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?

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