It's the most wonderful time of the year: RootsCamp!

Hosted by the New Organizing Institute, a great organization we're proud to call a Salsa user, RootsCamp is an essential stop on the online organizing training circuit. At ten bucks for a bustling "unconference" with political strategist and professional communicators who seriously know their onions, you'd be crazy not to come.

Since you're here in town anyway, do like the e.politics man says and join Wired For Change and Salsa Labs and get planted pre-Rootscamp tonight from 8 p.m. to late at the Salsa offices at 1700 Connecticut Avenue NW (the corner of Connecticut and R, right above the Starbucks).

'Twas the night before Rootscamp and all through DC Progressives were looking for something to see. Ready to talk about topics so varied, They begin looking 'round for a place to be merry.

When up above Dupont there rose such a cry. They said to themselves, "hey, let's go stop by!" On R street they found a party so sweet-- There was booze to be drunk and people to meet.

They wanted to drink and rock really hard But karaoke killed careers and georgetown killed bars. Come rock band! Come Guitar Hero! Come whiskey! Come Beer! Salsa Labs threw a rager, and you heard it here.

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The New Organizing Institute's three-day boot camp wrapped with a lighthearted session from Zack Exley which in my Day 3 notes is distinguished by nothing but the text of his single powerpoint slide. Zack ran a little confessional, goading attendees into owning up to e-activism sins both venal and cardinal, which elicited this priceless nugget whose author and origin we'll leave safely obscure...

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The sequel to Day One of these notes from the New Organizing Institute, with Day Two spent ill abed.

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Greg Green, Blue State Digital

Difference between CRM & CMS Use CRM to track and contact campaign's supporter Use CMS to edit web site w/o a lot of updating Handy for 1. when there are a lot of people on the campaign updating things 2. when there are people in different locations who all need to access/update data 3. essential if there's a pretty large database of people you're contacting regularly and trying to track (e.g., you want to make sure you don't ask for money the day after they gave...)

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With apologies for the late notice, Chris Lundberg from DIA will be offering a public demonstration of the Salsa interface Friday, March 9 from 4 to 5 at the conclusion of the New Organizing Institute March training. It's free and open to the public -- you need not have attended NOI to join. Current user? Prospective user? Just happen to be in town and want to know what all the hype is about? Come on down. We need to keep a head count, so bang it here for directions and to let us know you'll be joining us.

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They're not pretty, but they're breathy with the immediacy of being there -- the New Organizing Institute training, to be exact. Oh, and Item! What prominent e-politics blogger actually takes his notes longhand? We won't tell, but he's ... ah, the devil, it's Colin at e.politics. The completeness, precision and comprehensibility of these notes are not warrantied.

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Morning session: Madeleine Stanionis, "Raising $$$ and Activating Supporters with Email"

Computer being obnoxious so parentheticals following are ex post facto recollections of an excellent presentation.

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