Are conference call speeches new or just new to me?
Al Gore gave one, with MoveOn.org, on climate change and his An Inconvenient Truth book/movie combo a few weeks ago. Yesterday morning I listened to one given by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm on energy policy, organized by the Democratic Governors' Association.
It's a pretty good idea. You don't have to get people to actually show up anywhere, you just have to get them to call in. The listener gets to hear the speech as it's given, in the comfort of their home or office or even on the bus with a cell phone. They can even be personalized up a bit - for example, at the end of the speeches by Governors Kulongoski and Granholm they each answered two questions submitted by listeners. Of course mine wasn't among them so who knows if they were really from the audience. It's nice to believe that they were though, so I'm going to.
Governor Granholm talked a lot about E85 (a fuel that is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.) She said that because Michigan is an automotive leader that it has a responsibility to be a leader in alternative automobile fuels. She also mentioned that she was "sitting in her hybrid car right now!"
Governor Kulongoski emphasized energy conservation. He also made a point of saying that the state should be a role model and to that end he has called for the state government to use 100% renewable resources for its electricity generation by 2010. Not to be outdone by Governor Granhom he commented that one of the cars he rides around in is E85.
Neither Governor mentioned "clean coal" as part of their vision for future energy policy. There was lots of talk of ethanol, wind, solar, geothermal, and even tidal resources.
Both Governors stated that they believed their state would emerge as the leader in alternative energy. Governor Granholm joked that she wouldn't mind a friendly competition between Oregon and Michigan to see who would come out on top.
I liked the conference call speech format enough that I would call in again if given the opportunity. It would have been nice if there had been more time - the whole thing lasted only half an hour. Also, instead of using pre-submitted questions it would have felt more genuine if they had let listeners ask questions live instead of using those that were pre-submitted.
If you'd like to listen to the call yourself the DGA has the mp3 available.
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I don't know who truly pioneered the idea, but I remember being a part of the Dean Campaign in 2003 and people would have a party at their home, put the speech on speaker phone and then accept donations to send in to the campaign. It was great because it was one of the ways Dean was able to raise so much money on small donations.
"The biggest lie people like me, tell people like you at election time is, 'If you vote for me, I'll solve all your problems.' The truth is, the power to take back this country is in your hands. You have the power! You have the power!" -Gov. Howard Dean
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