Salsa Scoop

On Sitting in Section 214 When Finding Out Whether a Man Lives or Dies: Anatomy of a Successful Online Action

 There's nothing like receiving a verdict of life or death while doing something embarrassingly trivial to force one out of the mundane. It was sometime around the sixth inning of a lackluster dog-days game between two dog teams at seemingly vacant RFK Stadium that my old comrade had a text message reporting that a man won't be put to death tomorrow. Such a tiny little message, and so many mountains moved to get it.  

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02:43 AM Jul 17, 2007 - 1 comments permalink

Come On In, The Water's Fine: Kintera Joins DIA in the Open API Club?

 Kintera yesterday announced an "upcoming open application integration platform" that appears to kinda-sorta mark the long-awaited first hint of the giant CRM providers prying open their APIs and letting outside developers build out the power of their tools for custom cases without forking over a couple grants' worth of fees. NTEN is promising a forthcoming call to get into what's really opening and what's not, but as an open API shop since day one, we'd like to welcome the big K to the party, and assure them that it's a real blast if you come in past the cloakroom. And the party only improves by more guests bringing APIs. 

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06:18 PM Jul 11, 2007 - 3 comments permalink

Say EHLO to email deliverability

 Email. Its a pretty basic thing. You want to say "Hey" to our friend and invite him over for the game. So, you fire up that streamlined AJAX-y web client and fire off an email. Your friend gets the email, he says he'll bring the chips and beverages if you'll supply the main course and the TV. He'll even bring a few of his friends and that will be great. You reply back to his reply and the event is set. "What did we ever do without email?," you think. Then, the light bulb appears. "I'd bet we can apply this to what we do at work and I'd be a hero!", you say aloud. Unfortunately, you have only seen the tip of the cold, cold monolithic iceberg that is email deliverability.  

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03:00 PM Jul 10, 2007 - 2 comments permalink

DemocracyInAction Closed July 9 and 10

 This Monday and Tuesday, we'll be officially closed as the burgeoning DemocracyInAction team -- including all the new non-D.C. staff -- dons its ceremonial garb and convenes an organizational retreat. Responses to support tickets will run a bit slower than usual, though we'll still keep an eye on them -- now's a great opportunity to get acquainted with the user manual and other documentation. Emergency technical support -- for things like "the system's down" or "e-mail isn't going out" -- will continue to be on hand 24/7 through tech at democracyinaction dot org, but as usual, please don't use this address for general support questions. Any other inquiries are welcome as always, but be aware that we might not be able to return a message until later in the week. 

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09:42 PM Jul 08, 2007 - 1 comments permalink

Tech Workshops at the USSF2007 - 3rd post

 Quite a few days have passed since my last blog entry. You may conclude that as the Forum heated up, Kip and I got totally engrossed and could no longer focus properly on sharing our experiences with our loyal readers.

Progressive Technology Project leadersOn Friday afternoon I attended a workshop by the Progressive Technology Project (PTP)  in which various people presented on how they organized with technology. The presenters were mostly female and people of color – African-American, Native-American, and Latino. It was amazing to see how in this workshop intersection of technology and organizing wasn’t ‘owned’ by a bunch of white dudes with laptops, as is often the case. The nice folks at PTP allowed me to present as well, so I got a chance to showcase DIA in the best possible light. The other stories were amazing though. Example: an organizer from Oakland  talked about women learning to use radio and sound production facilities to create CD’s for local distribution, so as to reach local young people where they are: on the other side of the earphones. An organizer working with migrant TEMPO leader at PTP presentationworkers in Oregon told us about how they established a low power FM radio station. A group of utterly charming teens reported on the training they received in video production, and how they used their skills to teach others skills, as well as values and political education. Wow.

 

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11:33 AM Jul 06, 2007 - 1 comments permalink

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