From 1995: Holzberg Is On Line Looking For Feedback

The following article is from the municipal campaign season of 16 years ago, published in the Hartford Courant on October 27th, 1995.
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Voters can now "meet Maria" in cyberspace.
Maria Madsen Holzberg, the Democratic candidate for mayor, has taken to the Internet to spread her message and get feedback from the city's computer users.

Dr. Michael Good, who describes himself as the campaign's "Director of Online Communications ;-)" -- the ";-)" being a cyber-symbol for "smile," or "joke" or "funny" -- says Holzberg sent out 240 e-mail letters to city residents last weekend on the America Online services, encouraging them to write with their ideas and concerns.

"The unique difference with being on line is it makes it easy and quick to talk back to her," Good said. "Instead of politicians spouting their beliefs, it turns the megaphone in the other direction and makes it easy to send her ideas."

Good said there are more than 240 city residents using America Online; these are the people who listed themselves in a users directory, which includes residency. He said the campaign is now looking to connect with customers of other on- line computer services.

Within 48 hours of Holzberg's e- mail letter, Good said the campaign received 20 replies -- ranging from questions about registering to vote to comments about the campaign, to delight that Holzberg had chosen another means of communication.
Good, a Middletown-based physician, said people interested in contacting Holzberg on line should write to: Maria4Mayr@aol.com.