Roger Gordon for Supervisor

When San Francisco community leader Roger Gordon needed help on his first political campaign for the city's Board of Supervisors, he turned to Claresco. Gordon's problem was one faced by many first-time political candidates. He was a new face on the political scene in San Francisco's District 6, an area known more for urban blight than large voter turnouts. He was running against a popular incumbent with name recognition in the community, as well as seven other candidates. So, how could Gordon reach the highest number of probable voters in his district? Claresco designed a GIS (geographic information systems) solution that helped Gordon to target likely voters. Utilizing data from the city's Department of Elections and the Census 2000, Claresco's system helped Gordon to design the most effective campaign strategy for his limited budget. "In a small, diverse district, it's really important to achieve name recognition to get [support] on a grassroots level very early on," Gordon says. "In this district, it's difficult to predict where voters are and how they will vote." Gordon used the Claresco system to set up campaign events in the areas most likely to reach the highest number of probable voters, send emails to community leaders, and get his message out to the press. Everything from neighborhood coffee meetings to get-out-the-vote precinct walks was designed with the help of the demographic analysis provided by Claresco. "There are 'influencers' that you need to reach [in a political campaign]," says Gordon. "You need a good contact management system and excellent communications tools. Claresco gave us the ability to develop targeted emails and get them off quickly. That was really what sparked a 'buzz campaign' for us from the beginning. "In addition to building the GIS system, Claresco also set up the computer network for Gordon's campaign headquarters, trained his staff, and designed and hosted his website (www.gordonfor6.org). From order date to launch, the website was up and running within one week. Claresco wired Gordon's office in a single evening. "We didn't know what was what, and Claresco came in one night and boom - instant office!" Gordon says. "We had the most sophisticated office outside [something on the level of] a Congressional race. We had the website, we had email, we had GIS tools, contact tracking software, and the fully networked office." In the end, Gordon finished a very close third in the nine-person race behind a popular incumbent and another challenger. The difference between Gordon and the second-place finisher was just 37 votes. Claresco's solution wasn't just tech-savvy - it was cost-effective as well. For 37 fewer votes than the second-place finisher, Gordon spent $60,000 less than his opponent. "The great thing about [Claresco's solution] was that the systems were so simple that we were able to drop people in and have them be productive right from the start," Gordon says. With this election season behind him, Gordon feels that Claresco's system helped him to achieve the name recognition that will help him in future political pursuits. "From two weeks into the campaign, we had instant credibility in being able to reach an enormous share of the 'thought leader market,'" Gordon says. "We had deputy chiefs in the police department, we had over one hundred active members of at least a dozen political clubs. And it did two things. It allowed us to communicate our message. And it was a display of logistical capability." Gordon says this is not the last time he will run for political office. And when he does, he'll be calling on Claresco again. "We'll be doing something again soon," he promises.