NEW YORK – Anita Ondine, Mo Koyfman, and Mark Lukasiewcz rallied to discuss the economics of digital media as a kickoff to the WGAE’s new digital media education program. The message? Pretty simple. It’s time for writers in the guild to get their hustle on and online.

It’s been two years since the Writer’s Strike, and in those two years the entertainment industry has been revolutionized by technologists and entrepreneurs, many attempting to democratize media distribution, kill the old models (cable, primetime, and even advertising), and move to transform the experience of consumption into a deeply engaging and social one.

With ubiquitous connectivity, the result of broadband penetration and expansion of mobile platforms, consumers now count web video series, internet radio, podcasts, celebrity and twitters, blogs, tumblogs, multiplayer gaming, and more, as additions to previously limited traditional choices of TV, radio, and feature films.

The integration of social interactions by these new media forms and the personal choice of distribution channel, model, and time of day, have required a rapid reinvention of an industry previously caught off guard by cable television nearly overnight.

 Even more complicated is that what’s true today, what’s available today, who is using it today, will likely not be true three months from now.

With the recent launch of HBO’s online web channel, Hulu’s evolving free-to-pay model, companies like Next New Networks, individuals like you and me with our LOL kittens, puppies, and kids, Tim Spatz, creator of beer drinking show Tap That and the advent of many others, alongside revenue generation, distribution, this is an industry in which change is now a constant variable.

It’s surprising to learn that at the heart of the disruption is a union voice. It’s no secret that unions are seen as bastions of the old guard and the old ways. What makes this series and exploration of the WGA’s strategy worth writing about is that it belies a movement towards encouraging and empowering writers to become evangelists for their own personal presences online, so that they are not only producers of content, but consumers and likely innovators for how that content and those technologies being formed.

But, really, writers as technologists?

Indeed! Writers have been writing for digital media since its inception, in fact last year the guild tripled its number of digital media signatories. Unfortunately, writers haven’t always had a voice at the bargaining table and were long setback by the disruption caused by cable television. As writers do more and more work in digital media in both entertainment and news, it’s undeniable that the industry needs to be nimble and profitable and not fall into the struggles that continue to plague print journalism.

Perhaps one reason we aren’t yet seeing the kind of turmoil that journalists and newspapers are struggling with is that video storytelling arm of the entertainment industry has long had a pay-for-play model.  However,  Mark Lukasiewicz aptly answered:

“It’s a mistake to think all the rules of the game have changed. Facts still matter. Sharp analysis still matters. Strong narratives and compelling characters still matter. Almost all of the things that made great TV journalism a generation ago still make great video storytelling today.”

I asked Lowell Peterson, executive director of WGA and Elana Levin, communications director of WGA, a few questions about the future, problems of the past, and the overall relevance of the union alongside rapid technology-driven innovation:

Q: What were some of the major downfalls and challenges and historical mistakes that were made when cable came out for writers and fair compensation?

At first the programs made for cable channels were pretty basic and low budget. The production models were fluid and writers were not paid much. As I understand it, there was a general consensus that the Guild should wait until the economics became more favorable. (And some of the cable television producers did not want to deal with the union.)

Unfortunately, this meant that basic cable grew up non-Guild; when the business and production models crystallized, we were simply not there. The high-quality shows on premium cable are all Guild, but there are large swaths of non-Guild programming on the basic channels.

Q. Have writers been as surprised and caught off guard as the newspaper, magazine, and print industry or have they been able to roll with the rapid change?

WGAE members are keenly aware of the shifts in their industries – broadcast news, public television, comedy/variety, dramatic television, film, and so forth. The rise of digital media was the central issue in the 2007-2008 strike.

People were focused, not only on getting paid when their material was streamed or downloaded from the internet, but on Guild coverage for material made for digital distribution in the first place.

Our members are eager to learn more about the creative and economic trends in digital media and to develop and the skills they need to participate. We know the change is already happening and that it is fundamental, and we are positioned in this space.

Q: How is the Writer’s Guild organizing to stay ahead of the technology? What will keep this union relative as writers become their own agents?

We are immersed in a digital media education program. We read everything we can get our hands on; we present seminars, workshops, and classes; and (perhaps most importantly) we talk with lots and lots of people who are active in digital media.

By that I mean people who create content and people who finance and distribute it. This helps us learn what is happening but it also helps us insert the writers’ perspective into the conversation.

The business and distribution models are not set. The narrative structures and styles are still being developed. By becoming active in the digital world now, when it is still mostly unformed, the Guild can help shape it and make sure that the interests of the content creators are fully recognized.

It is true that, at this point, the traditional production and ownership structures have not taken hold in the digital realm. There are major studios and broadcasters producing original content for the internet, and we are representing the people who write that content.

But a lot of the work is done by writer-owned companies, some of which are quite small. We do have some experience with that model, particularly in independent film and to some extent in public television, but we think there will be a lot more of it in digital media.

The open structure of the internet makes this possible; creators do not have to work with major studios to get access to audiences. The Writers Guild will remain very relevant to writers in this model because the money is still coming from other sources – advertisers, sponsors, foundations, studios, distributors, whomever – and we will help maximize the amount of that money going to the writers.

Also, people get their health and pension benefits through the Guild including people who own their own companies. Their benefits are portable between Guild covered jobs because the benefits plan is already set up to accommodate freelance and independent writers. And the Guild is a creative community.

The educational and social events we present to our members are very important. Writers learn from each other, they network, they rely on each to think about style and structure and career. Fundamentally, a vibrant community of creators can improve conditions; working together, writers can improve compensation and can assert greater creative control over their work. That is what we are here to do.

We are still learning how to monitor the flow of Guild-covered content over the internet and mobile devices to make sure writers are getting paid properly. The monitoring technology is developing rapidly; web sites and other distribution companies rely on it to attract advertisers. So we will get this right, soon.
Digital technology has made it much easier for writers to bypass the majors and get their work to audiences directly.

At the same time, getting audiences to pay attention requires people to do many different things – putting themselves out in all the social media, taking on more production tasks, and raising money. We have a training program to help people do those things. The more work that Guild members do in the digital world, the better the conditions will be. And the more that people writing for digital media participate in the Guild, the stronger we will be.

Speaker Bios:

Anita Ondine—CEO of Seize the Media, which creates and finances transmedia entertainment properties that fully integrate feature films, TV and web series, mobile micro-narratives and gaming applications

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Moshe “Mo” Koyfman—Principal at Spark Capital, a venture capital firm focused on the media, entertainment and technology industries.

Mark Lukasiewicz—VP of NBC News specials and digital media.

Lowell Peterson, executive director of the Writers Guild of America, East, launched the Writers’ Guild 2.0 initiative to to address the changing territory of digital content, ensuring that writers are at the table when decisions are made that impact their creative lives and livelihood.

Previously Peterson was a partner at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, a firm specializing in all aspects of labor law practice. He has extensive union experience, including work with the AFL-CIO, UAW, Communications Workers of America, NABET, and Laborers, among others. Representing laid off workers in the Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies, he won tens of millions of dollars in severance pay, and in many other cases he has defended unions from attacks on organizing and other activities and successfully litigated against employers for evading contract obligations.

Elana Levin, director of communications for the Writers Guild of America, East, a labor union that represents professional writers in film, television, digital media and radio. (The union just organized writers of an iPhone app– cool!) Most recently Elana was Assistant Director of Communications for New Media for the SEIU affiliate Workers United and before that, UNITE HERE.

She ran communications for the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy where she launched the popular DMIBlog. Elana has done everything from press to organizing for unions, community groups and has worked many New York Primary Elections while keeping some of her personal belongings intact. 

She blogs on Daily Kos, Huffington Post & tweets at @Elana_Brooklyn & @WGAEast.

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Social Assets (Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, YouTube Channel, etc.) are marketing channels that help you get your organization’s message and content out to your audience.

Facebook and Twitter alone won’t get you contributions!

Facebook and Twitter are awesome web 2.0 supplements to your fundraising strategy to:

• Raise awareness
• Connect with your constituents
• Drive traffic to your organization’s website (the site with the big “donate” button)
• Get feedback
• Announce events
• Share “Thank You” & “Congratulations” messaging publicly
• Promote action for your organization’s cause or other causes that your organization supports

These assets mean that your organization no longer has just a website, instead your organization has a distributed web presence (each asset is like its own mini-site).

Social assets also do a number of things for your organization:

• Increase traffic to your organization’s website
• Assist with search engine optimization (how Google finds your website)
• Enable two-way discussions with members and prospects
• Provide a way for you & your users to upload photos, video, etc.

Together each one of those points drives traffic to your website, where you should have a clear, well-designed, and trustworthy donation pathway.

Social Marketing Assets

Twitter:

Twitter is a single-page representation of your organization’s brand on the “real-time” web.

If you open a Twitter account, you’ll want to make sure that you have the time, team, and bandwidth to maintain it, and become a part of the discussion.

Tips on Twitter Page development:

• Make a great Twitter background & avatar like @teachingjobsportal
• Craft a great 140 character bio
• Link back to your organization’s website
• Use an external Twitter management tool
• Leverage #hashtags

Read more: Learn to Twitter, A Primer by @kuhn & @tenaciouscb

Facebook Fan Page:

A Facebook Fan Page is a single-page listing in Facebook that can be used to promote your website.

Tips on Fan Page development:

• Set up your page, and invite your Facebook friends to become fans
• Connect your blog to your Facebook Page (via. “notes” function)
• Post your videos and photos to your Facebook Fan Page
• List your events on your Facebook Fan Page
• Connect your Twitter to your Facebook Fan Page
• Put a Facebook icon on your website that links to your Facebook Fan Page

Read more: Set Up a Fabulous Fan Page in 10 minutes, A Primer by Chrissie Brodigan (Coming soon!)

YouTube:

Set up a YouTube channel for 2 reasons:

• Post your organization’s videos (if they’re awesome)
• Favorite other organizations’ videos (if they’re awesome)

Note: I will post more information shortly on the following topics:

• Donation Pathway, Creating Amazing User Experiences
• CRM 101, Choosing Constituency Relationship Management software
• DMS 101, Choosing Donor Management Software
• Email Marketing 101, Sending emails to your members
• Mobile 101, How Mobile Works for Outreach & Fundraising, Haiti’s story

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Historically both clergy and faith communities have been powerful forces of change, rallying movements for social justice in America. Perhaps no other single community has caused a larger divide in collective clergy-driven support than that of of the LGBT community fighting for marriage equality (this also covers family equality for gay, lesbian, transgender persons, bisexuals, queer and questioning youth). The LGBT community has their own voice and the support of many other groups, but it is the support of progressive clergy and congregations that can effectively and more rapidly wear down the fear and anxiety that impede social change.

There is a great divide between those clergy who are “cafeteria progressives,” do not favor or publicly support marriage equality, while the truly progressive clergy who do support marriage equality aren’t always able to translate their support into action. It’s out of this conflict that an interesting and innovative web-based platform and resources have been created in an effort to shape a cultural movement, who’s core organizing tenant is founded on the principal of love. Aptly named, for a discussion so close to Valentine’s Day, this group is called Standing on the Side of Love, and they are bold advocates of social justice armed with online tools, audacious goals, e-mail marketing savvy, and an appetite for change.

Founded by the Unitarian Universalist Association, Standing on the Side of Love launched September 2009, mobilizing for the wildly successful October National Equality March on Washington. However, Standing on the Side of Love isn’t a traditional LGBT campaign or organization, but rather position themselves as an organizer’s “toolkit.” The toolkit empowers organizers for integrating justice (sexual and otherwise) into broader justice movements that address racism, poverty, immigration and other concerns. If they are successful in that endeavor, chances are that Standing on the Side of Love participants and leaders can effectively challenge both the idea and practice that sexuality be kept separate from other social justice concerns.

Below is the transcript of my interview with Adam Gerhardestein, campaign manager of Standing on the Side of Love.

Winning marriage equality in Washington, D.C., was a remarkable success credited to a huge coalition effort. How did Standing on the Side of Love contribute to that effort? Can you share any lessons learned on working with like-minded, but dramatically different organizations?

I’d like to think that Standing on the Side of Love contributed greatly to that effort. What made DC a real success was the broad religious support behind marriage equality. [Bill Author] Council member David Catania said at the signing that the support of the clergy was critical and in a way subversive because it shattered that old storyline that marriage equality was somehow “Church vs. Tolerance” or “Religion vs. Love”.

SSL played a major part in building that voice and making it heard throughout the District. One of our lead organizers and national spokespeople, Rev. Rob Hardies, put together a coalition of leaders from different faith backgrounds, social backgrounds and races called the DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality; he really infused the core messages of Standing on the Side of Love into that movement. The idea that love is a central tenet most religions and that we have a duty to welcome and protect marginalized groups in our society was such an important piece in that public debate.

The religious voice we were able to raise through the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign ended up playing such a critical role that Mayor Fenty chose Rev. Hardies’ church, All Souls, Unitarian as the location for the bill signing. It was the ultimate recognition of our efforts and a proud moment for everyone here.

If there is one takeaway from that experience which can translate to all grassroots movements, it is that diversity is strength. Working with diverse groups towards a common goal adds depth and breadth to the argument you are making. It adds legitimacy to your movement and encourages your supporters. Marriage equality in DC was successful because we had such a diverse group of people behind it. We represented a broad section of the District’s population, and the city council had to acknowledge our support.

You’ve said that you see “love” as a verb, can you explain more what that means and how it can be used both in online advocacy efforts and in on-the-ground actions?

Love isn’t a state of being, or something that happens to you, it is demonstrated in your actions. We encourage people to conceive of and spread an understanding of love that goes beyond individual romance to embrace a community. In the case of Standing on the Side of Love, we stand up for the dignity of all communities of people who may be victims of violence, oppression or exclusion based on their identity.

Through online and offline action, we ask our supporters to show that love. It’s a positive construction, rather than “fighting” or resisting or reacting, it puts us in the driver’s seat. Offline action is relevant, personal, face to face and situated in very real and local context. It’s about building relationships. Online tools allow us to represent and aggregate those actions, articulating a movement across the country.

This is what we’re trying to do with Standing on the Side of Love Day. Standing on the Side of Love Day is a nationwide call to action that lives out the heart of the campaign. It calls on all people to recognize that love is more than just a feeling towards spouse. It is a powerful force that allows us to come together and build vibrant and welcoming communities. Utilizing our online toolkit, local communities are taking action on issues that matter locally with tactics that make sense locally. So far, we have over 100 events registered nationwide and we are excited to see how local communities can run with this campaign on a grassroots level.

What techniques (lessons learned) can Standing on the Side of Love share with the larger community of many different secular and non-secular voices on how to bridge the disconnected of justice, public policy, and popular debates?

This campaign is all about partnership. We want people to adapt our work to their communities, and take action in a manner which is meaningful for them. I think that is one of the most important lessons of the campaign. Real momentum has to come from the ground up. This wouldn’t have worked if we had simply said to our activists, “hold a rally for x and say y”. We have to relate our message to their experience. That is why we’ve been successful. We don’t dictate the terms of our activists’ work, we give them the tools and the support structure to engage on the ground, and we provide an umbrella of support so that we can build upon each other’s work. For any movement to be effective, it has to respect local communities. To do that you can’t tell them what they care about, you have to ask.

Change is not often swift, in fact it can be painfully slow and characterized by smaller wins that are often compromised and hard to celebrate. Do you have advice or insight on how to break down a movement in a way where participants can feel movement towards success (e.g. local efforts v. national ones)?

That is a problem that every long-term campaign faces. There is no one answer to this, but we try to keep people engaged by keeping our communications intimate. We like to use local stories to demonstrate our progress and our setbacks. When activists share their personal experiences, it helps to remind supporters of our larger goals and the importance of reaching them.

No matter what, we can always use our experiences to move forward. Do setbacks galvanize you to work harder? Definitely. In DC there were a number of setbacks over the years which galvanized the community for a larger push which was ultimately successful. As long as you have open lines of communications to your supporters, you can take the passion which they already have and use it to build momentum.

Standing On the Side of Love leverages both Twitter and Facebook a lot, in fact, you’ve called it “Fweeping,” how has this helped your efforts at organizing, and how do you see those social networking micro-communities executing on actionable goals (or are they mostly distributed marketers) and then later on in a future in which marriage equality has been reached?

Twitter and Facebook have allowed us to reach new audiences, and more fully engage people within our congregational network. We have a very active base online. If that’s where people spend time then that is where we should be. And these micro-communities are excellent at taking action, spreading our campaign message, and helping to shift culture. Fweeping is an essential part of galvanizing and mobilizing our base, and it is an absolutely necessary component to building our movement and reaching out to new supporters.

These tools are also somewhat revolutionary because they allow our followers across America to experience our work on the front lines of these issues. One of the most useful applications we’ve found for twitter is live tweeting: During the signing of the DC marriage bill, SSL staff was providing live coverage to our supporters, allowing people around the country to take part in that victory. We also live tweeted the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda from Capitol Hill. These tools help inspire our base and move them to action.

The role of Facebook and Twitter within our organization is constantly evolving, but it is obvious that these tools will be closely linked with our organizing no matter what issues we address.

Email is a less sexy, not often reported on tool, can you share a little how email is leveraged by Standing on the Side of Love, and how important it is to your efforts? (fundraising, spreading the word, mobilizing, etc.)

Email is actually very central to our campaign. We’ve put a lot of work into building our list and as a result have over 25,000 contacts. When we send out emails it drives people to our website. When we notify people of Facebook changes or website changes all of our traffic spikes.

It’s true, email doesn’t have the glitter of new online social media tools, but it remains the most important organizing tool we have. For us it’s a very personal medium. We believe the campaign has to be told as a narrative; we can’t do that with tweets or on Facebook. Email allows us to illustrate to our supporters what it has meant to stand on the side of love and then call them to find their own ways to spread that message in their communities.

We send emails from faith leaders, campaign staff, and people affected by discrimination. These emails aren’t rhetoric heavy, they are intimate and they animate broader issues through personal experiences. They have been a valuable resource to educate and engage our community, driving online and offline action.

While long-term trends clearly favor equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans, what specific efforts can organizers take to shift public sentiment and public policy in a progressive direction? Are clergy-organizers positioned to lead these efforts more so than others?

There is this myth in our public discourse which, I think, mischaracterizes our society’s attitudes towards marriage equality and the glbt community in general. We’re often told that our society does not support equal rights for glbt Americans, but that simply is not true. The real problem is that opponents of equal rights have been more vocal in their opposition. What we’re doing is important because the full spectrum of religious values has not been accurately represented. This gives the impression that religion is not tolerant, which is false. Moving forward, it is important for supporters to raise their voices against these false stereotypes. In addition to the religious community, minority communities have been falsely stereotyped as unsupportive of equal rights. We need groups to combat those lies in order to demonstrate the true support that exists for equality. It’s all about making our voices heard.

Standing on the Side of Love is Reimagining Valentines Day in communities across America. See how people in your community are standing against oppression, exclusion and violence. Visit www.standingonthesideoflove.org/reimagining-valentines-day/ to take part in an event near you.

BIO:

Adam Gerhardstein is the Campaign Manager of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign, a public advocacy campaign sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association that harnesses love’s power to stop oppression. He was previously the Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Washington Office for Advocacy. In 2001 he founded Ugali, an organization that supports communities and students in Western Kenya. He graduated from Xavier University in 2005.

Standing on the Side of Love’s website design, presence, and social strategy are made possible by technology partners: Beka Economopoulos VP of Fission Strategy and original design by Kein Tsang.

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CrisisCamps are self-organized groups of web developers and tech savvy volunteers, they’re located wherever there’s an organizer willing to lead a group through development cycles. A new form of volunteerism dedicated towards crisis response, recovery, and rebuilding they are innovating and breaking new ground for NGOs, traditional non-profits, and impacting the activity taking place on the ground in unexpected and serendipitous ways.

At a time where some of the smartest minds in tech innovation are distracted by cool apps for Twitter, the outpouring of response to develop technologies to: disperse food, map the area, translate information into Kreoyle, and design visualizations that track donation money are causing the biggest change to how, who, and where volunteers participate.

CrisisCamp NYC, under Anna’s leadership, has come together and done the following:

1. Created a website and data source that holds non-profits and others to a higher level of public accountability
2. Translated critical documentation into the survivors’ native language(s)
3. Built a web app that could help NGOs disperse food and water

Here is the transcript of our interview:

1. What are some of the most serious challenges facing the disaster response community that Crisis Camp NYC and Crisis Camp At-Large tackling?

The biggest challenge facing the disaster response community is coordination. There  are individuals, organizations, corporations and government agencies all working tirelessly to aid Haiti. But there is no set system or over-arching organization that is choreographing all of the complicated maneuvering that needs to take place to deliver the goods and services Haiti desperately needs. I keep hearing, “We need a central place where we can get all the information we are looking for. We need a Haiti Relief Portal website.”

One project that still needs to be taken on is creating an assessment tool that would geographically display situation reports for medical, food, water, shelter, transportation, and communication. There are teams that are working in other cities on portions of this tool, but no one has taken on the project as a whole. There are a number of serious challenges that need to be addressed in order to make something like this work. We would need organizations who are doing assessments to publish their findings, and there are a number of technological issues that need to be sorted out as well. If there is someone reading this article who would like to take on this project, they can find me on Twitter @AnnaCurran and send me a message.

2. Disasters, by their very nature, are unpredictable, how do you see Crisis Camp growing and establishing itself as a more regular and integrated response (with readiness) in between disasters?

So, technically Crisis Camp is an event, not an organization. Although, Crisis Commons is working right now to establish itself as an organization with an ongoing presence. I envision Crisis Commons New York City growing into a network of volunteers who are ready to coordinate and respond in the wake of a disaster. Our New York group has gotten to know one another very well over the course of the past two weekends. To me, it is the strength and depth of our relationships with one another and with the community that is the key to our ability to respond with readiness the future.

3. In traditional disaster response methodology, many of the on-the-ground roles are already predefined by years of trial and error, what are some of the things you’ve learned about the roles that are needed for the technical/virtual community to fill in future response efforts?

I don’t have any formal training in disaster response, although I did live through several hurricanes while in Florida. I got to witness what the aftermath of disaster looks and feels like thanks to Hurricane Charlie.

All I know is that there are a lot of people working on the relief effort but communication and coordination among the organizations is lacking. It’s not that the organizations are doing anything wrong. Its just a result of magnitude of the devastation in Haiti and the number of responding organizations. One of the most critical roles I see involves bridging capital (See Robert Putnam if you want more info). People who are involved with several organizations alleviate the devastating effects of silos of information. Getting the information to flow from organization to organization and agency to agency is critical to lubricating the whole relief process.

4. What technology do you see being produced out of Crisis Camps that best demonstrates how external innovators can contribute to NGOs and other typically slower-moving organizations to make them more nimble and to offer support to their efforts?

Two great examples are projects we have been working on here in New York:

Reliefoversight.org

Reliefoversight.org is an easy-to-search, publicly generated, data-driven application to monitor the activities and effectiveness of organizations soliciting donations for disaster relief. Traditional NGO fundraising oversight has focused upon fiscal and governance issues to the exclusion of more programmatic effectiveness information.

On reliefoversight.org you can get information like does the organization have a  history of providing services in Haiti? It also allows citizens and relief workers to post activity reports providing a greater depth of information about organizations and their activities.

To date, there has been a team of 15 developers Led by Nathan Wheeler in Austin Texas and Ben Guhin in New York who have contributed to to build the website. Liz Gomez, a PhD in Crisis Management has contributed as has a team of researchers from New York and Calgary who were trained by Esty Stein, a New York Volunteer.

Translation Team

Translation Team, the second project focuses on rebuilding the educational infrastructure in Haiti and is sponsored by two non-profits: One Lap Top Per Child and Wave Place and is led by Adam Holt and Allison Bland from Boston Massachusetts.

These two organizations have plans to deploy a large amount of computers to school children in Haiti. However the 20 text book curriculum is written in English and needs to be translated into Haitian Kreyol.

A group led by Carmina Blaise and Geraldine Zepheirin set up a translation team and began contacting publishers for content that is written in Kreyol.  Crisis Camp NYC has been able to provide volunteer capacity so that when the computers are deployed, they will have Kreyol curriculum and culturally appropriate content

Haiti-earthquake-information.org  (still under development)

Haiti Earthquake Information is a project led by Micheal Caudy. The purpose of the site is to provide an integrated resource that collects and distributes as much information as possible about what the specific immediate needs are in Haiti, for specific people and organizations, at specific locations in Haiti.

The site aggregates Haiti Earthquake Information News by aggregating feeds and tweets. Relative information is then made available to the appropriate aid groups, as they are discovered. In the near future, the site will also launch a way for people to tweet “We have, We need” in an effort to pair individuals and organizations together in many diverse locations.

It’s Michael’s vision that anyone who wants to help can use these tools to read the urgent requests for help, and to try to search for and find the requested resources in a nearby location, and then to make that info available to the persons in need.

5. What are the rules of organizing around a crisis?

Get it done. That’s the only rule I know.

6. How do you see social media, the Twitter and Facebook communities contributing to longer-term rebuilding efforts outside of fundraising, or is fundraising the name place where those online communities play a powerful role?

There is a Ning community called The New Haiti Project which now has 761 members and lots of groups focused on different aspects of the relief effort. Some are connecting to rebuild schools, some are focused on medical needs, while others are interested in construction resources.

We are lucky enough to have a super-connectors like Marilyn Pratt as a part of our Crisis Camp Community. She has been recruiting translators and researchers tierlessly for reliefoversight.org and the One Laptop Per Child translation team.

7. What technology would have made Crisis Camp easier to mobilize? Or, is it more about establishing the culture of crisis camp (much like people know to respond with blood donations etc.)

Ironically, I don’t think that technology could make Crisis Camp easier to mobilize. I think it’s a question of having human relationships in place so that when you need to act, you already know who to call and what their expertise is. Building and developing the New York community of concerned technologists, crisis management experts, and community organizers- that’s what can improve our ability to respond more efficiently in the future.

This new form of virtual volunteerism has a long journey ahead and a lofty goal moving towards building a global community dedicated to solving disaster relief challenges through technology–to innovate and be nimble where most NGOs struggle to maneuver. These developers are playing an incredible role in the unfolding story of modern crisis response. I asked Anna how long she’d be managing Crisis Camp NYC, knowing that web apps can 1.) live forever 2.) expire quickly 3.) depend on developers who get distracted by day jobs. Her response? “I will continue to keep hosting these events until it’s just me and the donuts.”

Bio: Anna Curran is an entrepreneur and digital strategy consultant based in New York. An expert in web design, email marketing, and social media, she specializes in balancing successful creative with business results. Her clients include leading conferences, companies launching in the US, and startups. Anna spends some of her free time volunteering for the Disaster Accountability Project as well as taking Pilates classes at the gym. She graduated with BA in Studio Arts from Rollins College and lived in Florida for over a decade. Anna’s professional background includes owning and operating Allume Jewelry for five years. Before moving back to New York she managed political campaigns for three years, working on a congressional race, a mayoral race, and state house races. You can follow her on Twitter @AnnaCurran.

For more information on CrisisCamps, please visit Crisiscommons.org. There will be a few follow-up articles in this series tracking these projects, their successes, failures, and futures.

Special thanks to Tony Bacigalupo for donating New Work City’s coworking space (supplying a great place to meet and work with internet access and more) for Anna to host CrisisCamps.

Get in touch with Chrissie Brodigan or work with her at Jjomedia.com

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MYD, Marriage Equality & Mobilization on Flickr

One of the most exciting emerging fields in technology is online organizing. Lately, I’ve been calling this Activism 2.0, and by that I’m referring to online organizing powered by tech savvy activists and a series of developing web-based applications that leverage political, map-driven, and user-contributed data in powerful ways. Amidst great defeats, both online organizers and the tools they use continue to innovate rather than abandon their efforts.

The 38-to-24 vote blocking New York Marriage Equality was among the most disappointing legislative upsets in 2009 was also paired alongside activists’ implementation of some of the most innovating technology on the market.

The loss was unexpected and upsetting to proponents and activists alike. In the days leading up to the vote, all signs pointed to a win. There has been plenty of analysis about how a movement that seemed to have all the right pieces in place, persuasion tactics, and commitments to vote failed so dramatically. The more interesting story now is what next for activists who garnered the support, email addresses, and created a Facebook fanbase of more than 15,900 fans continue to leverage engagement through web applications?

What happens to the email lists that powered donations, calls, emails, and more? What happens to the Twitter and Facebook accounts? What’s the vision for these tools and the community/audience that were fostered in the frenzy of the moment? If Hilary Clinton isn’t leveraging her 2008 campaign list in innovative ways for social-change and authentic advocacy, are there other “losers” out there who are?

Indeed, while the Hilary Clinton’s and Bill Thompson’s of the world might not be ready to make the most of their online communities, one volunteer-powered group, the Manhattan Young Democrats (MYD) and their campaign New Yorkers for Marriage Equality have found ways in which they can turn their loss into a major win that will likely cause tremors of change in the coming year in the New York Senate.

I met with Julie Blitzer of MYD to talk more about the efforts, strategy, and technology behind New Yorkers for Marriage Equality. Put aside any preconceived notions that successful website and campaigns take a long time, lots of money, and plenty of full-time staff to create, New Yorkers for Marriage Equality was created in 2 days by an entirely volunteer staff, all of who also manned their full-time jobs.

The core inspiration for the project, site, and campaign, was to speak to and rally the straight community.

Surprisingly, NewYorkEquality.com was available, so the team executed a website, brand, outreach strategy and appealed to local technology company, Advomatic, who in turn made a pro-bono donation of their mobile platform “Click-to-Call.“ Click-to-Call allows supporters to connect from their computers directly to government officials (based on a query of latitude and longitude) to share the message directly with legislators.

This rapid and hassle-free connectivity and the self-organizing power of tech savvy, entrepreneurial, and impassioned groups like MYDs are co-founding this next wave of advocacy, out of which the idea of change, will become the actuality of change. Sounds hopeful and idealistic? Great change in the world has been almost always been inspired by small groups of thoughtful, committed people who could organize. Long before there was ever an internet, and indeed in an effort to create one to begin with.

Lessons Learned From New Yorkers for Marriage Equality’s Campaign

1. ) Assume Authority

Before launching an outreach campaign, look for existing organizations whose efforts you can support and contribute to. Creating multiples of existing organizations is not always effective, in fact, the factioning can be counterproductive to achieving the two core goals: Get it to a vote. Get it to pass.

However, if your efforts meet a lukewarm reception or no reception at all, or if you think that there’s momentum and reason enough to create a new campaign, then it’s time to strike out on your own. At that point, in order to get the attention of bloggers and the press, your website and brand must present accurate, fact-based information that is relevant to informing and compelling an audience to act. Sometimes having information that no other organization has provided can give your team the edge. Authority matters.

2.) Create Administrative Chaos for Legislators

Make it ridiculously easy for supporters to send single-click messages, calls, etc. using tools like Click-to-Call. Appeal to tech organizations who might make a pro-bono donation. The sheer volume of activity: email, phone, fax, and SMS will have a profound effect on the legislator’s decision. Many online tools now make it possible to easily engage elected officials, which has the added effect of engaging supported who otherwise might not be labeled as activists.

MYD, Marriage Equality & Mobilization on Flickr

3.) Amass Under Alliances

New Yorkers for Marriage Equality was supported by 25+ different organizations, but together under the single brand NewYorkEquality they were able to activate thousands of supporters, reducing distraction and faction for the sake of focus.

4.) Reach Out to Your “Perez Hilton”
MYD creative outreach efforts prompted a link from popular gossip blogger Perez Hilton, giving NewYorkEquality.com national attention and support. This was creative, surprising and effective. On the same note, play the game professionally – write proper press releases.

5.) Prepare for Political TV
If your efforts to become an authority are successful, you’ll need to prepare your team for ad-hoc media appearances, in which they may have little to no time to rush to the shoot. Figure out ahead of time who on your team will handle press communications, can be interviewed by phone or even on tv.

6.) Focus on Facebook Fans
New Yorkers for Marriage Equality supporters were smart and shameless in getting uptake to their Fan page. Step 1: Be shameless and invite all of your Facebook friends to become a fan. Step 2. Reduce the request, to something more manageable: Share this page with 3 of your friends who support marriage equality.

Facebook was also the best tool in getting a message across and to a large audience and communicating around events. It was also a powerful tool that educated the public through experience how the legislative process works, where the failures are, and how to collective organize for more than a the passing of a single law, but for organizing for true reform.

Ultimately, the Fan Page has become a micro-community in which members comment and interact with content on a daily basis. While many large brands conduct contests with short-term engagement, New Yorkers for Marriage Equality’ continues to provide content “glue” to keep the community engaged and create a cohesive ready-to-respond base. This community management has transformed a Fan-Page-on-the-fly into a long-term asset.

7.) Recalibrate and Elect the Right People

MYD, like many other advocacy groups, was prepared for Marriage Equality to pass December 2, 2009, however, they also prepared a plan to mobilize in case of a loss.

In order for Marriage Equality to pass MYD is recalibrating in the short-term to focus on an interim step–changing the makeup of the NY legislature (all seats are up for grabs in November 2010). Al Benninghoff, current president of the MYD has explained that the MYD team is now looking for the pro-equality challengers to counter those legislators who voted against Marriage Equality last year. The goal is to explore and identify ways to help these newcomers.

Maintaining the momentum of 2009, but recalibrating messaging to the group to convert Marriage Equality activists and supporters into volunteers and informed voters focused on 2010 elections, so that we can elect the right people and pass Marriage Equality legislation in 2011.

8.) Translate Online Activity to Offline

MYD delivered letters in person with NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, marched in pride parades in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and maintained an in-person campainging presence at almost every rally. They also used  the Facebook page to target and inform supporters of rallies around the city and in their own neighborhoods.

9.) Bowling Alone No More

MYD and their campaign tactics for Marriage Equality demonstrate a change taking place in the world of advocacy and organizing. More than any toolset, technology, or trick, the vibe generated by this particular campaign blows massive holes in Harvard political scientist, author of Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam’s position that Americans are participating less and less in civic life. In fact, I’d argue using some of Putnam’s own words, This could be a moment movement that changes the political dialogue of the country.

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