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Health & Fitness

Virtual Candidate Forum seems to be a hit

Since launching the virtual candidate forum last Thursday more than 500 residents have watched all or part of the videos and more than 1000 have shared the links over Facebook and the Local Motive blog site.  Traffic dropped of precipitously after the first day but bounced back over the weekend.
Some interesting numbers have come out of the stats.  First John Seybert is the leader in the number of complete views of his interview with 38.6 percent.  Ernie Schmidt and Diane Howard are neck and neck with 22 percent each and Jeff Gee is fourth with 16.9  The remaining were people who clicked to see the links to the websites of the two non-participants. We have no data if viewers actually went to the candidate sites.
This data does not necessarily indicate who might be leading in the contest.  Seybert was the first candidate interviewed, which might account for his numbers.  What it may show, however, is which candidate is least known to the viewers.  That, too, is speculation.
More encouraging, however, is the engagement numbers.  Each time a view watches an entire video, or clicks on a link, it represents 100 percent engagement in the content.  All the candidates participating received almost 300 percent engagement on their sections, while the entire forum received almost 1000 percent engagement.  That means the information was relatively valuable.
One stat I found particularly interesting.  The three issues the viewer were most interested in were dispersement of property tax revenues, public safety and the Woodside/101 interchange.
We're far from done.  Several of the viewers sent comments and private messages to me saying wished the candidates had addressed other issues.  The format makes it possible for you to state what those issues are and have the candidates respond.  So don't be shy.  Speak up on any of the platforms.  You have a chance to really speak into the next four years on City council.  Don't waste the opportunity.

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