[monolithdigital]

This is something I find important, especially considering critique of the movement that I have seen and heard.

Has anyone gone to lengths to discuss this with less tech savvy citizens? I find a large barrier when it comes to this, and it's extremely hard to get out of someones mindset that this is merely a party of people who want to steal movies. the argument has been framed fairly heavily against the ideals that I see with the party, and so far, the only way I have been able to get even tacit support is showing how much more telecos/cable companies charge us, and gain in profit compared to almost all non-us countries, and what services are provided. Sometimes people will agree in that giving over out taxpayer funded infrastructure and not seeing costs returned to us on that monthly bill seem to resonate as well.

I would love to hear about experiences people have in other areas of the country, barriers and how/if they have overcome them.

[Mikkel Paulson]

Absolutely. That's why it's so hard to promote our platform by door-knocking, because we need to explain the current situation before we can explain what needs to be done to fix it. I don't have any easy answers to the problem, beyond suggesting that we focus our promotional efforts at this point on highlighting the current problems, then encouraging people to come to us for our solutions. I dislike negative campaigning, but in this case I think it's warranted.

[Concerned Citizen]

Personally if I were to do a door-knocking campaign. I would try to be as unobtrusive as possible. Show up, offer a pamphlet/flyer with a bit of information and the website link. Give them the 3 pirate issues platforms (Intellectual Property reform, Privacy and Censorship and Government Transparency) if they show any interest in talking about it. If they go into stereotypes of 'yer all a bunch of thieves' just suggest they goto the website and see what the party is really about. Copyright Reform is just one aspect although one of the more important ones.

[monolithdigital]

has anyone considered the viral approach? We have a reddit channel, there is always youtube. Every college campus would be much easier for garnering support.

I've also wondered about early adopter theory, such as the way apple markets Iphones. Once that first group of highly motivated, very status aware group starts to get the ball rolling, they can then bring the early and late adopters in with them. I only with I had more know how in marketing to be able to effectively find and promote a target audience that would be strongest in this area.

[ScottZanarky]

I just thought of a great idea.

Assuming our key party platform, (Reform patent system, Strengthen Privacy, Net Neutrality, and Open Government), won't be changing anytime soon, perhaps making a T-Shirt with these listed on the back large enough to read properly would be a good idea. I was just looking through our merchandise and I see that all of our shirts just have the PPCA logo on the front, or they say "Pirate Party of Canada", but a person just walking by who sees the shirt isn't going to know what it represents. For all we know, most people might be taking it as a joke.

Along with the logo, our website URL would certainly be helpful too.

This way, not only can we talk about the party to others and tell them our platform, the people who we cannot reach directly will at least have a bit of a better understanding of our party. Hell, I don't mind being a walking billboard if it attracts people to our party.

[monolithdigital]

oh almost definitely a joke It's the number one thing that comes up every conversation I have ever had about the party. It's good practice though as I find once I've brought it up in a small business perspective, it tends to make a little more sense to people. I hate to say it, but I finally understand why the conservatives have their talking points memos.

[JasonCarr]

I fund the most vocal opponents I encounter tend to be quite tech savvy. Not to generalize but it always seems like the ones that have the biggest problem with file-sharing are those that know how to file-share but, for whatever reason, they choose not to. I think for some people they consider their purchased music collection to be a matter of pride. They are the ones with huge bookcases or CD racks filled with meticulously ordered CDs, movies and video games. Their collection is an accomplishment to them, something which represents value and it bothers them that someone can replicate their collections virtually for free. Some feel that the money they have used to build their collections goes on to support the creation of new works and downloaders are freeloading off this system, exploiting the game so to speak. 

I find the best way to persuade this type of person is to highlight the enormous amounts of creativity and innovation that happens without copyright protection. Musicians often produce their best work on shoestring budgets out of their garages while studio produced music often lacks heart, open source software continues to keep pace and sometimes out-pace commercial offerings. Independent films seem to offer a level of originality completely nonexistent in hollywood. To persuade these people you need to invite them to share in your vision for a world without copyright.

[Mikkel Paulson]

Absolutely. Since information is half the battle, it's easier to convince a staunch opponent than someone who has never given copyright a second thought.

[Jay Frank]

Look at the baby social engineers playing in their sandbox...
How cute.

Protip: 
Study Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Practice it.
Use it.

J

[Nuitari]

Jay is right, emotion is the battle. Information only gets in the way. In fact, it will usually just entrench people more in their position.

[Jay Frank]

Information does not get in the way...the method of presentation is equally as important as the message.
People today get their information in "sound bites" and "headlines".  Society is programmed.
The most effective way to wake them up is interrupting that left/right paradigm and injecting rational thought.
Inspiring people to think for themselves and take action is srys business.

J

[psillable]

I just thought of a great idea.

Assuming our key party platform, (Reform patent system, Strengthen Privacy, Net Neutrality, and Open Government), won't be changing anytime soon, perhaps making a T-Shirt with these listed on the back large enough to read properly would be a good idea. I was just looking through our merchandise and I see that all of our shirts just have the PPCA logo on the front, or they say "Pirate Party of Canada", but a person just walking by who sees the shirt isn't going to know what it represents. For all we know, most people might be taking it as a joke.

Along with the logo, our website URL would certainly be helpful too.

This way, not only can we talk about the party to others and tell them our platform, the people who we cannot reach directly will at least have a bit of a better understanding of our party. Hell, I don't mind being a walking billboard if it attracts people to our party.

I think you are on the right track, the message needs to be easy to relate to. Just as "Pirate Party" on it's own has no apparent value to most people, "reform patent system" and even "net neutrality" are somewhat meaningless too. Instead, the focus should be on real world implications, my ideas:

The Pirate Party believes that consumers should have the right to copy media for personal use:
Support copyright reform: pirateparty.ca

Why pay for private software, when public software is better... and free!
Promote free software with patent reform: pirateparty.ca

The Internet: A fair playing field or a corporate playground?
It's time to legislate net neutrality: pirateparty.ca

[Mikkel Paulson]

I still don't see what free software has to do with our platform. Yes, it's a very good thing, but there is nothing about our political influence/platform that would help or hinder its widespread adoption.

[Concerned Citizen]

I still don't see what free software has to do with our platform. Yes, it's a very good thing, but there is nothing about our political influence/platform that would help or hinder its widespread adoption.

Free Software has less active unpatched bugs. Anyone is able to scrutinize it thus it is incredibly transparent. I would go as far as to say the government should introduce policies which encourage the use of open source in their own offices to cut down on costs.

[Mikkel Paulson]

Sure. That doesn't mean it's important enough to our platform to advertise. Let's keep it political.