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A Note From Data Director Collin Murray
Today marks 3 years to the day since I started at the Minnesota DFL. Everyone’s path into politics is unique, and often even accidental, but thinking back on mine is a bit surreal. Five and a half years ago I was sitting in a Cancer Research lab doing the work I’d dreamt about since I was a kid. I was weeks away from publishing my first real academic research paper, and yet I was too depressed to realize how much I was truly struggling. Being ahead on credits and not (yet) worried about graduating on time, I made the decision to take a semester of Political Science classes, a topic I’d always been very passionate about, as a break from a situation that wasn’t working for me. That small decision, motivated entirely by my fear of not returning to school after a semester off, led to me connecting with the Angie Craig campaign and starting an internship that would quickly lead to a job as an organizer for the rest of the campaign and jumpstart my career. There I met some of my closest friends who I would continue learning from and working with on campaigns together until July of 2018 when the opportunity to apply for the Minnesota DFL Deputy Voterfile Manager position presented itself. Deciding between an opportunity you may never see again and working with your closest friends on the campaign that had brought us together was an impossible choice to make on my own. Thankfully, friends as great as mine care enough to support what’s best for you even when it doesn’t make their lives any easier. A week later I started working under one of the best bosses and most impressive people I’ve had the opportunity to learn from in my life. From her I learned, probably too much, about how the world of political data works, and what it would take to be successful in this career. Not even 6 months later she helped convince our State Party Chair, Ken Martin, to take a gamble on my potential and choose me to take over the department she had built over the previous 8 years. I’ve learned more working with the amazing team here than at any other point in my life. Recently however, I found myself having to make the same choice that brought me to this incredible organization: Can I forgive myself for passing on an opportunity I may never see again, even if it means leaving a team I love working with, and owe so much? Unfortunately, even knowing how well it worked out last time did not help nearly as much as I’d hoped. I’ll never stop being thankful for everyone who has helped, supported, and advocated for me so far in my short career, and leaving a team with so many of those people will never be an easy decision, but I can’t overstate how excited I am to join the DNC Data Team and continue learning and growing among an equally amazing group of people.
Special thanks to all of you, who are ultimately the campaigns and activists that allow our state to continue being leaders State Party Data. Without the work you do, we wouldn't have any data to work with in the first place. |
Social Media Data Collection Social media has become a significant part of our everyday lives, both politically and personally. We often share with our friends about the ideas we have and promote our political ideas through posts, likes, and shares. As such, social media profiles often give us an enriched view of voters. The DFL Data Team is excited to present the Social Media Data Collection program. We will be presenting a series of trainings to on-board users to this program. The Social Media Data Collection live training will cover how, why, and what social media data is valuable for the MN DFL VAN!
The first training sessions will be as follows:
July 26 | 2:00pm-4:05pm July 28 | 2:00pm-4:05pm July 31 | 10:00am-4:05pm
Afterwards, we will offer live Social Media Data Collection training from 5:30-7:35PM monthly! This training is required in order to enter social media data. Usually this is the third Tuesday or Wednesday of the month. Here are those dates:
August 18 September 22 October 19 November 16 December 14* *Due to the office closing for Winter Break on December 18th, our December training doesn’t follow the normal schedule
For information on how to sign up for this DFL Data Training, as well as others, on the Training Hub please use this here!
As always, please reach out to the full data team at voterfile@dfl.org with any questions or concerns you may have! |