pm. While my goal is to give everybody a shot by listening to what they have to say, I will be unable to attend this event because of the timing. Next time I would suggest a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday after the Easter and Passover Holidays.

I understand that sometimes weekends are the only time to squeeze in things like this, and that when running for the first time mistakes are often made. I just hope they learn from this, and that they plan a little better with their next email/event.

Don't worry, I won't be basing my support off of this one incident but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Copy of Email (personal Email's and phone number redacted):

Dear Friend,

I am proud to announce the the campaign kick off for Richard Mammen candidate for School Board and Team Mammen. The kick off will be held at Intermedia Art on Saturday April 3rd at 6pm.
This will be an opportunity to meet Richard and the members of our campaign team, and a way to meet other supporters and help our campaign by getting involved.


Richard Mammen is a candidate for one of the 2 at-large seats on the Minneapolis School Board this coming fall. He is a life long resident of Minneapolis and a democrat. A graduate of Washburn High and the University of MN. He is also the parent of 2 South High graduates and a current 8th grader at Seward Montessori. For the past 40 years he has been professionally involved in youth development work as an outreach worker with the YMCA, as the creator and director of a contract alternative school serving juvenile offenders, as the director of the MPLS Youth Coordinating Board under Mayor Don Fraser for 7 years, and as the developer and director of numerous programs and organizations that serve children and youth in our city.

If you cannot attend but are interested in donating checks can be made out to "Richard Mammen For Schools" and sent to PO Box 17132, Minneapolis MN 55417

Thank you!!

--
Peace-Love-Respect

David Gilbert-Pederson
2137 Minneapolis Ave
Minneapolis MN 55406