Nearly 500 "Make Some NOIse"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Despite the rain, nearly 500 DC progressives packed MCCXXIII on Tuesday for "Make Some NOIse!", a happy-hour event to benefit the year-old New Organizing Institute (NOI). "We raised several thousand dollars for the New Organizing Institute -- money that goes right into training progressives to best utilize technology for causes we care about," said event organizer Bernie Pollack of the AFL-CIO. NOI runs the only campaign-training program in the country focusing on cutting-edge political technology and Internet organizing. NOI was established in 2006 by leaders in progressive politics to train a new generation of tech-enabled organizers. In its first year, NOI has helped place scores of graduates in key positions in campaigns, held trainings for over a hundred non-profit organizations, and brought together hundreds of top progressive organizers, campaign staff, bloggers, and authors through innovative open-space gatherings, called Rootscamp. "Progressive campaigns that effectively wield new organizing techniques -- like engaging the blogosphere, distributing video through YouTube, giving volunteers web-tools to make GOTV calls, and hold fundraising house parties -- to amplify their message and gain new supporters consistently yield dramatic results," says NOI Executive Director, Roz Lemieux. "In 2006, 5 out of the top 6 netroots fundraisers won their races—including Jim Webb, Jon Tester, Joe Sestak, Jerry McNerney, Patrick Murphy. The sixth was Ned Lamont, who leveraged his online support to beat incumbent Joe Lieberman in the primary, ultimately losing, but raising the profile of the botched Iraq war in the process. Beyond that, MoveOn members alone raised over $28 million for progressive candidates and made 7 million get-out-the-vote phone calls," Lemieux says. "The next generation of progressive political activists is growing in number," said Zack Exley, co-founder of the New Organizing Institute. "They're tuned in, teaming up and getting organized better than ever before." Sponsors of the Happy Hour fundraiser included the Washington City Paper, Care2, Watershed, Trellon, AFL-CIO, Beaconfire, Fenton Communications, BlogAds, Free Range Studios, MoveOn, MSHC, Dupont Circle Communications, Indelium, and Joint Concepts. Music and visuals were provided by local DJs Shred and ReeHee.