Romario Miguel

11/8/2016
CRP Paper
Mainstream Coalition
Introduction: Before this research project started I had an idea of the type of organization I
wanted to research and study. For the last eight weeks I have held an internship with an
organization called Mainstream Coalition, a nonprofit bipartisanship organization dedicated to
ensure Kansas politics are doing their job. This organization has been a real life changing event
for me and I was extremely fortunate to work with them to get people rallied up to go out and
vote. Since I am a communications major I thought it would be best to get in contact with the
communications director for their organization and interview him to figure out what his role in
Mainstream Coalition is all about. Danny Novo, is responsible for all of Mainstream Coalitions
communications with the public, anything from web design to social media specialising Danny
Novo is in charge of it.
Profession: To start off I really wanted to research a position entitled to my desired degree,
communications has always interested me for a long time on being able to keep people informed
about your organization's tasks and goals. The position of a Social Media Specialist is the best
way to describe the career outlook I will try to achieve, primary goals of this career is
maintaining social media accounts in order to place a brand reputation on your organization.
Supposed responsibilities you might encounter are posting contact on social media accounts,
encounter conversions and follow the public online, and collaboration with others to promote the
employer's cause (Tropey, E., 2016). Qualifications for this position vary but at bare minimum
you should be familiar with social media accounts and their usage in order to understand your

audience's wants and needs. Having a bachelors degree in any communication related field is
always a plus as this reinsures your skills have been met with proper education from a university.
Aside from these qualifications, your background should include any work you have done with
social media and/or public relations as this boosts your credentials of being an expert of putting
on a positive image for your organization. Additionally potential career paths that can grow from
being a Social Media Specialist are public relations and marketing as they seem to have the same
common goal of providing a positive image for your company. The anticipated medium salary
range for a Social Media Specialist is $56,770, as for the starting range of this occupation is just
over $36,200 (Tropey, E., 2016).
Background Information: Danny Novo, the communications guru of Mainstream Coalition
recently sat down with me to talk to me about his life and career choice and what it means to
become an efficient Social Media Specialist. Our interview was conducted on November 1st,
2016 at about 1:00pm and lasted for no more than 30mins via Facetime. Danny was very eager
to talk to me about his occupation and his journey on becoming a part of the Mainstream team
with his expertise. Mainstream Coalition began in 1993 with the help of a few community
leaders with the vision of a separation of church and state (Novo, D., 2016). With this goal in
mind many began to realize that in order for a separation to become reality we must understand
both sides of the argument and become a bipartisanship organization. The staff of Mainstream
Coalition are consisted of 4 members that seek to spread the word of this nonprofit organization
to better the community of Kansas through getting the public educated on the importance of
voting. Danny Novo had told me about his journey on becoming the communications director
for Mainstream and how the organization's image relies heavily on his actions. Dannys daily
duties consist of social media postings, web design upkeep, and ranges from designing

informational materials to organizing events. Dannys background is overall board in web

design and writing as he has been a web designing since the mid 1990s and a writer since the
early 2000s so his expertise is up to par on the organization's tasks that are asked of him (Novo,
D., 2016).
Communication used: The way communications work in Mainstream Coalition is based on a
tell/sell style where they want their audience to listen to them because we have sufficient
information and want to control the message content (Munter, M., & Hamilton, L. 2014). For
example, I interned with them for eight weeks going door to door bringing people information
about their current polling location and a chance to advance vote. Most of the time people were
surprised to know about the information I was providing for them as people were extremely
interested in this upcoming election. Danny Novo is responsible for the audience
communication for Mainstream as he provides the materials necessary on getting information
about their organization. Not only that but Danny also helps improve the organization's well
being as providing website design and event planners so that people will be informed about the
organization's goals. Positive strategies being used by Danny help the public get a better image
of Mainstream and their ultimate goal of having a bipartisanship community when dealing with
politics. This proves to be a vital component to the organization's success, as if Danny does not
provide the means of communication with the public there will be a gap of unknown. The public
must be aware of Mainstream Coalition's goals so that they too can make a difference in their
community with help from this organization.
Reference Page

Munter, M., & Hamilton, L. (2014). Guide to Managerial Communication. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Novo, Danny. Personal Interview. 1 November 2016.

Torpey, E. (November 1st, 2016). Social Media Specialist. Retrieved from
http://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/youre-a-what/social-media-specialist.htm

Interview Guide/Answers
Opening: Danny Novo, currently comminution coordinator for mainstream coalition. Begin as
an environmental studies undergraduate and went on to get a masters in environmental
philosophy. Brown undergraduate, NYU masters.

Topic 1: Profession/ Organization

-how did you get interest, fell into it with from teaching, teached for 20 years and ended that
career and became a writer, feel into from meeting brandi at school with their kids and was
interested in becoming comms coordinator
-mainstream, political tries to ride a fine line between both sides, first founded from separation
between church and state, it is a marketing challenge with dealing with just one issue since you
need to spread your focus
-daily, work from home and mail drop off office + campaign office, daily to do list, check news,
social media tasks, schedule out social media time, varied with emails every week and election
weeks add on more emails, print and digital materials needed

Topic 2: Communications in depth

-first career choice, working for a year in the field but ultimately went to teaching , government
peace corps, $8000 but held back due to clinton's fighting back to government in the 90s, got into
web design early on in 1996, works out the graphic design on the postcards, magnets,
slideshows, events, and web design
-reflections, like the field for creativity and really wanted this outlet, one day for print one day
for digital one day for writing long and short term, full time now but half time for a non profit
you don't get paid like a full time, get behind a cause/purpose
-uniqueness/conflicts, big organization and more professional with a high polish with legitimacy
especially with personal opinions can affect the main pac and their vision, need to keep views
separate from work and work towards a common goal

Topic 3: Mainstream(non for profit)

-purpose, fight extremism and founded with the separation of church and state, outlook with both
views in mind, try to counter at best we can
-goals, mainstream strives to become a bipartisanship organization but people on both sides view
differently and vice versa
- foundation, started in 1990s by a priest and a rabbi to keep the government separate from
church, mostly has grown to become a nonprofit bipartisanship organization

To: Danny Novo

From: Romario Miguel
Hey Danny,
I just want to say thank you for taking time away from your schedule to answer questions
about your career and experience. I also want to say thank you for your continued hard work at
Mainstream Coalition with their efforts to better the state of Kansas. It was really interesting to
hear about your views as a whole and how you feel deeply connected to your career choice with
this organization. With your help I have gotten all the information I need in order to finish up
my corporate research project and I really enjoyed listening to your story. What I really liked
about your job title is that you can work from home, one of the better aspects to choose from
when I am looking for a career after I graduate. Like I mentioned in the interview your
information is only being used for this project and to further my grasp on my chosen field of
being a communications major. Again thank you for the opportunity to hear from you about your
chosen field and work with Mainstream Coalition, I hope you continue to make great
accomplishments and I hope to stay in touch with you!
Best regards,
Romario Miguel

P.S. Now I can die happy! The Chicago Cubs are the 2016 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!
Romario Miguel
Communications, University of Kansas
Email: romariomiguel87@gmail.com
Phone: (630)-819-9143