Blog

Perks vs. True Power in Google+

Max — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:00:22 -0500

The real power of a Google+ presence is not found in its video conferencing functionality, or in its small but focused userbase. The real power of Google+ lies in its capacity to influence your social connections outside of the social media platform itself.

Social Media Dedicated to Politics?

Max Luckey — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:29:48 -0400

Social media has seen a meteoric rise in its use by political campaigns. Most high-profile campaigns have at least some form of Facebook page, and many also make use of a Twitter account. The advantage is clear: social media offers a way to access a broad audience, freely push information to followers, and allow users to interact directly with the campaign. Of course, Facebook and Twitter are general platforms used in any number of ways by any number of people – political campaigns constitute just a fraction of the user base. Now there’s a social media platform dedicated exclusively to electoral politics: Election Candidates.

A Bridge Across the Digital Divide From Obama

Max Luckey — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:19:24 -0400

President Obama made it clear in February that the expansion of high-speed internet access across the United States is an integral part of his plan to build out American infrastructure. This is probably welcome news to anyone living in a rural area without access to the Internet, but it should also be well received by anyone involved in digital campaigning.

jQuery FormLabels Plugin

Andrei Zharau — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:23:45 -0400

The idea of using captions on form input boxes is not new, but all previous methods of providing this functionality have a few disadvantages. The jQuery FormLabels Plugin is a result of working with hundreds of different clients, sites, and especially forms. Every form is different, so building a uniform label generator was not an easy task. The plugin has a few advantages over other plugins and "tricks" with similar functionality.

Microsoft TownHall - A Giant Sails in Unfamiliar Waters.

Jonathan Karush — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:54:56 -0400

At the 2010 Politics Online Conference, the annual gathering of polinerds (a term of endearment), Microsoft announced its foray into the political space. They released a product, called TownHall, designed to create a new engagement platform for civic purposes. The system will allow elected officials, nonprofits, essentially anyone, to create an instant poll, track feedback, and provide points for individuals who engage in a certain amount of activity.

Tennessee Awarded $500 million in Race to the Top

Jonathan Karush — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:59:34 -0400

Liberty client Tennessee Race to the Top (http://tnracetothetop.org/) helps secure $500 million as the first state to win a substantial award in the Obama administration's innovative program for rewarding states that make siginificant improvements in educational policy. Liberty is working with many states to help them organize public support for the reforms.

Text 60501 to Support Your Candidate - Future of Text Donations?

Jonathan Karush — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:24:20 -0500

It has been hard to escape the new fundraising method employed for the Haiti earthquake crisis. Text 'Haiti' to #90990, and $10 dollars will be billed to your wireless phone bill - regardless of carrier. This brilliant system, spearheaded by Liberty colleagues Mobile Accord (http://www.mobileaccord.com), has raised more than $10 million for the Red Cross in its Haitian relief efforts. The contribution method has been widely praised by pundits and donors. The extreme ease of giving lowers the transactional costs for potential donors.

RP: Facebook Helps Organize Ciudad Juarez Residents Against Crime

Jonathan Karush — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:22:38 -0500

In the Fall of 2009, I participated in a State Department Delegation to Mexico. A major component of our efforts was to find technolgical solutions to the problems of extreme violence across Mexico, especially Ciudad Juarez.