The way people communicate is changing at an increasingly accelerated pace. Businesses, government, organizations of all kinds and even individuals are racing to adapt to this new dynamic and understand its reach and anticipate its trajectory. Evidence of its impact is all around us.
In Virginia politics the extent of the impact of the blogosphere is hotly debated but the fact that it did have an important impact is not doubted among serious analysts. Will any of this look the same in 3 to 5 years? Unlikely.
Next month the DPVA will roll out its new web site. This is a good thing and will be of great interest to the Democratic Party throughout Virginia.
The local Democratic committees, for the most part, need an upgrade as well. Any web site is only one component of an overall marketing, communication and information management strategy GÇô or at least it should be. What should that larger picture look like for local committees? How does a web site play in that strategy? Should a web site be a content management system (CMS) as well? What of consistent branding? Who are we trying to reach? What is our focus product? Can our customers find what they need quickly and easily?
If this is starting to sound like a business, it is. We are in the business of politics and we need an upgrade.
Most local committees do not have the funds to spend on a sophisticated communication strategy. However there are really good communication technology Democrats around the Commonwealth. We can do far more collectively than we can do individually.
There are quite a few non-technical people responsible for the local committee web presence. Should they be involved with the technical people? Absolutely! The reason is that the first step in building a truly effective web site is to understand your customerGÇÖs requirements. The customer has to be actively involved to ensure the web site becomes the effective tool the local committees need. It is time the grassroots has a hand in shaping the tools they will need to build the party.
The idea of the Democratic Technology Partnership is to begin a discussion among people responsible for technology in the Democratic Party. The first step in any discussion is to bring the right people together. If you are a web master in the Democratic Party or you are a Democratic activist with a background in technology, you should consider joining the discussion. If you are interested please email us at vademz@googlegroups.com.
Thanks!
BTW, I think the national party is starting to model its web presense after the DFA website. I have heard that they now have links to a spaces for local parties. I think taking a look at what they are doing would be the place to start.
Also, look at the http://www.democracy... site. They have a training section and special info on candidates they are supporting among other things. They have a DFA-link section which is a space for all local oranizations. This site also offers training sessions which allow people at remote locations to train using the computer and the telephone in online classes.
There is much more which can be done as well. In particular, I think that real time communcation during the runup to an election is important.
Some people have worried that having a lot of info on the web will allow the Republicans to learn our "strategy". If that is a concern there can be a section which is protected for online discussions of strategy. However, there does need to be an open section for information about how new people can get involved.
If anyone would like to contact me to discuss more ideas please feel free to send me an e-mail.
Anyway, the point is go ahead and post or write your article. This is grassroots and that means not necessarily slick. Of course its best to be able to hire someone to manage the website, but most of us are volunteers.