Archive for September, 2009
Huzzahs all around — a new Drupal project I worked on has gone live! On this one, I got to do the fun part (the design work) while a tech firm handled the process of turning it into a functioning website. It’s for an organization attempting to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska and the people and industries that depend on it, and we were lucky enough to get to work with some absolutely stunning photographs. Check out the header fade on the front page — came out better than I would have hoped, particularly the color transitions in the text portions.
My part ended as soon as I handed in a photoshop file and the final images for the topbar (along with a site marketing plan), and it’s always fascinating to see to how your idea gets translated into a working site — take a look at the final design comp and check out the differences. In this case, the site’s last details are still under construction (I hope they’ll add the blue bar that frames the topbar in the original design, for instance, plus the site lacks a real HTML title, an SEO no-no), but it’s great to see it finally go live. And this project has opened up a potential new line of business, creating designs and templates for technology firms building sites in Drupal and WordPress. In an economy that still ain’t looking too pretty, it never hurts to have a new angle.
– cpd
September 30th, 2009
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Part Two of How Candidates Can Use the Internet to Win in 2010
Using the internet for politics may seem new, but most online campaigning at some level just reincarnates classic political acts in digital form. For instance, you can think of a website as the electronic version of a storefront office, while the process of working with bloggers is a lot like old-school print or broadcast media relations.
But compared with traditional political tools, the internet truly excels at maintaining relationships with many people at once. Channels like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and email connect campaigns directly with their donors and volunteers, providing easy paths to distribute news, messaging points, event invitations and appeals for time and money. With planning and effort, the connection can go both ways, letting a campaign actively tap the social connections and even the creativity of its supporters.
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September 28th, 2009
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Also published on techPresident and K Street Cafe
Another Twitter-inspired idea from Thursday’s CAP/Internet Advocacy Roundtable discussion: when Alan Rosenblatt talked about Tweeting to “influence the influentials,” he didn’t just mention policymakers, the press and policy professionals. He also brought up the idea of “network influentials,” by which he meant people who reach large numbers of others either publicly or behind-the-scenes. Alan specifically included national and state-level bloggers, prominent Twitterers, individual activists with large personal networks and administrators of sizable email lists, but he basically meant anyone with a following.
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September 27th, 2009
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Shireen Mitchell made a subtle point at today’s Internet Advocacy Roundtable discussion: people often refer to Twitter as an online social network, but she doesn’t think of it that way. To her, Twitter itself isn’t a social network, it’s a communications channel that lets users create their own social networks.
That makes sense to me, since classic networks require a back-and-forth relationship as on Facebook, but Twitter-following isn’t necessary reciprocal — you may be following Ashton Kutcher but I doubt he’s following you. Connections on Twitter CAN be reciprocal if people follow each other, and even better they can be truly collaborative if many voices participate in a distributed conversation via hashtags or other aggregators. We should just be careful not to confuse the human/social networks with the technology that makes connections possible. We create the relationships; the technology just gives us the chance.
– cpd
September 24th, 2009
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The folks over at the Hatcher Group have taken on an interesting project: they’ve surveyed 30 advocacy groups working on state-level issues to find out how they’re using the ‘net in their work. They started with an extensive questionaire and followed up with phone interviews, and they’ve released the results as a report (the e-book bug is catching!). Read the full report and you won’t regret it; here’s a teaser from the intro:
We found that all of the organizations surveyed currently use new media technologies in some capacity, although 44 percent devote less than two hours to the task each week. Nearly all intend to increase the emphasis they place on new media over the next year — with half planning to increase their use significantly and another 40 percent planning a slight increase.
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September 24th, 2009
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Twitter here, Twitter there, Twitter everywhere — but what’s it good for? Come to tomorrow’s Internet Advocacy Roundtable and you’ll find out, since host Alan Rosenblatt has organized a great introduction to microblogging as a political advocacy tool. Shireen Mitchell and I will start with a Twitter 101, and after that we’ll move on to case studies and Q&A. Demand has already been high and the space has filled fast, but you should be able to sneak in if you RSVP beforehand. The speakers:
- Colin Delany, ePolitics.com, @epolitics
- Shireen Mitchell, Digital Sisters, @digitalsista
- Shaun Dakin, Citizens for Civil Discourse, @IsCool and @EndtheRoboCalls
- Alan Rosenblatt, Center for American Progress Action Fund, @CAPAction and @Drdigipol
- Peggy Clark-Woods, AAUW, @AAUW and Claudia Richardson, AAUW, @ClaudiaAAUW
- Gloria Pan, Turner Strategies, @GloPan [Moderator]
If you can’t be there in person, I’ll include the link to the video as soon as I get it.
– cpd
September 23rd, 2009
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- The 30 House Dems at the Top of the GOP’s Target List, plus Redrawing The Lines: Growing National Focus on Redistricting.
- Trendsmap: Twitter Trends + Google Maps = Awesome.
- The Invention of Net Neutrality. How the issue grew online.
- How a Small Nonprofit Used Social Media & Crowd-Sourcing to Win the 2009 Global Giving Challenge.
- MoveOn “Protects” the Insurers via online video.
- YouTube’s Game-Changing New Feature for Nonprofits.
- Republicans and the Social Media Revolution. C.f. Sarah Palin: Who Needs the WSJ When You Have Facebook?
- YouTube, the Right-o-Sphere, and the Anatomy of an ACORN Take Down.
- Can Web Gaming Offset Health Reform Costs?
- Does Millions of Followers Mean You’re Changing the World? Depends on how kickass they are. C.f. The Trouble with (Bad) Metrics.
- Fight The Smears versus The Birthers.
- Congressional Tweeting Data and Practices. C.f. Tweet your issues to Congress.
- Crowdsourcing a Legislative Oops.
- The Obama Roadblock: Why He’s Sagging Online, plus More on Obama’s Roadblock: The White House YouTube Channel.
- The Social Media Marketing Handbook.
- Guerrilla Usability.
- Understanding Users of Social Networks.
- The URL Shorteners that will get you the Most (or Least) ReTweets.
- It’s My Jersey — unusual idea for a campaign site.
- Lies, Damn Lies, and Two Million on the Mall.
- Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck’s life. Nothing to do with online politics, but a hell of a story
- Politics Under 30 — there they are, on my lawn again (note the site’s BarackObama.com-esque layout).
- 10 essential Twitter apps for marketers.
- The irony of Newt Gingrich’s Spanish-language website.
- Twitter “Klout”: A New York City Election Case Study.
- The Extraordinaries: MicroVolunteering At Your Fingertips.
- Revealed: how Congress members sound off about science, based on a Sunlight Foundation search engine.
- ‘You Lie’ Pol Aims for His Own Donation Windfall via Google Ads. Details on Wilson’s online advertising.
- New Book Recalls the Image-Making of Obama’s Campaign. By the head of the campaign’s design team.
- 3121 is Officially Live.
- How to translate social listening into good twitter conversation that supports your objectives.
- Budgeting for Social Media Success.
- The benefits of using Web 2.0 tools: a view from the corporation. C.f. Checklist: Develop a Successful Advocacy Program.
- Elements of a Great Fundraising Offer.
- USAJOBS vs CBO Job Site.
- Is Video the New Advocacy Craze?
- Media Relations Planning — 11 Steps to Success.
- Basic Tips for Evaluating New Technologies for Your Nonprofit.
- Terrorists’ Real Haven is Online.
- Spirit may be stranded, but Opportunity’s studying a half-ton meteorite that’s been sitting on the same spot in the Martian desert for 3.5 billion years.
- DC Government Apps Store. Not to worry you, mom, but note that one of the standout applications helps you figure out whether you’re in an area that’s relatively safe to walk through — or not.
- Deadbeats, Freaks, and Creeps: Your Dating Days Are Numbered. Strap down, this one’s gonna get rough.
– cpd
September 22nd, 2009
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Part One of a series
Barack Obama won’t be on the ballot in November of 2010, but thousands of other candidates will — and he’ll be very much on their minds. His public image will shape the American political environment, of course, but plenty of politicians and political professionals on all sides will also look to his ground-breaking online campaign as an inspiration, seeking to replicate his success at using the internet to raise money, find supporters and put people to work in the real world.
But running for state legislature, a congressional seat, a governorship or even the U.S. Senate is different than running for president, and relatively few down-ballot candidates have done much more than dip their toes in the digital waters so far. That’s likely to change soon: despite the vast gap between a national race and one for dog-catcher, many of the same online political rules apply and most of the same technologies are available. Here’s why state- and local-level campaigns should pay attention to the potential of internet-based politics in 2010.
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September 21st, 2009
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Also published on techPresident
The announcement largely got lost in Friday clutter, but U.S. campaign finance restrictions took a serious hit at the end of last week. With the Roberts Supreme Court already apparently reconsidering past precedents with an eye toward treating corporate and union donations as free speech, a federal appeals court has now ruled on behalf of Emily’s List that nonprofits can use functionally unbounded “soft money” to finance their election-year activities.
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September 20th, 2009
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Proving once again that e.politics has a face made for radio, I went on Karen Jagoda’s Digital Politics show yesterday to talk about using the internet and in particular online video to connect with voters. Ben Chodor of online videoconferencing firm Stream 57 was also in the “room” (we did the whole thing over the phone, since Karen’s on the West Coast), talking about his company’s experience working with candidates to do virtual town hall meetings. We chatted for half an hour and covered a great range of topics, so pull you up a chair and give it a listen. Don’t forget to check out Karen’s past shows! Quite a few friends-of-e.politics have warmed the virtual chairs in her studio.
– cpd
September 18th, 2009
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Interesting times down here in the bunker — yesterday the site happened to hit several milestones all at once. First, the @epolitics Twitter feed (which doubles as my personal account) finally reached its 1000th subscriber, who depending on the exact timing may have been Heather Holdridge, a good friend (she wins valuable prizes, i.e., I’ll buy the next round).
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September 17th, 2009
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Well, he WAS on epolitics.com, and via Google Ad, naturally, but it was still a bit startling to see. Both Rep. Wilson and his Democratic opponent Rob Miller have raised over $1.5 million each as a result of Wilson’s “You Lie!” outburst on the House floor last week, despite Wilson’s suffering a DDOS attack over the weekend that crashed his site. The money came in partly through outside activism on blogs and email lists, but also clearly through direct means such as the ad to the right, which linked through to a fundraising landing page (try this generic version if the other doesn’t work). Google Ads can be a terrific way to capitalize on a burst of media or blog attention, and this example provides a perfect illustration.
I haven’t seen Wilson’s ad since Tuesday, and it’s difficult to know how it was targeted — it was likely aimed at websites that mentioned of his name, of course, but there may have been a geographic angle as well, since it’s common for political advertisers to include the D.C. area even if they’re otherwise targeting a state or district. A note to regular readers: don’t forget to click on those ads! You never know what you might find on the other end.
– cpd
September 17th, 2009
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Hey y’all, if you missed the sound of e.politics parachuting into the FDH Lounge on September 2nd (hello, Cleveland!), never fear — they’ve posted the audio in their archives, so swing on by and give it a listen. The first hour or so is sports talk, then they hit the variety part of the show: a rock and roller, a veteran wrestling writer, the guy who wrote The Wrestler and Big Fan, and then me! Host Rick Morris and I talked for at least half an hour, covering everything from Ted Kennedy to conspiracy theories and propaganda to health care policy around the world. We didn’t always agree, but we had a good time doing it, so don’t miss out — the segment’s in the third hour, right around 2:26 on the slider.
– cpd
September 16th, 2009
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A couple of new resources to check out this week: first, Heather Mansfield has launched a new blog focusing on how nonprofits can use online social tools. Heather’s an expert at using online social networks for advocacy and fundraising, and her NonProfit Tech 2.0 site will join a healthy ecosphere that already includes sites like FrogLoop, Beth’s Blog, Community Organizer 2.0, NonProfit Marketing/Getting Attention and of course e.politics.
Next, and speaking of social networks, National Journal and New Media Strategies are unveiling one this week that’ll be limited to congressmembers and congressional staff. Though it’s officially intended to encourage communication and collaboration among staff, we can only hope that it’ll end up being a source of embarrassing photos for years to come. For more, check out the Project 3121 blog and the initial announcement.
Elsewhere in the consultasphere, Democratic campaign firm NGP Software has absorbed Patton Technologies, and I’ll see you at the celebratory happy hour tonight. Finally, longtime Grassroots Enterprises go-to guy Mike Panetta has gone out on his own (watch out for those rough waters, buddy), and he’s already holding trainings on Facebook Pages for Advocacy and Public Affairs Campaigns and Twitter Strategies for Public Affairs Professionals. Check ‘em out!
– cpd
September 15th, 2009
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