WALKER'S WEBGATE WIDENS
STORY SPREADS VIRALLY AND TO TELEVISION
DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE CREATIVE CLASS
A WEAK RESPONSE BY WALKER
By Michael HorneDISAPPOINTMENT IN THE CREATIVE CLASS
A WEAK RESPONSE BY WALKER
It looks like Milwaukeeworld hit a nerve when we reported here that Scott Walker's campaign website is produced by an Ohio firm. The story took off immediately, and gained large currency among the members of the creative class and the new economy folks. The story also travelled rapidly along Twitter and Facebook, which confirmed for this writer that people took the issue of locally produced content seriously in a way Walker and his advisers may not have considered when they hired an Ohio firm to build its website.
WISN-TV (Ch.12) reporter Brendan Conway covered the story in a newscast last evening, Thursday, May 28th, 2009.
He interviewed Ryan Janecek of Layer One Media, which this writer had mentioned in the Tuesday Milwaukeeworld post as a local company that could probably put together a campaign website. [Layer One is doing the site for the North End, which will have its grand open house Friday, June 5th, 2009 from 4-6 p.m.--Ed.]
Janecek sounded disappointed that the County Executive did not search for a Milwaukee firm. Walker, interviewed on the Channel 12 show, said Milwaukee firms cost too much and do not have the expertise he felt was necessary.
This may approach the truth, but makes us seem stupid. Bad response.
James Wigderson correctly noted that Governor Doyle also used an out of state website for his last campaign, and the Channel 12 report said the governor's team may yet do so again.
And, the fact of the matter is, many political campaigns rely on specialized firms for certain tasks, and they don't necessarily exist in every city -- even one as large as Milwaukee.
These firms, whether in polling, advertising, direct mail, telemarketing or website operation almost exclusively have clients from one party or another -- rarely both.
Some of these firms deal solely in political work, making even more likely that a campaign might be obliged to hire one from out of state.
Midnet Media the firm Walker hired, also does the website for the Ohio Republican party, as a reader pointed out to Milwaukeeworld. However, it does not claim any political candidates among its clients, which is somewhat disturbing, if not disingenuous. (It also produces a website for an Ohio community, which raises questions of possible political connections.)
Walker could have said he couldn't find a Milwaukee Republican website producer. That would be a rather solid excuse. In any event, there are bound to be fewer of them by now.
I think the lesson here is that Milwaukee's creative class, which by necessity is closely aligned with the entrepreneural spirit Walker so cherishes, feels it is being ignored and not even given an opportunity to show its chops.
A lot of these folks belong to numerous business organizations, and they've heard Walker's speeches on business development and the wonders of the Milwaukee workforce. Those words ring hollow now. More than the Milwaukee River separates the Courthouse from the Third Ward, it's clear.
posted by Michael Horne @ 2:39 PM
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6 Comments:
Thanks for bringing the story to my attention - I read your piece on Tuesday. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm outraged at the Walker reponse. At BEST, it was an insult to suggest the there was nobody in Milwaukee who COULD do the work (and not overcharge). At worst, it could give potential clients the impression that those things are actually true.
Doyle not only used a DC based firm in '06, but still has them on the payroll. Doyle for WI reported a $1,200 payment to Wired for Change on 8/4/08 for website development.
For the record, WISN also uses an out of state web firm: http://www.ibsys.com/
@SMT, the story isn't the fact that Walker or Doyle used an out of state firm, it's that Walker slammed the local web industry in the media. At a time where everyone is struggling, our elected officials should, at the very least, "do no harm".
This type of thinking is not limited to websites. For years, some major corporate players in the Milwaukee area have considered the multimedia and video creative class to be capable of only "certain types" of work. The big stuff- the visible stuff-- goes to outsiders from Connecticut or New York, et.al. It's one thing to go to Chicago as a source-- our better creatives get work from there, just as Chicago companies try and compete here. But to not have locals at least bid on big projects is a shame. I have a feeling many of the companies and politicians using out-of-state creatives would be shocked by what today's local creative class can accomplish, both creatively and technically.
Is there even a political website firm in Milwaukee? In Wisconsin? I have never heard of one.
Good point, John. It's a specialized field & highly partisan. Even those anonymous voice-over folks in political ads work for either Republicans or Democrats -- not both. But I think there are folks here with the moxie and the connections to pull it off. Especially Democrats. They've got the Macs.
Horne
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