Interested in learning more about digital campaign strategies? Join us for tea at the next Internet Advocacy Roundtable, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Contact arosenblatt@americanprogressaction.org for info.

The Roundtable Returns
Where: Center for American Progress Action Fund, 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
 When: Every Third Thursday of the Month, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

For PODCASTS of past Internet Advocacy Roundtables, click here.
 
 

Read IAC Founder Alan Rosenblatt's Blog (DrDigipol.com), featuring strategies for using the Internet for advocacy and political campaigns and comments on the issues of the day.

You can also read Alan on TechPresident.com.

 
 

IPDI Fellow
I have been named a 2008 Fellow at George Washington University's Institute for Poltics, Democracy, & the Internet. The other Fellows are:

  • Charles Ellison
  • Mindy Finn
  • Judith Freeman
  • Lisa-Marie Von Raepke

Changes at IAC
After many years working as a digital political strategy consultant, I have taken on an exciting, new role as the Associate Director of Online Advocacy for the Center for American Progress. IAC will continue to serve as a virtual think tank for digital politics, providing commentary and researh on the state of politics and advocacy in the digital age.

The monthly Internet Advocacy Roundtable, happily, will continue at its new home as part of the Online Advocacy program at the Center for American Progress. The monthly gathering will remain a small discussion forum, though we will be meeting for afternoon tea instead of lunch. In addition to the monthly Roundtable, look for larger, longer, special topics forums throughout the year.

For those of you still in graduate school, looking for courses on digital politics, I am teaching four, two at Georgetown, one at Johns Jopkins, and one at American University. This Fall, it is Politics and the Media in the Digital Age at Georgetown's Communication, Culture & Technology Master's program. In the Spring, look for Internet Politics at Georgetown and Internet Advocacy Communications at American's School of Communication.

e-Democracy.org's Board of Directors
IAC's Executive Director, Alan Rosenblatt, has joined the Board of Directors of e-Democracy.org. e-Democracy.org (officially known as Minnesota e-Democracy) is the leading innovator in creating local, multi-partisan online issues forums. Founded in 1994 by Steve Clift, it created the world's first election-oriented website. Since then, it has launched and maintains local online issues forums on three continents.

TechPresident.com Blog Team
Check out the TechPresident.com blog for commentary on how the presidential candidates are using the web and how the web is using them.

Read more news about IAC...

 
 

Watch and Hear Presentations
Watch presentation at New Organizing Institute: Inexpensive Options for a Small Budget.
Hear presentation at the OneWorld Peer Learning Forum: Online Advocacy Audits

Internet Politics Library
Learn more about the world of Internet politics with IAC's Internet Politics Library. This is a growing repository of information and resources about Internet politics and related topics. If you have any recommendations for adding to this library, please send us your suggestions to library@InternetAdvocacyCenter.com.

Information, Action, Community
Think of these as increasingly more sophisticated uses of the internet for advocacy. The simplest use of the internet is to inform citizens, the media, and policymakers about your campaign and the issues. A more sophisticated use is to use the internet to mobilize people to take action, providing them the tools to act immediately. The most sophisticated use of the internet is to build strategic advocacy communities that turn your activists email lists into a social network that will champion your cause.

Tools are not strategy
Websites, email lists, discussion forums, chatrooms, podcasts, online ads, and blogs are just tools. Unless you use them strategically, they are of no value to your campaign.

  1. Identify your strategic goals.
  2. Develop a strategic plan.
  3. Select the tools you need to achieve your goals.
  4. Configure your tools so they effectively support your strategy.
  5. Implement your strategic plan.