Last month the Democratic National Convention brought us together through an unprecedented digital showcase. Democrats knew things were going to be different this year – and they embraced it. Running a completely virtual convention, they engaged new viewers from around the country and put the Convention in the hands of the American people through user generated content, partner programming, and virtual toolkits. They did so using key technology like Countable. 

We sat down with Bart Myers, Founder and CEO of Countable, to talk more about the role Countable played at this year’s Convention. 

Countable builds campaigns’ and organizations’ digital products that drive meaningful action, connect supporters with civic causes, and power the collection of user-generated videos from any device, anywhere in the world. Their video testimonial tool “turns supporters into storytellers,” and leverages these authentic and powerful videos to build engagement and social virality. 

The Convention team sought to build a virtual community of supporters early and saw video as a key tactic to doing that well. They partnered with Countable to build a platform to host supporter testimonials. This aspect of the Countable platform  allowed voters to see the values they shared with other viewers around the country – from their couches. It was quickly clear to the Convention team, however, that Countable “could do considerably more than collect video testimonials – we could create an active and safe online community for people across the country to engage with one another,” Bart told us.

For two months prior to and during the week of the Convention, Countable powered the stories- hub (available on desktop and mobile) that supporters used to gather together and share their thoughts on the Party Platform. Prompted by questions such as, “Why are you voting for Joe Biden” or “What’s your American Dream,” users video recorded their own responses and shared them with the community. On top of recording their own testimonials, supporters could watch and like others’ videos, take pledges (ie, committing to watch the second night of the debate), and share updates from the Convention. 

Social sharing was widely popular amongst users during the Convention. With the majority of users visiting the stories hub on the Convention website directly, participants also came to the site through shared posts on social channels driven by Countable. People uplifted each other’s stories and shared them to their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts throughout  the week. One video garnered over 100 likes and received a comment from the Biden/Harris 2020 account itself. Bart emphasized the importance of social sharing and Countable’s push to make it happen. 

“Only a small percent of people will produce content, but a lot will watch and share. So we gave users the opportunity to make the content their own. It was a very multilayered dynamic. Thousands of videos that aired on the broadcast and were shared on social came from us.” 

To further create a sense of community, Countable also built in dedicated hubs for particular groups to engage, mitigating the feeling of skipping that convention booth or meeting. There were multiple hubs available for video sharing with specific party platforms – such as a Delegate hub and Republicans for Biden. The hubs provided a tangible way for communities to unify, participate and engage with each other, even hundreds of miles away.

“There’s a spectrum of engagement – an engagement ladder – when you deal with passionate people as they come. We tried giving the Convention team the tools to meet their audience where they were at and provide high impact ways to get involved.”

By adopting tech like Countable to power the way for inclusive connectivity in a virtual world, the Democratic National Convention showcased the strength, diversity and resilience of progressives across the country, resulting in  high viewership and  strong grassroots fundraising. 

“Shoutout to the DNC… the idea that you can bring more people – more voices into the fold is so Democratic. And I’m thrilled they care about that vision, and we were there to help them realize it. It has changed politics forever.”

Thank you to Bart Myers, Founder and CEO of Countable, for sitting down with us and sharing his thoughts post-Convention. All quotes are Bart’s.

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