tech building organization

Posted on August 26, 2003 by Lessig

Deanlink is a cool new tool for identifying others around you who might be into the politics of your flavor. I love these examples of new technology to achieve what old organization was supposed to achieve. Are there other good ones?

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7 Responses to tech building organization

  1. Pravin Sathe says:
    August 26, 2003 at 8:48 am

    Dear Mr. Lessig,
    This is off-topic but could please clarify when companies’ right to maintain trade-secrets can trump free speech. What burden in the law is placed on these companies, and have the courts in the past made similar decisions as the most recent case in the California State Supreme Court concerning the crack of the CSS encryption code?
    I find it troublesome that the 1st Amendment was trumped by this notion of trade-secrets. My understanding of the case is that the CSC is allowing the appeals court to decide whether this crack is a “trade-secret” but it seems the damage has been done by identifying the rights of companies to supersede the 1st Amendment . I assume the natural question in the future remains how do you classify a trade-secret in the eyes of the law

  2. Clay Johnson says:
    August 26, 2003 at 9:27 am

    Hi,

    I’m the developer of this application and I’d like to note that we’re still in very beta.

    If you have any feedback, ideas, or anything, we’re open to them. Email them to me– [email protected]

    –C

  3. Pravin Sathe says:
    August 26, 2003 at 10:43 am

    As per the Deanlink tool: it is magnificiant. If geography was a problem in the past for identifying fellow supporters it is no more. I think it will be especially powerful for those who believe that there are no others like them….kudos

  4. Rob says:
    August 28, 2003 at 10:42 am

    Well, I don’t know how revolutionary an idea it is…it’s just a database accessed by PHP, looks like (I signed up). Maybe it’s a new thing in the context of running a political campaign, but I don’t see what the big deal is. I work with web-enabled databases every day though, so perhaps I’m jaded.

  5. Ka-Ping Yee says:
    August 29, 2003 at 10:48 pm

    Hi, Larry. I thought you might find it interesting that I had something to do with this.

    I am the original developer on this project, which is based on a vision that goes beyond a simple contact finder. (Rob, you are right that there is nothing too technically interesting at this stage. There is more to the story.) This is a rough sketch of the idea.

    I was asked to lead the development of this tool by the Dean campaign. After I delivered my own beta (very similar to the current Deanlink beta, with some additional and some missing functionality) the project coordinator decided to start over with a whole new implementation. I was not kept in the loop during that decision. I was very unhappy with the lack of justification and consideration, but I am still holding out hope that the original vision can be realized, that I can make a useful contribution, and that this time my participation will be respected.

  6. Laura in DC says:
    September 17, 2003 at 11:18 pm

    Cool site! Check out my new blog, Mousepads, Shoe Leather, and Hope – The Great Grassroots Campaign. Also, check out my Dean stores, The Great Grassroots Campaign and You Have The Power. The proceeds from the shop will be given to the new Generation Dean chapter on campus. If you feel like linking to any of the sites I gave you, I’d be happy to add a link to your site on my blog. Keep up the good work with your site.

  7. Marty says:
    October 7, 2003 at 9:12 pm

    The Deanlink is nice but the open thread on ideas for the campaign is mind blowing. My favorite suggestions which are consistent with network-centric advocacy include:

    1. Self-organizing batch email tool by location
    2. Self-organizing phonebanking tools
    3. “Bugzilla” for issue identification, policy drafting and ranking
    4. Karma system for blog comment filtering
    5. Distributed media production room for multi-media projects (like steve johnsons suggestion)
    6. Clear talking points volunteers (distributing spokespeople)
    7. Reminder system to step-by-step participation focus on little things to help (“write your grandma”)
    8. Ability for the user to opt off all snail mail. User defines methods of communications.
    9. A way to create small “working groups” or forums where supporters could organize
    10. Webcams in key offices
    11. Ability of anyone to download and print ANY of the allied literature and posters
    12. Lots of UI wish list (calendar, timeline, etc. Easy universal login and profille)
    13. Photos and details on key activists
    14. Discussion forum and email listserve
    15. Outlook address list upload, FOAF
    16. Audio and music files available to download for events..greatest hits and speaches
    17. Use of guest host, speakers and bloggers
    18. “lunch for Dean” dragging a lunch crew into the issues.
    19. Distributed door knocking tools to create walking list
    20. Collective document creation
    21. The continued random acts of associated kindness (dean food program)

    These are fantastic. They are not asking the central hub for more things or money they are looking for tools that enable the supporters to engage each other directly. They are looking for ways to distribute the workload with each other.

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