Flickr photo: solangelemOne of the great things I've noticed since I started participating in this community of "techies for good" is that not only CAN we support and learn from each other by sharing ideas and resources, but that so many of us actually DO share.

This struck me after a panel discussion I attended last week in Portland (Maine). It brought together representatives from the online campaign strategy teams of five local candidates who had gone head-to-head in the recent primary season. These were competing campaigns who sat on a panel together and shared experiences and specific details about their tactics, tools, and even -- gasp -- list sizes!

It all started with Karin Roland, Web Manager for MoveOn.org, who asked the simple question of herself and anyone who would listen:

Why don't we try to learn something from campaign successes and failures, and try to translate even failed campaigns into something to help future advocacy efforts?

Good call, Karin. And thanks to Engage Maine, under the leadership of Ben Dudley, who sponsored the event: "Fresh from the Field: Online Organizing in Maine's 2008 CD1 Primary."

Here is a summary of what struck me as important lessons learned from these campaigns:

> To approach the online communications component of a campaign as one part of broader relationship-building efforts.

Most of the panelists noted that they used email to engage those who already supported the candidate (or cause), not necessarily as a tool to gain new support.

Marc Mallon, who worked on Mark Lawrence's campaign, used the word "empowerment," to describe how their online communications worked with their supporters; both Matt Martin (Adam Cote) and Barbara Burt (Chellie Pingree) used "engage," and Jack Woods (Ethan Strimling) said they used online communications to "keep people in the loop."

Peter Asen (Michael Brennan) made the point that those who ended up donating or taking action in response to an email or through an online form weren't just anonymous people who happened to make a donation out of the ether. These were people who had multiple interactions with the campaign (phone, events, door-knocking). Asen felt that email worked as a good "reminder" to go ahead and make that donation they'd been meaning to make.

> Pay attention to how your messages and other campaign components are performing, using tools such as Google Analytics, so that you can learn and adjust as you go.

Especially in the limited-time format of a political campaign, it's important to be flexible and adjust tactics quickly, as needed.

Do some types of communications work better than others? Is your audience engaging in your social networking group? Do messages from one person get better open rates than messages from another?

We talk a lot about testing and tracking, but it's important to know how to translate those statistics into positive actions by your communications team -- now -- to make a difference.

> Don't over-estimate the effectiveness of social networking (especially for short campaigns).

Several of the panelists noted that they used Facebook and MySpace, and had some online communities identified with their campaigns, but that these weren't effective for generating actions or donations -- or votes.

But they all pointed out that these tools and forms of media shouldn't be overlooked, either. It's a matter of setting goals, understanding your audience, and allocating time, resources, and expectations accordingly.

One of the most successful online communications components that Jack Woods' campaign organized, however, was live-blogging with the candidate. They set up a time for their candidate to be online to discuss the issues relevant for the day. Woods noted that they gained new donors as a direct result of those online sessions.

At the end of the discussion, Karin (who did an excellent job moderating) asked a general question meant to provide the panelists with the opportunity to offer some parting tips to the audience:

"In the end, are there any technology tips or tools that you particularly and personally like that you can share?"

And, though the answers given probably weren't what Karin was after, I thought they were great: Everyone agreed that both coffee and a network of people who can help you are essential and most appreciated.