Blog: Politics

Social Networking, Privacy, and Independent Performing Art This Week in Washington, DC

After a long holiday weekend filled with the requisite barbecues and fireworks parties, it's time to get back into the swing of things at work. Why not ease into the work week by indulging your hobbies after hours by attending some local tech events? It might even help you avoid the pesky evening thunderstorms that seem to hit just as your leaving the the office.

Here's a look at what's happening in the world of tech in Washington, DC this week. A full listing of tech events is over at DC Tech Events. 

Tuesday, July 8

Noon to 1:00 pm

Lunch 2.0: Lunch with other technologists to talk about - what else - technology. It's a great way to escape the office for a midday reprieve with people that get what you do. 

Wednesday, July 9

6:00 pm

A Few Topics We'd Like to Talk and Learn More About

If you follow our blog at all, then you know that we're excited about Rootscamp this weekend. In addition to meeting and reconnecting with many of the people running this year's political campaigns, we're particularly looking forward to hearing about what online tools have given them the best returns and to share some ideas we have. 

Being that Rootscamp is an unconference, everyone that attends needs to be prepared to present too at any given moment. So the other day over lunch we got to talking about what we could present on, which of course led to a few conversations on topics we'd love other people to present on. Here's what we came up with. If you're at Rootscamp tomorrow and are interested in these topics too, then cast your vote for them.

To Present On:

• What tools are out there to track news and a quick look at our tool Managing News
• How campaigners are reacting and acting on the news and what else they can be doing
• Using existing tools like Flickr, Twitter, etc. in campaigns to grab attention
• Intro to Drupal for developers
• Intro to Drupal for hackers
• Intranets and knowledge management - what you could be doing

To Attend:

• News tracking - what's working for campaigners and what's needed
• Deciphering social media - how campaigners know who to listen to
• Campaign wishlist - what technology you wish you had

We'll have a table at the job fair Sunday afternoon where we'll be demoing our news tracking tool Managing News, so stop by and check out what it can do. 

One Week Countdown to Rootscamp

Earlier this week I mentioned that most of us from Development Seed will be headed to Rootscamp next weekend. It will be fascinating to hear stories from the campaign trail about big wins and disasters, and it will be great to meet the people who are helping the candidates I'm pulling for.  But I have to admit, I'm almost equally excited about how the conference is formatted.

As an unconference, Rootscamp is truly organized by the people there based on what they want to talk about and listen to. And it has all the equalizing factors that we should strive for in an event meant to attract a wide swath of people - it's free to attend and communal rides and accommodations are facilitated. This is such a great approach for events like Rootscamp that attract campaigners and activists, and I'd love to see even more people follow it for events about politics, advocacy, and open source. In this spirit, we decided to sponsor the communal sleeping space for the out of towners on a budget and willing to brave a hard wooden floor in a beautiful old mansion.

If this is you, just sign up here and you'll be able to sleep on the floor of the Josephine Butler Parks Center. The place happens to be in a great neighborhood and Development Seed's former neighborhood, so I thought I'd share a few local picks for the budget-minded ahead of next weekend. See some recommendations after the jump.

The Unconference for Online Politics Coming to DC April 12 and 13

Lately we've been blogging about some of the great events happening in Washington, DC, and today is no different. That's because we're all very excited about the upcoming Rootscamp, taking place April 12 and 13 in Washington, DC. This is one of the neater conferences out there, partly because it follows the unconference mentality of making the event open for everyone (both in non-limiting admission fees and in open presentations) and partly because it brings some of the biggest players in the world of politics and online communications together to talk about online strategies that work. Anyone can present on something they've tried that's worked - or failed miserably - and about ideas they have. They also serve mimosas for breakfast, which in my book is a big +1 for any conference. 

Well Written, Unique Emails Stand Out in Crowded Inboxes

I’m still deciding which candidate to support in the primaries. This means I get a lot of email every day from the several candidates I’m following. I don’t pour over every message that hits my inbox. Usually I delete most without a thought and only read the ones that really catch my eye, which doesn’t happen all that often. Today I was excited to get an email that not only caught my eye but also kept my attention. 

There were two reasons this particular message worked – it was a clever idea and it was incredibly well written. The message itself was essentially just an email forward. Senator Chris Dodd forwarded me an update he got from his online director on how his online campaign is doing in comparison to the other campaigns. (Disclaimer: We designed the Senator’s first presidential website at the end of last year and helped with online strategy but haven’t worked with his team recently.)

The mass email forward has been done before by candidates and advocacy groups, but this one surpassed other efforts I’ve seen. Its personal tone and great writing throughout made me scroll down to read the entire email chain – and happy that I did. The email even made me want to donate so Dodd can beat John Edwards’ fundraising goal, and I like both candidates.

Kudos to the Dodd team for sending out a superb email – I think you’ll see a good boost to your fundraising numbers from it. I’d love to see some smaller organizations try to replicate this message for their causes. The returns will easily transfer to many issues, and sending supporters an honest and unique email like this will make a good impact when it’s well done.

Read the message and pay special attention to the tone and writing style throughout it – that’s what really sets this apart and makes the message work.

Obama Tests Out Political Ringtones

One of the pieces of tech advice I’ve heard over and over again in the past few months is that if political candidates want to engage younger voters they need to do it on their turf and in their language. This is good advice, and in many ways it seems to be sinking in. But unfortunately it hasn’t translated to all new mediums.

On the face of it, Barack Obama’s new ringtones are fantastic and a smart new medium to experiment with. Last year ringtones became a $500 million industry in the United States. Statistically, last year almost half of all ringtone downloaders were under 25, according to a study by the NPD Group. Of downloaders, 22% of downloaders were between 18 and 24 years old and 26% were between the ages of 13 and 17. The latter group may not help your get out the vote efforts but can be great for building momentum.