We recently got the following from a staff person with a non-governmental organization in Chicago.
"My coworkers and I had been trying to track down the contact information for Rahm Emanuel's reelection campaign.
"For all the other mayoral campaigns, we were able to find mailing addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses within the first hour of looking. Within the second hour we generally had the names and direct contact information of their campaign managers and schedulers.
"We noticed that Rahm's campaign Web site provided no contact information whatsoever. Not a mailing address, not a phone number, not an e-mail address. Curious, right?
"We did tons of Google searches, drawing blanks. No information anywhere on the Web about where this campaign office is, or how to reach it. I was dumbfounded.
"So I contacted three aldermen with whom I have relationships to see what advice they'd have, and I asked if they could help poke around to find a phone number or mailing address. No dice.
"Then I had a brainstorm: the Chicago Board of Elections. They would have to know, right? When I called, the guy said they 'don't deal with that' and redirected me to the City Hall info line.
"So I called City Hall. The person there redirected me to the fifth floor. The fifth floor placed me on hold for five minutes, then finally gave me a number to Rahm's 'field office,' 312/854-3074.
"I called the field office. The number rang endlessly. No voicemail. After allowing the phone to ring for literally five minutes, a staffer picked up. She was willing to provide a mailing address and general inquiry e-mail address for the campaign. It's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., if you're wondering.
"Taking advantage of finding a real live human on the phone, I mentioned to her that Emanuel's campaign Web site doesn't provide any contact info, and I said that, as a result, the campaign is nearly impossible to reach.
"She said, 'Yes, that's correct, it is.'
"And ended the call."
