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"Getting Cats and Dogs to Play Nice in the Office: Integrating Your Lobbying and Grassroots Operations," is the third of four sessions offered as part of the Advocacy Leaders Network, a workshop series tailored to senior advocacy, government affairs, and public relations professionals. ALN is part of CMF's Partnership for a More Perfect Union, which seeks to enhance communications, understanding, and the relationship between citizens and Congress.

As we mentioned last week, our Gold Mouse Award researchers have their jobs cut out for them, reviewing 92 criteria for each of the 538 Member office sites (there were three vacant seats). (Review our detailed methodology here in PDF.) Needless to say, it stands out when an office is doing something online that others are not. That’s why we wanted to highlight these features – they may not seem innovative by some standards, but their novelty on the Hill is worth sharing in the hope that other offices get creative and inspired in their own communications with constituents.

Last summer, as CMF combed through 618 congressional websites to identify the Gold Mouse Award winners, our researchers kept an eye out for innovative features that we weren’t seeing on other congressional sites, or features that were being done particularly well. They don’t guarantee you an award – you must have the underlying content and timeliness we look for – but they certainly don’t hurt.

How do you illustrate the myriad ways your organization impacts a particular congressional district? Asset mapping is a hot topic and the subject of our most recent Advocacy Leaders Network workshop. Following are four takeaways about mapping your organization’s assets.

One of the fastest growing and potentially empowering technologies for engaging citizens, interacting with elected officials, and building better communications is virtual town hall meetings, such as telephone town halls and online town halls. This post will discuss how you can improve your virtual town hall, whether you are a congressional office or an advocacy organization.

Much ballyhoo has been made about the loosely coordinated mid-January effort to encourage citizens to contact Congress and voice opposition to two pieces of Internet-related legislation. The much-publicized darkening of major websites has been hailed as a wake-up call for Internet advocates. However, the strategies and tactics of those opposed to the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) actually just relied on some tried and true elements of advocacy which have existed for the last 50 years.

The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) is pleased to announce that the second Advocacy Leaders Network workshop is open for registration. Please join us March 9 for “Mapping Your Political and Economic Footprint: Identifying Advocacy Assets and the Art of Modern Story Telling.” The ALN series, part of CMF's Partnership for a More Perfect Union, is being produced by the Beekeeper Group.

The Partnership for a More Perfect Union e-newsletter will be one year old this month. Our goal to improve the value of this newsletter led us to ask ourselves, "What do the subscribers think?"

CMF launched the inaugural Advocacy Leaders Network today in the Washington offices of Bloomberg Government. About 80 advocacy leaders from associations, nonprofits, and corporations came together to learn about the best strategies for educating their supporters to enhance communications, understanding, and the relationship between citizens and Congress. The ALN series, part of CMF's Partnership for a More Perfect Union, is being produced by the Beekeeper Group.

Shown at the CMF Gold Mouse Awards ceremony on November 16, this video highlights some of our award-winning Members of Congress and staff for the 112^th Congress. In it, they discuss why it’s important to communicate with constituents online.