Advocacy professionals, social media experts, and most central to the group, hill staffers, all joined together for CongressCamp, a two-day discussion of how to improve citizen engagement with policymakers through technology.  Included in that discussion were obstacles, best practices, available tools, and desired outcomes.  NextGenWeb was excited to be a premier sponsor of the event, as well as to share our first-hand experiences from our Social Media for Staffers

series.

One session focused on case studies that demonstrate best uses social media by public officials. Of course, that meant looking at Senator Claire McCaskill’s Twitter account, Congressman Bob Latta’s use of mobile, Congressman Mike Rodger’s use of YouTube, and Senator Bernie Sanders’ fresh content.  The outstanding official websites up for discussion would be brought up on the main screen and participants would closely examine what that policymaker and his/her staff were doing to stand out in this space.

Overall, both citizens and staffers agreed that the more social media tools that are available to official site visitors, the more opportunities there are for constituents to engage.  However, this presents a challenge for overburdened staff who often struggle to manage email alone.  Fortunately, experts and entrepreneurs were on site and ready to learn how they can create and improve technology solutions for staffers.  Furthermore, staffers with more advanced social media skills were there to share tips on how they manage these new forms of communications.

I am particularly excited to share interviews from CongressCamp with two integral players in the citizen engagement sector.  Watch the videos below to learn more about how Alan Silberberg, Founder of You2Gov, and Jim Gilliam, Co-Founder of Act.Ly, are innovating with their online activism and the important role that broadband plays in their endeavors.

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