Snapshots of lobbying techniques used as Congress gets ready to start writing bills overhauling health care:

Earlier this morning, the New York State Senate launched their new website at NYSenate.gov. On the 14th floor at 250 Broadway, Majority Leader Malcolm Smith introduced the new web portal in front of a giant screen projecting the homepage of the new site.

I love the concept of “patch-through” telephone call campaigns because it promises to help organizations empower their constituents to call their Members of Congress offices and directly express their position on important legislative bills. However, for many years these kinds of campaigns have been tricky – to say the least – to pull off successfully. For one thing, the staff time and budget it takes to run patch-through call campaigns can be overwhelming. You have to coach constituents effectively so they don’t end up stuttering and confused at the moment when they suddenly find themselves on the phone (thanks to you) with their Congressional office. Plus it’s difficult to measure results, because there aren’t many good reporting tools.

There is always lots going on in the world of internet advocacy and this is the place to see some of the best. The Internet Advocacy Roundup is an occasional newsletter I have written for the past few years. Starting today, it will be a semi-regular feature here. So let's dive right in.