Dissecting the craft of online politics, advocacy and political marketing
“Epolitics.com, a one-stop shop for tools and tactics of online campaigning”
The Washington Post, June 9, 2007
“In politics, an absurdity is not a handicap”
Napoleon Bonaparte
Bio of Epolitics.com editor Colin Delany below. Information about consulting services available here.
Lots of websites talk about politics — talk and talk and talk — but only a handful discuss much more than a particular point of view. Relatively few discuss online advocacy and online politics broadly and as a craft, focusing on what methods work and when, and without selling a particular product or consultancy.
What follows is my attempt to fill that gap with a solid introduction to the world of doing politics and advocacy online. I’m not interested in glittering generalities about the potential of digital networks in the political sphere but rather in the nuts and bolts of actually using the web, email and related technologies to try to change the world.
e.politics can’t cover everything you might use, and it certainly can’t cover all options in the kind of depth they deserve, but I hope it WILL give you an overview of the tools and methods that can help you spread your ideas around the world and mobilize other people to help. Along the way, you might just figure out how to get elected or start a movement. How you use the information is up to you.
As you experiment, I hope you’ll come back and let everyone else know how it went — much of the value of this site is going to come from your comments on articles.
Who’s Behind This Thing?
The great thing about running a website is that you get to appoint yourself an expert. So, poof! I’m an expert.
But I do have a little experience working in the political world in general and in online politics in particular. After an early-’90s stint in the Texas Capitol (a place where politics is generally considered a contact sport), in 1995 I helped to start the original e.politics, which was an email-based legislative and regulatory alert service that unfortunately never quite worked as advertised. In 1999, I helped to start politicalinformation.com, a targeted search engine for politics and policy (now preserved by an online museum!), and served as its editor, public face and chief business development/P.R. guy.
After both companies went the way of all well-intentioned but inadequately capitalized ideas, I worked for several years as a graphic designer and communications consultant, helping a wide variety of advocacy groups build an online presence. From 2003 to 2007, I worked full-time at the National Environmental Trust as their online communications manager. In that role, I tried everything I could to help spread the word about our issues and mobilize supporters. Along the way, I’ve given most of the methods described on e.politics a shot. Particularly the cheap ones. Since the beginning of 2008, I’ve gone back to consulting — if you need some help, drop me a note and let’s chat.
Some caveats: I’ve never run a political candidate’s campaign and I don’t have much direct experience with local political organizing, so for this site, I’ve had to supplement my own experience with that of others who know more than I do. Also, with ANY of these methods, Your Mileage May Vary — give them a try, but none is a panacea.
A final note about my own politics: as you can guess from my old client list, I’m a lefty, though hardly an orthodox one. My own political opinions may creep into e.politics occasionally, but the site is really about how people are using the internet for politics, not about which side I wish would win.
Colin Delany
July, 2006
(updated May, 2008)
cpd@epolitics.com
202-422-4682
Official Bio:
More about consulting services from Colin Delany and e.politics
Colin Delany is founder and chief editor of Epolitics.com, a site that focuses on the tools and tactics of Internet politics and online political advocacy. Epolitics.com received the Golden Dot Award as “Best Blog - National Politics” at the 2007 Politics Online Conference, and Delany was a part of DC Fox affiliate WTTG-25’s live coverage of the 2008 presidential election results. Delany also wrote the e-books Learning from Obama: Lessons for Online Communicators in 2009 and Beyond, How Candidates Can Use the Internet to Win in 2010, and Online Politics 101: The Tools and Tactics of Online Political Advocacy, together downloaded from Epolitics.com over 60,000 times.
Delany cut his political teeth in the early ’90s in the Texas Capitol (where politics is considered a contact sport) and began working in the online political world in 1995. In 1999, he helped to start a targeted search engine for politics and policy, which he rode into inevitable oblivion during the first Internet boom and bust. Since then, Delany has worked as a consultant to help dozens of advocacy campaigns promote themselves in the digital world, and between 2003 and 2007 was the Online Communications Manager at the National Environmental Trust. In January of 2010, he joined the firm New Media Strategies as a Strategic Manager in the public affairs section. He also plays bass in a rock and roll band.
Colin has spoken or led sessions at:
- Upcoming: Lutheran Services in America Disability Network session on E-Advocacy (April 2009)
- Upcoming: Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo panel, Political Search: Preparing for Search in 2010 (March, 2009)
- Kennedy Center National Partnerships Annual Meeting, presentation on Online Communications (February 2009)
- RootsCampDC session: But I Don’t Have a Billion Dollars! (December 2008)
- ReThinkMedia webinar on Blogs and Blogger Relations (October 2008)
- Intitute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet Author Discussion: Online Politics 101 (August, 2008)
- Craigslist Foundation Nonprofit Boot Camp Presentation: Online Communications On A Shoestring Budget (with Laura Quinn, August 2008)
- New Organizing Institute training on Political Video (July 2008)
- Vocus Public Relations Software webinar on Blogs and Blogger Relations (July 2008)
- Democracy in Action Conference panel on Integrated Online Communications Campaigns (June 2008)
- Media Future Now panel on Intellectual Property and Digital Culture (June 2008)
- USC Annenberg School/Knight Digital Media Center panel, Election ‘08: Unleashing the Cyber-watchdogs (April 2008)
- Advocates for Youth E-Organizing Session (April 2008)
- NonProfit Technology Conference (March 2008)
- South by Southwest Interactive (March 2008)
- Politics Online Conference (March 2008)
- Online Advocacy Center panel on Political Online Advertising (February 2008)
- American Marketing Association panel on Political Marketing (December 2007)
- World Resources Institute panel on Social Media (October 2007)
- Progressive Communicators of D.C. Blogger Outreach Panel (August 2007)
- Neighborhood Networks National Training Conference (August 2007)
- Election 2008: Covering Politics in Cyberspace, a symposium sponsored by the Knight New Media Center/USC Annenberg School for Communication (April 2007)
- N-Ten Nonprofit Technology Conference (April 2007)
- Politics Online Conference (March 2007)
- New Organizing Institute Online Activism Training (February 2007)
- The Beltway Blogger Bootcamp (October 2006)
Besides participating in WTTG-25’s live election-night coverage on November 4, 2008, Delany has also been interviewed on or participated in discussions on Minnesota Public Radio, XM Radio’s POTUS 2008 channel, SignOnRadio’s Digital Politics Show, KOMO (Seattle) News Radio, German Public Radio and Radio Singapore International. He has been cited as a source by publications and news outlets including The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, Mother Jones, Campaigns and Elections magazine, National Journal’s Technology Daily and The Hotline, Slate.com, Online Media Daily, the Associated Press and the North Jersey Record. Besides his own e-book, “Online Politics 101: The Tools and Tactics of Online Advocacy,” which can be downloaded at epolitics.com, Colin has also contributed articles to the following publications and websites:
- TheRoot.com
- Harnessing the Power of Social Networks: Campaign 2008 Taps Into the Virtual Grid (essay available here)
- Person-to-Person-to-Person: Harnessing the Political Power of Online Social Networks and User Generated Content (Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet)
- Email Marketing by the Numbers
- techPresident
- Fem 2.0
- K Street Cafe
- Idealware
- Social Media Today
He was also cited extensively as a source in the 2007 book The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Delany lives in a secluded bunker in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC.
