Quasi-social networking for Calif. progressives
Aug 24
I attended a meeting this afternoon of the Courage Coalition, a California progressive alliance of a broad spectrum of organizations, including the Equal Justice Society, and independent media. The coalition, led by the Courage Campaign, seeks to become a formidable and effective organizing presence in this state.
The Campaign is a project of a 527 and chaired by Rick Jacobs, former Dean for America California Chair. Rick, campaign senior advisor Susanne Savage, and director of outreach and operations CJ Frogozo led the meeting, which was well-attended, especially by representatives of campaigns for or against four critical ballot measures before the voters this November.
Rick announced the launch of a new online advocacy/networking section on the Courage Campaign website. Modeled after a successful web platform developed by ProgressNow.org in Colorado, the California version of the site could be described as Myspace-minus-the-junk-plus-organizing-advocacy-tools. The ProgressNow.org backend has been well-integrated into the Campaign’s existing web branding. I signed up, created a profile and a group for EJS.
The platform will let individuals and groups create their own pages with blogs and group email tools. Users can write letters to the editor of their local paper(s) and join groups of interest. A personal fundraising tool is in the works.
Check it out at www.couragecampaign.org.
