NOI Bootcamp Wrap-Up

I just returned home after a week at the New Organizing Institute Campaign Bootcamp, and really can't overstate how amazing the experience was. The training was a good mix of technology and communication skills trainings, hearing campaign war stories from the field, and discussing the broader significance of politics and social movements. See my post on the NOI blog for more about my initial doubts and the significance of the "new" in "new organizing."

You might have seen our Simpsons/Family Guy campaign simulation take facebook and gmail chat away messages by storm - and hopefully you put your support behind Lisa! To give a bit of background, the trainees were divided into teams and had to compete for email signups, facebook/myspace friends, and people to come to the MoveOn Live Earth viewing party. To this end, we were given a domain name, Google AdWords account, an account at either Blue State Digital or Democracy in Action to manage our sites, and a bit of time to strategize. If a group didn't have a person who was good at graphic or web design, people were on hand to help. With these relatively minor resources, groups were able to come up with some pretty amazing sites, videos, content, and ideas for outreach.

The project was fun and gave us a little taste of what's needed to put together a political campaign, but we kept running up against the problem of trying to promote a fictional character and needing only email list signups, not votes. I think they might revamp the project to be a bit more realistic next year, but I won't spoil the surprise for everyone and tell you the plan. :)

Mike and the other regular posters on Future Majority often discuss the right's ability to recruit, train, and promote smart young Republicans. The funding and infrastructure on their side is truly incredible, and while the left is still just getting started in this regard, programs such as NOI's are hugely important. They purposely selected young leaders who were doing great work outside the elite Washington political sphere, paid for our travel and expenses, and connected us with employers and trainers who are successful and innovative in the field. If progressive politics wants to attract the brightest talent, there should be more programs like this and fewer unpaid internships.