Mayor Janssens in dialogue with 2% of voters

Earlier this week I attended the award ceremony for the "Gouden Veer" (Gold Feather) for the best written Flemish sales letter. Former colleague and current mayor of Antwerp -Patrick Janssens- introduced and handed over the award.
He "outed" himself as a great believer of one-to-one communication, which was surprising for an ex ad-man having worked on image campaigns for blue-chip clients. He estimated that he answers about 2000 letters a year. All of them are personal. He referred for example to a letter and handmade drawing he had sent to pupils of a local school which generated very enthusiastic feedback from the school. He sees this contact as essential in achieving his goal of creating understanding among the various communities in Antwerp. And acknowledged that the written word in one-to-one communication is probably stronger than an ad campaign.
By the way the award was won by a football club of the third provincial division FC Wieze for a letter to potential supporters.