The magic of online campaigns… we’ve got them covered!

February 27, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

I’m about to run downstairs to film some Purim video podcasts, but thought I would write a quick (and long overdue) blog entry first.  Last night, I attended the first birthday party of SoapboxMedia.com, which ran a very cool article about our virtual synagogue a few months back.  Last night’s keynote speaker was Ben Self, a founding partner of Blue State Digital, the consulting firm that used digital and social media to make Obama’s amazing online campaign happen.

Self was good, and so much of what he said was an affirmation of what we are creating with OurJewishCommunity.org.  Here’s what I took away from it… An online campaign needs to be…
• Passionate
• Relevant
• Transparent
• Authentic, and
• Built on relationships
I think I can safely put a checkmark next to each to each of these items.  It seems they are simply a reflection of the values of OurJewishCommunity.org.

Another interesting fact I learned last night: the website mybarackobama.com connected people and triggered 20,000 groups that produced 200,000 events, mostly offline.  This is something that we at OurJewishCommunity.org aspire to – we want to connect all of you, not only online but also locally in your communities. 

I would love to see small groups soon being able to meet in various cities around the world – people joining together with others interested in Judaism from a humanistic perspective.  I have some ideas about how to go about doing this, but I also know that this can’t all be about me (much as I love things that are all about me!).  Communities need to sustain themselves from the grassroots, not from the top down.  If you have suggestions about ways to make this work, I’m all ears (and keyboard, so email me). 

The other stuff I found fascinating (and that made me pretty hopeful) is that 3 million donors made over $500 million of online donations.  Most significant: the average online donation was less than $100, and the average Obama donor gave more than once.  (Here’s an article with more info on this if you are interested).  So, what this tells me is that OurJewishCommunity.org can raise money from small donations from all of you who value what we are doing and would like to see our work together continue.

And the really good news about the Soapbox party?  It was in a bar, so I was able to multi-task and watch Xavier beat St. Joe’s.  ‘Twas a good night.

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