Ralph Benko, author of The Websters' Dictionary and self-proclaimed "Webster," was on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning where he discussed politics and online activism.

Of note, when asked what organizations "get it" on the right he said TeamSarah.org (which Ralph helped build up and disclosed as such on the show) and Americans for Prosperity. In particular, he tipped his hat to AFP's Erik Telford.

We're off to a good start on the first morning of RightOnline with an opening panel on Winning in a Web 2.0 World. It’s great to see such a large group of grassroots conservatives here to learn about winning in a modern world.

Last year at RightOnline in Austin, many conservative online politicos considered this very conference to be the turning point for revamping conservative efforts online, but is it a fad?

Panelist, Emily Zannotti (Sam Adam’s Alliance), says people might have believed her last year if she said the Internet was just a fad – but she has witnessed the liberty minded Right really getting modern media.

Last year, we were talking about how far behind conservatives were to the Left.

Today, she sees right-of-center activists really embracing the technology.

Adam Bitely (Americans For Limited Government) talked about he started www.netrightnation.com as a response to NetRoots Nation to capture all the activity that the right has online.

Adam worked with Rob Neppell to identify over 90,000 conservative blogs.

Clearly there is a huge spike in the presence of the right online community. People you would never thought would blog, or never heard of a blog are blogging now.

In essence, we’ve come a long way, baby.

People are getting their voices heard online and it’s influencing where we are heading.

John Hawkins (Right Wing News) began his online antics in 1998 with a geocities gaming page before moving on to a humor website called Brass Knuckles Webzine about wrestling…

Naturally the jump was to politics, and thus Right Wing News was born.

John argues that in 2001, the right was stronger online than the left. Townhall was huge in the Clinton years.

And that’s because it’s not all about technology – The biggest mistake we make is thinking that we win online by having the best technology.

Politics is like the ocean – when the tide rolls in, we need to take advantage of all that political energy – John expects the right to get hyped up during the Obama years.
There is no limit to the amount of people that you can reach with your political message online.

Create a Twitter account today and see how many people you’re conversing with by this time next year.

Yes, we’ve come a long way, but it’s clear that there are still factions in this room that don’t understand the technology, let alone how to embrace it. What can the novice do to get started and engage the community?

According to Emily, New media is new media and community is community and both of those, in order to work, need to connect.

The NetRoots agenda isn’t instructing people on how to use the tools, but telling people how to engage in a CONVERSATION.

This morning’s homework:  Sign up for social networks, engage the community and start meeting people online.

Do one thing that sounds scary or forces you to jump outside of your comfort zone and do it online.

And when you're done with that, challenge 10 friends to do the same.

So, I made it to Pittsburgh (at 3:30 in the morning no less) and now I'm ready for the show to get rolling after I locate where the nearest @Starbucks is :)

Stay tuned today for frequent updates from the conference. Not only will I provide you with technology tips galore - I'll also let you in on Pittsburgh's other finer moments, like the steak salad I'm dying to try for the first time and mastering the art of Pittsburghian lingo.

Here's your mini guide to Pittsburgh speak:

Steelers = Stillers

Y'all or You All = Yinz

Yinzer = Someone from Pittsburgh

Downtown = Dawntawn

I'm in Pittsburgh = I'm in da 'Burgh

Let's practice, "Yinz wanna go dawntawn to watch the Stillers game?" or "Yinz goin' dawn to Fat Heads dawn on Carson in da South Side tonight?"

And on another more important note, here's your daily Second Cup --

Twitter Plans to Mangle ReTweets

If you’ve read this blog, you know that ReTweets are one of my favorite topics. For a ton of reasons I think that they’re not only one of the most important developments to come from Twitter, but from social media in general...

...In a stunningly disappointing move, Twitter has threatened to completely eviscerate most of the value out of ReTweets by “formalizing” a feeble version of a format that was already well understood and functioning.

Best Practices for Mass Emailing

Here at The Bivings Group, we’ve dealt with a myriad of requests for mass emailing services, tools and strategies to help our clients make the most of what is the most powerful weapon in online advocacy. Based on our research and testing, here are some best practice tips for making your email campaigns as effective as possible. Most of these items fit a general theme of narrowing the focus and increasing the personalization in email messaging.

For those of you heading out to RightOnline this weekend, I look forward to seeing you there.  If you can't make it -- don't fear -- I'll be there to cover the event including the online training and other speaker panels.

How to follow RightOnline, online:

http://tweet.rightonline.com (#RightOn) - Follow the #RightOn conversation by checking out American for Prosperity's conference tweet stream.

@TechRepublican (#TechGOP) - I will be tweeting on behalf of TechRepublican. Please remember to also use the #TechGOP hashtag - especially for any juicy technology tidbits for our conservative activists at home.

Here's a sneak peek at tomorrow's (Friday's) Leadership Institute training:

(disclosure: I work for the Leadership Institute) 

TRACK B: Basic Training for Traditional Activists

1:30-2:30pm   

Blogging 101: How to Make Your Voice Heard   

Matt Lewis, Politics Daily

2:45-3:45pm   

Social Networking 101: Twitter & Facebook   

David All, The David All Group

4:00 - 5:00pm   

"YouTubing" Activism: Utilizing Online Video   

Beverly Hallberg, District Media Group

TRACK C: Training for Organizations

1:30 - 2:30pm   

360 Integration: How the Internet Affects Your Organization   

Soren Dayton, New Media Strategies

2:45 - 3:45pm   

Protecting Your Online Identity   

William Beutler, New Media Strategies

4:00 - 5:00pm   

Online Marketing & Fundraising   

Adrienne Royer, Leadership Institute

Todd Thurman, Heritage Foundation

I am going to be covering Track B - if there's anyone out there who is planning to attend RightOnline and is willing to write a guest spot on Track C - please let me know.

Also, in Track A, there's a cool lecture on Internet Regulation: Will the Next Government Takeover be over the Internet? from 4:00-5:00pm on Friday.

If you're planning to attend this weekend's conference and want to learn about how you can become a contributor to TechRepublican - catch me at the conference.

Friday Night Festivities

After Firday's training you can stay for dinner and listen to former Congressman John Peterson and senate candidate Pat Toomey - followed by a screening of the conservo-documentary, Not Evil Just Wrong, or....

You can come out to Fat Head's South Shore Saloon for inexpensive pub food and over 42 beers on draft to choose from at 1805 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh. (#RightOnCarson)

Cheers and happy conferencing.

Erik Telford of Americans for Prosperity is gearing up for its second annual RightOnline Conference, August 14 & 15th in Pittsburgh (home of the Steelers and world famous steak salads).

RightOnline is part of the larger movement to train conservative activists to be effective online and I feel last year's conference was a true turning point for the movement in this regard. 

I organized the Leadership Institute's online training for the event last year and am looking forward to attending on behalf of TechRepublican so I caught up with Erik Telford who offered up some insider's perspective for the event.  Here's what he had to say.

How did RightOnline get its start? Why did you feel it was important to train your grassroots leaders?

RightOnline came to fruition in July of last year when Netroots Nation held their 2008 Convention in Austin, Texas. It became clear to us that the left held a huge advantage in the realm of online activism and we felt it important to help bridge that gap. And what better way to do that than to confront the problem head on? Consequently, our 2008 RightOnline Conference was the first conservative event to ever counter the leftwing YearlyKos / Netroots Nation Convention.

Our goal was to bring together existing bloggers and online activists, leaders from movement organizations, and traditional grassroots activists, toward the goal of working more effectively to advance our shared goals, and using the internet as a vehicle to achieve those ends.

We especially thought it was important to train our grassroots leaders because we realized that given the tools, there was so much more that they could accomplish. It was clear that in order to more effectively combat the left, our activists needed to learn how to self-mobilize and organize, serve as watchdogs in their local communities, and find other proactive ways to make their voices heard.

To be quite honest, we really didn’t know how things would turn out with that first conference. While we took a roll of the dice, it turned out to be a wildly successful tool in energizing and empowering our activists, and drew quite a bit of attention from the mainstream media to boot…

Due to this success, we expanded RightOnline into a broader initiative, conducting regional and local training seminars in dozens of states over the last year.

Many of our readers will be in attendance this year - What can they expect to learn? Any special guests? Surprises?

We have a great lineup of speakers, as well as an extensive offering of training seminars and panels. While I’m sure attendees will learn a lot from these aspects of the agenda, I think one of the most powerful aspects of this conference is what they will learn from one another.

Of course, I’m really looking forward to our keynote speakers, we just confirmed that Michelle Malkin will be joining us again this year, which I’m stoked about. But for me, the best part is the peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and the personal relationships that are forged.

It’s just so critical toward the goal of building an effective online community, which is what we need in order to be more successful online.

While this will have to wait until we gather in Pittsburgh, in the meantime, I’d encourage attendees to keep an eye on our constantly expanding agenda at www.RightOnline.com

In terms of surprises? The one thing I’ve found about organizing events is that they are full of them, but I’m sure that you’ll be finding out about them at the same time that I do. The one big surprise so far was finding out that Senator Arlen “the defector” Specter will be speaking at Netroots Nation on Friday, August 14th -- the same day that Pat Toomey will be giving a keynote at RightOnline. Thank you, PR angle from heaven!

What is the goal for this year's conference? Are you doing others around the country? Are you seeing marked success?

Success is more determined by what happens after the conference than what happens at it.

The goal is for attendees to learn what they can do to be more effective, network and build relationships, and leave energized and empowered. Success will be measured once they get home, fire up their computers, and get to work!

I’ve been amazed at the success from last year’s conference, as well as our other seminars around the country. As long as we continue to find the same level of interest that we’ve been encountering, we’ll continue our RightOnline efforts at the local, state, and national levels! 

I encourage you to register for this conference if you haven't done so already & I'll be sure to see you there.

Recently, Americans for Prosperity launched a new web initiative -- Patients United Now. The website, a health care project of the AFP Foundation, combines education, TV ads and grassroots events to bring together patients around the country who are worried about a Washington takeover of health care.

Today, I had the opportunity to chat with Amy Menefee, AFP’s new Communications Director, about the new site and how she hoped the initiative would contribute to AFP’s goals and missions.

We are getting stories in from people across the country and the world -- some who came to America from Canada and other locales for medical treatment, and some who are Americans sharing incredible stories of survival. These are the heart of the Patients cause -- letting patients' voices be heard. We hope to share these stories with members of Congress who are considering any changes in access to U.S. health care.

Clearly, the AFP communications team has latched on to a rallying cry that’s been circulating throughout the conservative movement - the need for conservatives to tell more passionate, relevant stories.

On Patients United Now, not only can American patients tell their stories, they can also sign up to get updates, read great information about the policy ideas that are popular, and find a schedule of  grassroots events around the country.

Americans for Prosperity is also busy training conservative activists to get ahead online, in conjunction with other conservative training organizations like the Leadership Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Sam Adams Alliance, just to name a few. 

RightOnline is a national conference geared toward educating citizens about economic policy and a return of the federal government to its constitutional limits -- while also teaching hundreds of conservative activists to be effective online.

The next RightOnline conference is being held on August 14th and 15th in Pittsburgh, PA.

So gather up your Terrible Towels, because this is definitely a must-attend conference if you can swing it -- AFP and its friends are able to bring in a tremendous speaker line-up that offers the kind of nuts & bolts training that conservatives need to be effective.

Hundreds of Conservative Online Activists from Coast-to-Coast, Oct. 10-11

Bloggers and online activists from around the country will be gathering at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA tomorrow for RightOnline, a training conference where they will learn how to use online resources more effectively to change the political landscape on free-market issues such as taxes, spending, and pro-growth economic policies. RightOnline kicks off Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s 2nd national Defending the American Dream Summit – the 1,800-plus crowd of citizens from 38 states around the country make the event the largest gathering in the nation of free-market activists and leaders.

Any bloggers or new media activists interested in attending should e-mail newmedia@afphq.org for free blogger credentials.

Friday Schedule
RightOnline – Internet Training Seminars - 9:00am – 1:45pm

Samsphere (Presented by the Sam Adams Alliance)
9:00-11:30am – Salon K
EM Zanotti & Eric Odom
Samsphere is a new media forum for existing bloggers and e-activists. This provides the opportunity for online advocates from across the country to gather, network, and share ideas.

Online Identity Management Bootcamp (Presented by the Lucy Burns Institute)
9:00-11:30am - Lee
Leslie Graves
A seminar for bloggers, e-activists, and representatives from conservative organizations, with a focus on improving your online presence.

Online Activism Workshops (Presented by the Leadership Institute)
9:00-10:00am - Blogging 101: If You Blog It, They Will Come – Robert Bluey, The Heritage Foundation

10:00-11:00pm - Online Video – “YouTubing” Compelling Videos – Mary Katharine Ham, The Weekly Standard / HamNation

11:00-12:00am - New Media – Social Networking: Getting Tapped In – Christopher Malagisi, Leadership Institute

12:00-12:45pm - Lunch

12:45-1:45pm - Wikipedia – Total Reputation Management – William Beutler, New Media Strategies

You may remember a couple of months ago when Sen. Barack Obama lectured Americans that "we can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."

So imagine our surprise yesterday when we saw a large crowd gathered around two large Chevy Suburban SUVs outside the Mayflower Hotel in Washington and learned that none other than Sen. Obama was there and about to depart in one of the SUVs. Of course, we quickly called back to the office, which is only a block away, and got our trusty video camera so we could document the event.

Turns out Sen. Obama was at the Mayflower for a $10,000-a-photo fundraising lunch, according to the Washington Post. So while he recently chided Americans to give up their SUVs, not eat as much as they want and turn off the AC, it appears that he yesterday enjoyed a fancy lunch with fat cat donors, then rode away in an air-conditioned SUV. (Which, in fairness, we point out is probably encouraged by the Secret Service because it's so much safer than compact cars like the Prius. Which is precisely why Sen. Obama shouldn't support policies that lead to higher gas prices and make it harder for average American families to own SUVs if they want the safety they provide.)

In any case, here's our video from the scene:

[Blog post cross-posted from Ed Frank @ Americans for Prosperity.]

I'm on my way to Austin, TX for American for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream Summit.

I'm not alone.

Countless others are making the trek to train local Texas activists and bloggers to be effective:

David All, Joe Mansour, Matt Sheffield, Sendhil Panchadsaram, David Almacy, Vincent Harris, Steve Stapleton, William Beutler, Danny Glover and Robert Bluey are all traveling to make a difference for the conservative movement.

All of these people (and many more) are engaged in Leadership Institute New Media training tomorrow.

Look forward to live updates from the event and please feel free to offer comments & to suggest prime locations to hang out in Austin.

The Leadership Institute is working with Americans for Prosperity's Erik Telford to put together top-notch Internet training for local conservative activists and bloggers at AFP's RightOnline, Defending the American Dream Summit on July 18th & 19th in Austin, TX.

The result is a cutting-edge program and a step in the right direction for the conservative movement.  This is the first of many more opportunities for online trainers to go where our local activists are -- to train them on the ground to be more effective online. 

I'm so grateful to the speakers who are a part of this important training on July 18th:

David All (Slatecard.com), Sendhil Panchadsaram(Slatecard.com), Joe Mansour (David All Group), Robert Bluey (Heritage Foundation), David Almacy (Waggener Edstrom), William Beutler (New Media Strategies), Steve Stapleton (KMA Communications), Vincent Harris (Senator John Cornyn), Danny Glover (Eyeblast.tv) and Matt Sheffield (Newsbusters) and so many other prominent conservative voices.

 You can check out the entire program and register at Rightonline.