Welcome to INgage Networks’s Connect2Elect.  

Connect2Elect is an independent, unbiased matching service that uses some of the coolest technology on the Web to give citizens the power to navigate through the oftentimes confusing process of selecting the best candidate for the most important job in America.

Below you will find answers to commonly asked questions.  Additional inquiries may be directed to INgage Networks by clicking here.

Who’s behind Connect2Elect?
Why are you doing this?
How is this different?
How were the candidate profiles generated?
What is your privacy policy?

 
Who’s behind Connect2Elect?
INgage Networks, the leader in enterprise social networking solutions, developed Connect2Elect with the support of introNetworks technology.
 
INgage Networks is using its social networking expertise to enable an online community that provides voters the opportunity to identify their individual beliefs and match them to presidential candidates who share them.
 
With the potent combination of community, knowledge and the best of Web 2.0 technologies, we are providing an ideal platform with the potential to radically alter the way citizens select candidates – in a visually compelling way.

We invite you to join our blog discusion at http://blog.connect2elect.com.
 
 
Why are you doing this?
We are not politicians, political researchers or otherwise with a vested interest in the political process. Rather, we have a great technology that brings people together to build community, make better decisions – and make those decisions quickly. While INgage Networks serves business, media and governments, we saw this as a great opportunity to offer a service where it is needed most…to the grassroots of our country.
 


How is this different?
Since the dawn of the Internet, we have heard of its promise to bring voters and candidates closer together.  Connect2Elect fulfills that promise.
 
Connect2Elect is a one-of-a-kind public website, allowing users the ability to to quickly and thoughtfully identify the topics, values and issues of priority to them. Through matching algorithms and enterprise social networking technology, citizens are presented with a visual map illustrating the presidential candidates that are most, and least, aligned with them at a highly individual level.
 
Not only does Connect2Elect offer speed and accuracy, but also the initiative is paving the way to a greater sense of voter satisfaction, greater candidate accountability and the opportunity to gather data from huge sample sizes in one swift motion.
 
 
How were the candidate profiles generated?
INgage Networks has invested hundreds of hours to ensure that our research is as accurate as possible. Candidate positions, personal attributes and core political beliefs were generated based on published data found on the Web through multiple political-based sites as well as each candidate’s individual website. To prioritize candidate positions, it was assumed that candidates presented the issues on their sites that were most important to them – in order of importance.
 
Candidates were then sent their resulting profile and invited to review and submit any revisions. If a candidate’s campaign team responded, their responses were used. Without a response, we relied upon our research to provide us with documented positions and attributes (and continue to follow-up and invite candidate participation).
 
While we have done our best to ensure thorough and unbiased data, invariably we cannot guarantee its accuracy without a candidate’s direct response. You can be assured, however, that the data presented is well researched. If you feel we have misrepresented a candidate or issue, we welcome your feedback and references.  Please direct comments to INgage Networks.

What’s your privacy policy?
When visiting Connect2Elect, here are some things we want you to know:

1. We are not experts in the political arena. Our real expertise is technology and community building. Therefore, we want to make the best tools available for everyone involved in political and democratic processes. In other words, we want our platform to serve the real experts out there.
2. Our motivation is to showcase social technology in a fun and constructive setting. In no way do we intend to endorse a candidate, party or idea.
3. Rest assured that we will not sell your contact information for the purposes of solicitation. Rather, the data we collect will be used in aggregate to facilitate the reporting of trends and analyses. We will be looking at the data on the whole - not on an individual basis.
4. The tags and political preferences on your profile will only be used to analyze general trends of the American electorate and generate a “big picture” of political tendencies for 2008.
5. Big brother is not watching, so have fun!
   
   Questions about our Privacy Policy or about INgage Networks’s handling of your information may be directed to INgage Networks.