bryan February 18th, 2011
Joe Newman became POGO’s Director of Communications in January 2011. The Watercooler recently interviewed Joe about social media, food trucks, and his master plan for the year ahead.
Watercooler: Why POGO?
JN: When I was considering whether to make the move to POGO from my previous job, I wanted to make sure that POGO would be a) a place where I could continue to grow professionally b) a good fit in terms of culture and working atmosphere and c) an organization whose mission I could fully embrace and believe in. POGO passed all bars with flying colors. There is a “David vs. Goliath” esprit de corps here that is refreshing and energizing. I’m very happy to be here.
Watercooler: How do you see social media connecting to nonprofit work/POGO?
JN: I think there has been a dramatic shift in the last two years of how people communicate with each other, whether it’s texting, twittering or through Facebook. Today, we can harness social media to get our message out in ways that as recently as five years ago would have been only possible through mainstream media coverage or paid advertising. Our activists and supporters can now interact with us directly, and vice versa. That’s exciting because it gives us the chance to inform and mobilize large numbers of people around our issues, while instantaneously being able to study our web metrics to see what resonates and what doesn’t. By the way, have you connected with us on Facebook? You can do that here.
Watercooler: What’s your favorite food truck?
JN: I’m partial to the CapMac truck.
Watercooler: Tell us about your t-shirt business!
JN: Ha. You’ve got good sources. My friend and I used to brainstorm about things that might look good on a t-shirt and, eventually, we hired an artist to create some designs for us. Occasionally, I’ll pass someone on the street wearing one of our designs—I always get a kick out of that. It was a tough business though and we decided there were easier ways to make a buck.
Watercooler: How did your interest in the media begin?
JN: I’ve been a storyteller as long as I can remember. I think it goes back to being a voracious reader. In high school, I joined the newspaper staff and from there, I was hooked. I majored in journalism at the University of Florida and have either worked in newspapers or nonprofit media strategy my whole career.
Watercooler: In your opinion, how can social media aid in the transparency of the government?
JN: I think President Obama, our Members of Congress, and federal agencies have, to varying degrees, embraced social media as a tool to inform and engage citizens. Anything that improves the flow of information between the public and their elected leaders is a good thing. Corporate lobbyists still have a major advantage over your average citizen when it comes to accessing the halls of power but social media is helping to even the playing field, if just a bit.
Watercooler: Before POGO, you worked for the Orlando Sentinel. What was your favorite story you got to cover?
JN: Well, before coming to POGO, I worked at Public Citizen but before that I worked at the Orlando Sentinel as a part of the enterprise reporting team. I had a lot of favorite stories and am not sure I can pick just one. I covered several hurricanes and I really enjoyed being out in the field covering the big event. After a storm, when you’re walking through a community that has suffered a great loss, there is no shortage of compelling human interest stories. At those times, as we saw with the Katrina disaster, it’s so important for the press to get the stories of the victims out to the world.
Watercooler: What are your goals for the years ahead?
JN: I’m really looking forward to increasing POGO’s presence in the social media spheres. We’ve done a good job on Twitter and Facebook but we’ve barely scratched the surface of where we need to be with those platforms. One of my top priorities will be increasing our reach to activists, which is essential when it comes to putting pressure on lawmakers and the Obama Administration to consider our policy recommendations. Have you signed up for email updates? You can do that here.
Another area where I think you’ll see a big difference by the end of the year is our presence on YouTube. We’re planning to really ramp up our video work. And, of course, we’ll continue to do what POGO excels at—providing insightful blogging and getting the mainstream media to take notice of all our great work.
Watercooler: What is one thing that we don’t know about you yet?
JN: My first job at 13 years old was fishing golf balls out of a lake at the local country club. I had to wear a yellow hard hat because the golfers on the driving range used me as target practice.
A lot of organizations have metrics by which they measure their performance. For example, how many widgets were produced in a month or how many thingamajigs sold in a week.
