The web is here to stay in political and advocacy campaigns and voters are forever changed in how they think about candidates and causes. About Face: The Dramatic Impact of the Internet on Politics and Advocacy reveals how authenticity, diversity, and on-demand campaign information are key elements in this new landscape. With the advent of social networks, it is increasingly about the faces of the voters and supporters and how they interact with the campaign and each other. Campaigns as never before are more about the authentic face of the candidate or advocate with digital capture devices everywhere. And finally political consultants have made an about face on the need to incorporate the web in their campaign strategies. About Face traces the most important trends in the political campaign environment including: the message and the messenger-reaching voters in a fragmented media environment, building community--the power of social media and the rise of the unofficial campaign, and advertising and search-- targeting constituents, contributors, and voters. Twenty industry experts across the political spectrum focus on three questions: 1. What do voters expect? 2. What does a modern political or advocacy campaign look like? 3. What are the best ways to spend money on the Internet to multiply and enhance the value of dollars spent on traditional media such as television, cable, and radio ads, direct mail, phone banks, and yard signs? This book includes evidence from 2008 of what we now know was a significant turning point in campaign history. The stories of the Obama and McCain campaigns shine a light on how negative ads, humor, web video and grassroots efforts created an environment that encouraged engagement with the voters in new ways that often challenged the official campaign managers. E-Voter Institute research on voter expectations and attitudes of political consultants reveals that a significant gap between what campaign dollars are spent on and what actions voters expect candidates to take. How much longer will traditional media be the mainstay of campaigns? Will successful candidates be the ones who best figure out how to tap into the power of the web? How does the Internet change the rules for state and local political campaigns? Karen A.B. Jagoda, President of E-Voter Institute, edited this book with many of the chapters written by her as well. Research results from E-Voter Institute surveys taken with the support of HCD Research have been interspersed to provide additional background on emerging trends. Forward by Cyrus Krohn. Contributors include Robert K. Arena, Jr., Porter Bayne, T.A. Berg, Brent Blackaby, Christopher Borick, Corina Constantin, Shaun Dakin, Mark Davis, Colin Delany, Ben Katz, Glenn Kessler, Jason R. Krebs, Kevin Lee, Kathie Legg, Kevin O'Neill, Larry Ward, Ben Weisberg, and Tony Winders. The previous E-Voter Institute book is Crossing the River: The Coming of Age of the Internet in Politics and Advocacy, Karen A.B. Jagoda (Xlibris, 2005). Founded in 1999, E-Voter Institute is a non-partisan trade association and publisher whose mission is to help accelerate the use of the Internet in politics and advocacy. http://evoterinstitute.com