Pollinating buzzworthy ideas, news, and industry trends!


Public Engagement Made Easy
January 11, 2011
Although we in the field of advocacy and communications are often focused on pushing messages out, some of us are also faced with the task of taking information in, collaborating, and consensus building — either among membership or the public at large. This task used to require conferences, meetings, and other face-to-face communications, but the […]


DC Public Library Flickr Community Photo Shoot
December 13, 2010
The DC Public Library has come-up with a clever use of Flickr to help rally the DC community in support of its “King Week” celebrations scheduled for early next year. Check-out their event description below and please support the effort by submitting your own photos (they are just starting-out and need as many submissions as […]


SocialFish Inspires With New Book – Open Community
November 22, 2010
I’ve been meaning to write a blog post for a while about the great work that Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer are doing at SocialFish. And now, with recent release of the their book “Open Community” — it’s definitely time! First, a bit of background on SocialFish… They are unique. They go into nonprofits and […]


Beware Politicians Posing for Sporting Photo Ops
November 9, 2010
Another election campaign tale from Down Under, this time about the risks of standing near politicians posing for sporting photo ops. In a scene straight out of Funniest Home Video, the State Premier of Victoria accidentally rockets a cricket ball into an unsuspecting school student (about 20 seconds in to the video): http://media.theage.com.au/beware-of-brumbys-ball-2034449.html?from=newsbox Even the […]


Using QR Codes in a Political Campaign
October 14, 2010
I recently won the Democratic primary for a third term as “Shadow” U.S. Representative for the District of Columbia. Unlike my previous two elections, this time I had signs printed and worked with some tireless volunteers to attach them to street poles all across the city. It’s a bit of trip to be driving someplace […]