Will the Snapchat generation turn out to vote for president in 2016?

I’m a Gen-Xer, so I know apathy when I see it. That’s part of what inspired a program I’m working on here at the USA TODAY NETWORK called One Nation.

Let me explain:

If millennials, the oft-cited and much-measured generation born between 1981 and 1997, go to the polls in November, they would be the largest voting bloc in the country. Yes, this means the Snapchat generation could steer our collective future. But will millennials — often maligned as “narcissistic,” “coddled” and “entitled” — actually vote? And do they even realize their power?

In a joint USA TODAY/Rock the Vote poll conducted in January, two-thirds of millennials polled said voting was a responsibility and would encourage their friends and family to vote. But only half agreed their vote could change the outcome of the election and felt there were other things they could do — chiefly volunteering locally — that would make a bigger difference than voting.

USA TODAY/Rock the Vote poll: Millennials' agenda for the next president

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Based on those results, I’m going to go ahead and assume that they don’t actually realize their power.

Luckily, a lot of smart people agreed and thought we could and should do something about it. So with that in mind, we hatched One Nation’s organizing principles: millennials need to connect with our boring old civics model by recognizing their individual-to-group power (hence the program’s “I am one of One” tagline) and, to get them in the door, we needed to amp up the fun factor.

Millennials aren’t easily swayed by party platforms or particular candidates. Their motivation is inspired by specific issues — top among them stricter gun safety legislation and clean renewable energy, which affect them personally. Or, to put it a different way: “What’s in it for me?”

One Nation USA TODAY Election 2016

That’s not a question necessarily embraced by candidates, who in many cases are speaking to voters they can count on: Boomers, the Silent Generation, party diehards and special interest groups. Reaching out to a new audience, like millennials, is a risky proposition and one that may not pay off for a candidate — even one like Bernie Sanders, the 74-year-old who is unexpectedly connecting with 18 to 35-year-olds.

One Nation takes a different approach. Rather than connect our audience with candidates, we seek to draw a direct line between the issues that matter to millennials and how their seemingly insignificant vote becomes something pretty powerful when you start adding up all of these separate “special snowflakes” into a Snowzilla-like storm of social change.

I’ve been working on this project, with a cast of seemingly thousands across USA TODAY and 92 local network newspapers, for the past year. The idea is a simple progression: 1. Engage millennials around election issues, 2. Give them the knowledge (read: power) they need to make informed decisions, 3. Get them registered to vote.

One Nation kicked off in Des Moines just two weeks ahead of the Iowa caucuses with an event all about energy. The main attraction was a panel of energy experts who were able to put aside policy wonky jibber-jabber to truly communicate what our energy future could look like five or 10 years from now depending on which path we take as a country.

Could renewable energy tech eliminate utilities?

For our attendees, 350 people who packed a downtown Des Moines nightclub, the main attraction may well have been the free beer or sets by a DJ and a popular local band.

But here’s the thing: A group of 300+ millennials stood, beers in hand, smart phones down, for 90 minutes on a Thursday night and actually listened to four energy experts talk about stuff like biomass, carbon emissions and why fossil fuels aren’t categorically evil. And, thanks to the participation of Rock the Vote, we registered many of them to vote for the first time.

For me, and for the country, that’s a win. And one we’re hoping to replicate in nine more cities throughout 2016.

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Elections 2016 | USA TODAY Network

Next week, One Nation is setting up shop in Reno, where, along with The Reno Gazette-Journal, we’ll take over Cargo Concert Hall on Thursday, Feb. 11 to talk about health care issues and, of course, share more local craft-brewed beer and music with the crowd. Then, it’s on to Phoenix in March to talk immigration and Palm Springs (during the millennial-heavy Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival week) to concentrate on climate change. The full tour schedule is on our site at onenation.usatoday.com.

Come have a beer with me, @lizkellynelson, and we’ll talk — not about who to vote for, but why it’s important to vote at all. Not bad for an apathetic Gen-Xer, eh?

Liz Nelson’s job it to reach new audiences with USA TODAY NETWORK content. She was previously managing editor of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., and was the Washington Post’s Celebritologist for several critical Lindsay Lohan-rich years.  Follow One Nation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.