Tonight Downtown Boulder Inc (which as far as I can tell is composed exclusively of realtors and landlords) had a meet & greet for the candidates. Since I have never even seen most of the candidates I went to see them in person.
I went in disguise (I didn't wear a name-tag) and I tried to just watch them in action. A few joined groups I was talking to so I did talk to a couple. Lisa Morzel did pierce my clever disguise - when she asked my name and I said David she then asked "David Thielen?" Apparently she and I have met before at someone's house - I never remember names and faces so I don't remember.
Update: Several candidates are upset I did not introduce myself to them. I apologize and will make a point of saying hi and introducing myself to everyone next time - even if I have to interrupt a conversation (some of them were always talking to someone). But I ask in return please take into account that I have very poor hearing (due to cancer treatment) and in an environment like that I cannot hear most of what is said. This is one of the reasons I prefer the web.
Being able to talk to people in setups like this is a valuable skill for a politician so here's my take on what I saw there.
Superstars
Shawn Coleman was amazing - joining group after group, listening and talking, and an interested look on everyone's face. Numerous people there unsolicited told me that they found him the most compelling candidate of the entire crowd. Shawn rocked.
Philip Bradley was also surprisingly good. He does seem to have a good knack for this. But... I was talking to one woman there and asked her what she thought. She replied that she was very impressed with Lisa Morzel but had only met two candidates so far. I of course asked her who the other was and that was Philip Bradley. So a single data point but while he looked good from a distance, he may not have closed the sale.
Stand Outs
I think Angelique Espinoza is probably the best campaigner of all the candidates. And tonight she did very well, looking natural and at ease as she worked her way through the room. She was always talking to several people and made the whole thing look effortless.
Susan Osborne also tended to be in various groups of several people all evening long and in animated conversation with them.
Lisa Morzel does a superb job of easing in to why she would be a good candidate and without realizing it you are suddenly getting a strong compelling argument for why she should be elected. I saw her go talk to person after person and if she did as good on them as she did on me, she closed a number of sales.
Matt Applebaum arrived late but also was moving from group to group in what appeared to be serious discussions people were interested in.
Crystal Gray was very personable but was doing more of just saying hi to each person and moving on. Of course, she's almost a slam dunk so that is an ok approach for her.
Putting in an Effort
Larry Quilling at first looked like he was almost in pain having to go up to people and talk to him. As the evening went on he relaxed more and he then did better. But this is not his forte.
Susan Peterson is a very nice person. I ended up talking to her for awhile and I tend to be quiet to see what the candidates will say - and very little from her was selling herself. So comfortable speaking but she was not trying to close the sale.
Kathryn Kramer looked very ill at ease going around talking to people. I give her a lot of credit for doing something that I think is very difficult for her. But this is clearly not her forte.
Macon Cowles & Adam Massey each tended to have long conversation with one person. That can close that one person but it's a low ROI for the time spent. If that is what they are most at ease with though, it was not a large group and so could be the best approach for them.
Why was he there?
Easily the most bizarre was Eric Rutherford. he was there as well as one of his supporters. We ended up talking and he drove the conversation to real estate and then started drilling me on who was the agent for the office space we just rented, what building, etc. Not a word about why he was running or why I should vote for him. His candidacy may just be a way for him to scare up business.
No Shows
Tom Riley arrived as I was leaving so no feedback on him.
Philip Hernandez was not there but his campaign manager was and he did quite well talking to numerous groups of people. His campaign manager should run.
Seth Brigham, Andrew Harrison, Nabil Karkamaz, Alan O'Hashi, Eugene Pearson, Rob Smoke, & Ken Wilson were no-shows as far as I could tell. However, if you have to miss a forum, this was a good one to miss. I think I was the only person there that was not a candidate, campaign team member, DBI member, or advertising saleswoman for the Colorado Daily.
Anyways, it was interesting to put faces with a lot of the names since I had never seen most of the candidates before this evening.
Update: It looks like Tom Riley, Phil Hernandez, and Ken Wilson were at the Burke Lake meeting (which sounds like it was better). I assume Rob was helping Seth last night. Alan was working. Andrew & Nabil aren't really running so no surprise there. That leaves the interesting question of why Eugene weren't at either event - surprising.
