Making Technology Work For Your Campaign

Any modern campaign will involve elements of technology. In this pragmatically minded session, workers co-operative Common Knowledge will talk through how to use technology to successfully enable your campaigns.

If you are a technologist - a programmer, designer, UX person or of any kind - come along and find out how best to serve social movements. If you are involved with a campaign, come along to find out how technology can assist you.

Transcript

1. Making Technology Work For Your Campaigns Part 1 of 2
2. Introductions 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology Campaign Matching Next Steps
3. Introductions 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology Campaign Matching Next Steps
4. Introductions We design and build digital tools for the grassroots with the grassroots hello@commonknowledge.coop
5. Introductions 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology Campaign Matching Next Steps
6. 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 1. Listen – leave your ego at the door 2. Use boring technology (mostly) 3. Don’t become a bottleneck 4. Learn the tools campaigns use already 5. Technology is broader than code
7. 1. Listen – leave your ego at the door
8. 1. Leave your ego at the door Listen! Build for the project’s needs not your own Learn basic product management techniques Speak human Always be capturing Keep reporting high enough but don’t annoy
9. 2. Use boring technology (mostly)
10. 2. Use boring technology (mostly) We all know work is alienating, but try not to use this as an excuse to learn a new technology you’ve been itching to work on Frameworks are your friend, tend towards the most well-known and well-documented Think about setup and teardown Think about whoever is going to come after you Don’t (really don’t) reinvent the wheel
11. 2. Use boring technology (mostly) If there is an off the shelf solution, consider proposing it Keep it simple • When coding • When approaching technology choices Follow best practice
12. 3. Don’t become a bottleneck
13. 3. Don’t become a bottleneck Think realistically about your genuine capacity and time “Give away the passwords” Be available and make sure people know how to get hold of you Try and get things out very quickly
14. 4. Learn the tools that campaigns use already
15. 4. Learn the tools that campaigns use already Survey, Map, Document Escape the build trap You should be mostly writing glue code A little code goes a long way Build interfaces over existing tooling Keep it simple
16. 4. Learn the tools that campaigns use already Remember introducing a new tool comes with a major training burdens Exhaust good practice as you go along • Password management • Data integrity • Security and compliance
17. Useful APIs to know Campaign orientated CRMs • Nationbuilder • Action Network • Salsa Google Apps API • Particularly Google Sheets Zapier AirTable
18. Useful APIs to know Mapping APIs • Google Maps • MapBox Payment gateways • GoCardless • Stripe • PayPal • Just Giving
19. Useful APIs to know Mailchimp and other mass mailing software • Email deliverability • Email automation • How to read an email campaign – open rate, A/B testing Facebook Twitter Commercial CRMs
20. Useful APIs to know Gmail SMS and message delivery Twillio Nexmo Sinch
21. Useful skills to develop Well-known content management systems, e.g. WordPress, Drupal and friends Copywriting – just enough Basic data science and data analysis CSV wrangling CSS (!) Excel/Google Sheets Usage of targeted advertising Social platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn Project management and the ability to estimate well!
22. electiontechhandbook.uk
23. 5. Technology is broader than code
24. 5. Technology is broader than code Design thinking Project management User testing and user research Cross-pollinate from your world where appropriate Open source your work
25. Introductions 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology Campaign Matching Next Steps
26. 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology 1. Technology should be an enabler, not a time sink 2. Master the technology you already use 3. Learn from parallels in other worlds 4. Sometimes organisational problems are tech problems 5. Sometimes tech problems are organisational problems
27. 1. Technology should be an enabler, not a time sink
28. 1. Technology should be an enabler, not a time sink Work-life balance Technology goes wrong Do we really need technology to solve this problem? Ask for help Learn enough to be able to express your needs cleanly if you can Work backwards what your needs are from your goals
29. 1. Technology should be an enabler, not a time sink Use a CRM (customer relationship management) • NationBuilder • Salsa • EveryAction • Action Network • Hubspot
30. 1. Technology should be an enabler, not a time sink Technology for internal organisation • Trello • Asana • Internal wiki tooling – Notion and friends • Have everything ready to go – mise en place Technology for communication • Mailchimp and friends
31. Tooling recommendations DoGooder, Control Shift, Hustle, Spoke Ask for a discount! Consult this massive list: digital-tools.anotheracronym.org
32. 2. Master the technology you already use
33. 2. Master the technology you already use A small difference in your skillset can make a massive difference For example, WhatsApp: • Do you know all the features? • Are you using them effectively? • What does your WhatsApp home screen look like right now? • Does it look like a place where work can be done?
35. 2. Master the technology you already use Email • Inbox Zero • Automation • Templated replies • This is already in Gmail right now
36. 2. Master the technology you already use Facilitation in digital spaces: • Use the tools • Greet people • High context • Centre yourself • Summary • Cooling off • Set norms and remind people of them • Pause before action
37. 3. Learn from parallels in other worlds
38. 3. Learn from parallels in other worlds Yes, campaigns are a special case. However, there are lots of zero code tools that can be used.
39. 3. Learn from parallels in other worlds Take your problem one level up Ask who else is doing this • Do charities have to do this? • Do small businesses have to do this? • Do start-ups have to do this? Ask for advice • Get on the phone • People are very generous
40. 4. Sometimes organisational problems are tech problems
41. 4. Sometimes organisational problems are tech problems Campaigns live and die by their internal communication and operational effectiveness Conway’s Law and its inverse Are the tools you are using the most effective for the goals of your campaign or project? How much is technology shaping your internal dynamics and are you conscious of this?
42. 5. Sometimes tech problems are organisational problems
43. 5. Sometimes tech problems are organisational problems Are you communicating? Are we trusting? Is your campaign well planned? • Goals • Resources • Power mapping There is no silver bullet Is our complaint about technology really about people?
44. Introductions 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology Campaign Matching Next Steps
45. Introductions 5 Things Technologists Should Do When Working with Campaigns 5 Things Campaigns Should Know When Working with Technology Campaign Matching Next Steps
46. hello@commonknowledge.coop commonknowledge.coop