AZ GOP: It has come to our attention that our website sucks

The following email went out from the AZ GOP on Monday:

From: Brett Mecum
Subject: AZGOP Communication and Website Update
To: "Tom Morrissey"
Date: Monday, March 14, 2011, 6:03 PM
Dear Executive Committee Members:

It has been brought to our attention by many of you that parts of the AZGOP website need to be updated, fine-tuned, or replaced all together. We are acutely aware of the situation and are striving to bring the AZGOP website up to speed. Because of the partnership we have with the Republican National Committee and the third party vendor that they use, at times, getting certain changes and updates done have been challenging. Additionally, we feel that it is indeed time to give the AZGOP website a facelift. The departure of Matt Roberts to the Secretary of State’s office left a void in the communications operations of this office. I am pleased to announce that starting today, Joy Communications has come on board and will be working to update the AZGOP website, handle press operations, and reengage our social media operations. Additionally, in the coming weeks, we’ll be moving away from the current website platform and will be working to build a new AZGOP.org from the ground up.

If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions on website development, social media, or how we can best communicate our message, please don’t hesitate to contact Thayer Verschoor. He can be reached at 602-957-7770 or by e-mail at tverschoor@azgop.org.

Thank you for your time, service to the Party, and continued patience in
this matter.

Sincerely,

Tom Morrissey
Chairman

Better late than never? I suppose, but color me unimpressed.


First off, this is... an understatement to say the least:

It has been brought to our attention by many of you that parts of the AZGOP website need to be updated, fine-tuned, or replaced all together.

Secondly, Tom, did you really need someone (or many someones) to bring that to your attention? You ran on a platform of a "new and sophisticated communications strategy," yet it takes you several months to see that your website sucks?


Next, it looks like they are engaging a company named Joy Communications to replace Matt Roberts. I hope for their sake that Joy Communications has a good collections agency, or they ask for their payment up front.


But who is Joy Communications, anyway? Let's go to Google to see.




The only results for a "Joy Communications" are for a business in Florida, and another in China. I stopped looking after page 3.





A search of the Corporation Commission's website shows that there is, in fact, a business called Joy Communications in Phoenix. And shockingly, it's not owned by Mark Spinks.




But I do want to stress this point. The AZ GOP just hired a company to build their website, handle press operations, and reengage social media operations. They hired a company that does not appear in Google results when you search for the name of the company. Not exactly a good sign.

And then, to top it all off, they put [noted social media expert?] Thayer Vershcoor (a.k.a. "another old white guy") in charge of the project. Thayer's most recent foray into the online world, when he ran for State Treasurer, was less than impressive.

I'm really not that connected in Arizona politics, but I can think of at least a half-dozen young, accomplished, effective professionals in the web/social media world- and that's without doing any research or making any phone calls. But I guess the problem is that they all either 1) want to be paid with checks that don't bounce, or 2) know better than to get involved with the sinking ship that is Tom Morrissey's AZ GOP.


So instead we a project managed by a guy with no experience with communication or technology, and a website from a website company that you can't find on Google.

 As a side note, how pissed off must Shane Wikfors be that his phone didn't ring for this project? Or maybe it did and he passed. Now that would be funny.