Communications directors learning from other communications directors

I'm a PR person, and my way of doing PR is to steal ideas from everyone else, and use them for my own agenda. *evil laughter*

Kidding. But I do value learning from my colleagues, and found this article by the Communications Director of The Genocide Intervention Network to be a great read for those looking to change the world. Having worked in PR for human rights and social justice causes for years now, one challenge always remains "how do I get my message out there?" There's never any money, never enough staff people, sometimes the fax machine breaks, the wireless goes down, things catch on fire (my favorite obstacle over the course of the last few years...be careful when making Rice-a-Roni!).

As this article explains, any grassroots (or non-grassroots) organization looking to build a "netroots" following, needs to be amenable to online social networking - the concept of promoting connections and collaborations between people who share similar interests, backgrounds and geographical locations, among other details.

The Genocide Intervention Network has grown over the past two years into a movement of more than 300 colleges and 200 high schools - connecting people through sites like You Tube, MySpace, Friendster, Facebook and more.

This article is probably not news to anyone reading my blog, let alone the millions of others who blog daily, read blogs daily, or know what blogs are. But it's helpful to be reminded of the effect that social networking can have, particularly for organizations looking to mobilize people. Sure, this technology can also be used to schlep Coca-Cola, or the Gap, or Betty Lou's banana bread recipe. But it's most dramatic impact may just be in its capacity to support direct action - whether that direct action is attending a rally, writing a letter to a Congressperson, or getting out the vote.