Hey everyone.
My name is Tim Tagaris, Internet Director over at SEIU.
Before this, I served in the same capacity for Chris Dodd's Presidential campaign, Ned Lamont against Joe Lieberman, and a few other races including Paul Hackett vs. Jean Schmidt.
I am Daily Kos uid 6523 -- so, I am a member of this community.
I'm also the person who worked with Markos, Henry and Will to place the "action tag" ads referred to in this recommended diary.
One of the things I've always liked to do at any campaign I've worked on is give back to the online community. One of the ways I've done that is through advertising. There are others, of course, like hiring people from the blogosphere.
I don't know if Markos has any intention of posting about the ads in question, but I'll answer any questions I can in the comments. So, feel free to fire away.
One thing I'll note is that every ad says that the post is "sponsored by SEIU," which I think would clear up any misconception that the diarist or front page poster put the "action tag" in the post on their own.
To answer one of the questions in the recommended diary above, the "action tags" show up when someone includes various tags about health care and employee free choice act -- two issues SEIU is leading the way to help pass.
I'm not going to apologize for advertising here; advertising supports a lot of what this site offers to the community. We're always looking for new ways to reach audiences of committed progressive activists, and I hope you'll take a moment to sign up to get involved with SEIU in the fight to pass health care and employee free choice.
Thanks for reading. I'll be in the comments.
Tim
Update [2009-5-23 19:20:17 by ttagaris]: Please put suggestions for what it should say other than "Sponsored by SEIU" -- I'd like to read your thoughts recognizing that space is a consideration.
Update [2009-5-23 19:20:17 by ttagaris]: Paid sponsorship is a good point. Again, I am NOT speaking for Markos or the site at all, but I will make sure to bring that up with him. I think that's fair. That's a technology question as well.
Update [2009-5-23 19:54:8 by ttagaris]: Final update before I leave for the night. I've appreciated the constructive comments and discussion below. I have taken away some thoughts on how we can improve the ads -- both in terms of generating participation and assuaging some of the concerns people have. I'll read all the comments later tonight or tomorrow -- Tim