Finally a Real SG Campaign Website
I recently mocked the Progress Party for not having a website up and running.
It’s still a stub, but they finally have it up – and it looks good.
Unite’s site has a nice motif and a smart use of embedded video, but the design looks generic – like we could be talking about any organization, or even an individual. And O&B has an older WordPress theme that’s a holdover from their previous campaigns, with no real updates except a “we’re back!” comment.
And again, the Progress site is just a stub to get something online, but if they do fill in the details, it’s a promise design and something that looks like what a campaign page should look like. It’s navigational bar gives easy access to candidate profiles, issue pages, and group affinity pages, and they have placeholders for a lot of UF-specific content.
It’s not perfect, but no website can claim no flaws with itself. So far, though, Progress has the best design of the 3 parties, in part because it very much looks like an attempt to mimick Obama’s use of the web to engage supporters in the campaign – unlike Unite’s electronic billboard (now with video!) and O&B’s blog.
But you and I both know that websites have had very little impact on SG campaigns in the past, so there’s no easy way to know whether a good design matters. But it certainly doesn’t hurt. And if their t-shirts/stickers/platforms look as well put together as their website and logo, well, all that much better.
UPDATE: Progress is still, slowly, filling out the details of their sleak and shiny, well-designed site. They’re filling in details of their platform, and now allow users to signin and create profiles, allowing them to interact with the site.
FURTHER UPDATE: Orange & Blue has revamped their WordPress Theme, which gives them more room to create content that will draw the eye of the reader. But it’s still a blog first and foremost, and they are only slowly adding 2009-relevant content. But it’s a good start to improving on an old stand-by.
I’m no expert and I could be the biggest loser in SG history, but just some commentary…
“2) Is anyone going to call Unite out on their “a positive new direction” b.s.? I mean, really? They pick the current Senate President for Student Body President, and a Senate slate filled with current senators or losing senate candidates from the last election, and are backed by the same leadership honorary whose endorsed candidates win nearly every time and expect us to believe they’ve got a new direction?”
— Yes, Unite is skipping under the radar. I’d like to think this is because there’s nothing new — including them claiming that they have something new to offer.
— Note: I’ve privately been asked about my Fraternity’s involvement with Unite. As an alum I have no stake and no opinion. However, personally, I think they should vote as I thought they should two years ago: as individual members.
— I remember when we brought the Chapter back to campus and how we talked about how we could be different, how we should live our values: Truth, Honesty, and Personal Integrity. It’s quite likely that those values aren’t so different from many organizations on campus, but I think that ambitions, collective and personal, have impeded many from following through.
“First of all, “big indie name” is a gigantic oxymoron. There is no such thing as the “independent bloc” of voters, who will come out in droves only if you appease them by being “indie” enough.
— True. Indies or Greeks, I think the only name on a ticket that any student might get to know, if any, is the Presidential.
“Also, when’s the last time a grad student was on an executive ticket? And I’m not talking about Jared Hernandez in law school – I’m talking about a legitimate Ph.D. candidate. Not only an actual grad student, but one heavily involved in GSC and GAU…. [etc]”
— Could pan out, and for the sake of grad students (me being one now), I hope it does. At the same time, I agree with Ken’s point about Grad turnout and refer to my previous comment (that I think that the only person students might get to know is the P candidate).
— Regardless, I’ve been out having some beers tonight…. so I can’t wait to have my logic and thoughts proven wrong.
<3,
Bruce