Candidate appearances have long been a staple of American campaigns, yet we don't know much about what happens when elites meet the masses. In 2006, we conducted a statewide field experiment assessing the effectiveness of personal appearances by the incumbent governor. Republican Rick Perry's campaign appearances were randomly assigned to specific media markets for 3 days in January 2006, while we simultaneously collected public opinion, media coverage, contribution, and volunteer data. We find increased public support for Perry, but also increased support for his Democratic opponent. Contrary to some recent studies of TV advertising, appearance effects persisted for at least 1 week. The tone of news media coverage of the governor's appearances doesn't influence the mobilization of Perry voters, but less favorable stories might exacerbate countermobilization effects. Perry's appearances were more unambiguously effective in generating contributions and volunteers.