Lobbying firm KSE is reaching on behalf of Internet Alliance, which is heading to Illinois on April 3 to fight the ”Internet predator awareness and online safety act”.
I work w/ Emily Hackett of the Internet Alliance. We represent Yahoo!, Match.com and eHarmony (among others) and are trying to get online dating companies to testify against a bill on April 3 in Illinois.
This email irked me in several ways. Consider this constructive criticism for KSE as well as the Internet Alliance in the hopes that they will improve their public appearance.
Let’s look at KSE’s efforts first. Outreach is good and I’m glad they contacted me, but the way they went about it put me on the defensive.
What bill are they talking about? I am a blogger, where is the link to a web page with more information? If I can’t make it, is there anything else that I can do to get involved? How about a petition?
No greeting by first name, even though they reached me via the contact form on my blog.
There was a phone number, but who’s got the time on either end to talk about the situation? A link to a web page containing relevant information is in order here.
Now on to The Internet Alliance. the website looks like it hasn’t been updated in years. Why is there zero mention of the upcoming action in Illinois?
The news and upcoming events link is empty. You expect me to schlep all the way to the midwest and you can’t take the time to even mention the event on your website? Trust level is in the basement at this point, even though I am silently cheering them on. Give me something to react to, to grab on to, something useful to read which engages me.
The information and resources section has PDF’s from 2004-2006. There is an unidentified link which barely talks about the legislation in question. It should be prominently displayed in the home page.
The Internet Alliance is doing good work, but the lack of transparency is troubling. People don’t get behind causes they can’t easily understand. Creating a passionate call to action takes time and effort and this outreach campaign misses the mark. Just ask any political strategist in our presidential campaign.
In other online dating legislation news, the ”Internet predator awareness and online safety act” has been approved at the Florida state Senate’s Commerce Committee despite the objections of companies such as Yahoo! and Match.com. Via Online Personals Watch.
”This doesn’t have to do with online predators as the bill says,” said Bill Ashworth, a lobbyist with Yahoo! “This is a food fight between True.com and the rest of the Internet dating industry.”
A side-effect of the bill in question is the emerging discussion regarding the effectiveness and reliability of background checks and identity verification services: a discussion which has barely begun.
