ECA Endorsement

[phday]

Will the ECA be Endorsing any of the Presidential Canidates or do you plan to be largely silent at least through the primaries? I'm not saying you should eitehr way I'm just asking.

[Hal Halpin]

Great question. I was recently at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) and had the opportunity to speak at length with current and potential members - many of whom had some really thought-provoking ideas and questions. One that really resonated with me was a guy who asked me to ask Dennis (on his behalf) if he would consider doing a story on where the candidates stand on various matters related to gamers' rights. His logic was that he already knew, or could easily find out about, each of the candidate's positions on major issues (war, taxes, global warming, etc.), but what if he really liked two and needed a differentiating factor; games would certainly qualify as a tipping point.

I did return home and message Dennis about it, who agreed, and I believe may be doing some research on the piece. But I was blown away by the possibilities when you think of it in context: 30M gamers in the US, and anecdotal evidence suggests that far too many don't vote (certainly in local and State elections, but also, unfortunately in Federal). What if we could add motivating those people to our long-term charter? Get them registered and out there voting. Inform them of where candidates stand and leave it to them to make up their minds. Inspiring.

The short answer to your question is that, as a 501(c)(4) non-profit, we're prohibited from backing any one candidate or party for that matter. Other (c)(4) orgs side step that rule by starting a related, but separate, (c)(3) charitable non-profit which do back candidates, parties and agendas. While it's certainly an option for ECA, it's not one that I see us employing in the near term. A Political Action Committee (PAC), on the other hand, could be a very interesting closer-term alternative... I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

[ezacharyk]

But I was blown away by the possibilities when you think of it in context: 30M gamers in the US, and anecdotal evidence suggests that far too many don't vote (certainly in local and State elections, but also, unfortunately in Federal). What if we could add motivating those people to our long-term charter? Get them registered and out there voting. Inform them of where candidates stand and leave it to them to make up their minds. Inspiring.


I believe that was the spirit behind the VGVN. Unfortunately, they do not have the type of leadership to convince people to register. It would be a very smart and important task to take on as the ECA. We aren't just looking to change business practices in our favor but also politics.

I understand the nature of the non-profit organization. I am glad that you will not be suggesting to your members who to vote for. That is a personal decision. But it would be good to get the members active in politics.

[GamePolitics]

I hate to be a VGVN basher, but - as I've said before - the organization has no face. As far as I can tell, it is near 100% automated.

I'll be pulling together some candidate info, but it might make more sense in a few months as the caucuses and primaries loom and we see whether some potential legit candidates jump in (Gingrich, Gore) or out...

[KN]

The VGVN was the ESA's "hai gais we care about you" thingie, right?

Yeah, I felt so empowered when the automated email bot thanked me for fighting the power.

I think this is what shopping at Hot Topic feels like.

[Hal Halpin]

We've been supportive of VGVN since its inception (back when our group ran the IEMA still), and still believe it to be beneficial. At present, there's no overlap between our efforts - primarily because the module which we will use to cover essentially the same functionality as VGVN does presently isn't on-line as yet. So when people come to theECA.com or any of our affiliated sites and ask how they can get even further involved, we point them to VGVN.

Mike Gallagher, the new ESA head, and I have had a few conversations about what may or may not happen as the theECA.com's back-end continues to ramp up. What I can tell you is that our module will be performing pretty much the very same functions as VGVN, plus a bunch of others that require a dedicated staff, regional chapters and a broad network to employ.

I think the real challenge for VGVN is the dichotomy of their reason for being and balancing that against serving the ESA's members and the VGVN's member's interests. On issues where they're naturally aligned, such as regulation of violent content, it's a non-issue. But when the interests of gamers and those of the industry part ways, how can VGVN parse and then rationalize a move one way or another?

So just to summarize, we're extraordinarily supportive of VGVN and continue to refer journalists and prospective members to them. But Mike and I will continue talking about ways in which we'll be able to work together as ECA matures and grows.

[Thefremen]

Maybe instead of endorsing specific candidates we could make Scorecards, the way many single issue orgs do. You can find score cards on Land Use, Education, The war in Iraq etc etc. It would make sense to at least give members (and non members) a quick and easy look at what different candidate's voting records have been over the years.

[ezacharyk]

Maybe instead of endorsing specific candidates we could make Scorecards, the way many single issue orgs do. You can find score cards on Land Use, Education, The war in Iraq etc etc. It would make sense to at least give members (and non members) a quick and easy look at what different candidate's voting records have been over the years.

I like the score card method. IT is very useful in so many ways. Too bad there isn't a convenient way of cataloging all the score cards available.