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720 Embraces Cloud Computing

Mon, February 1st, 2010 by Tom Cochran | 0 comments

Over the weekend, we completed the last steps of our three-month server upgrade process. Countless hours of planning and late nights migrating websites will pay off as we significantly expand our hosting capabilities. The new environment will help us realize our goal of increasing the scalability of our servers by leveraging leading-edge technologies like cloud computing. The old infrastructure was brought online in 2006, successfully supporting all of our clients during two electoral campaign cycles and…
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Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: An Analysis

Mon, January 25th, 2010 by Brett Kappel | 0 comments

The US Supreme Court on Thursday, January 21 held that the Federal Election Campaign Act’s prohibition on the use of corporate treasury funds to pay for advertisements expressly advocating the election or defeat of candidates for federal office violates the First Amendment right to free speech. This decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, will have a profound effect on elections. Corporations, and apparently labor unions, are now free, as long as they do not…
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Opting In vs. Opting Out: They Are Not The Same

Fri, October 23rd, 2009 by Michael Cornfield | 2 comments

One of my favorite social science experiments (yes, I'm that nerdy) involved comparing how car drivers felt when they purchased gas in two seemingly equivalent situations. In both arrangements, the price per gallon was three cents higher for those paying by credit card than for those paying by cash. But in the first set-up, the gas station sign displayed the credit card choice, and drivers only learned when they reached the pump that they could…
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Improving Town Hall Meetings

Mon, October 5th, 2009 by Michael Cornfield | 0 comments

Sandy Heierbacher, Director of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, knows an opportunity when she sees it. In the wake of the tumultuous Town Hall meetings during the August Congressional recess, she has put forth a variety of materials on the subject, the handiest of which contains five "Tips for Political Leaders." I like four of them. First, she recommends co-hosting a town hall with a legislator from the opposite party. Since most town…
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What is “Government 2.0?”

Thu, September 24th, 2009 by Michael Cornfield | 0 comments

Earlier this month, the IT impresario Tim O’Reilly convened a “Government 2.0” conference in Washington D.C.  He’s planning a follow-up “Expo” for Spring 2010.  Kudos to him and his team for sparking a dialogue about how to get more citizen/users involved in government.  I especially liked the strict time limits he imposed on conference speakers –as tight as five minutes!  In connection with his entrepreneurial initiative, O’Reilly has been expounding on the idea of “government-as-a-platform.” …
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