Last year was obviously an exciting electoral season here in the United States. But we also had the opportunity to be involved in perhaps an even more historic election in 2008: the first free presidential elections in the Maldives in a generation.

As you may know, the Maldives is a tiny archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the smallest Muslim nation in the world, and has been ruled by a dictator for 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. In 2008, free presidential elections were held for the first time in many people's lives. We had the opportunity to work with a leading candidate for president, Dr. Hassan Saeed, a former attorney general and chief justice.

The very newness of it all made it somewhat difficult to tell who was a likely voter, so the approach was to go after everyone! We set up a database containing just about every human in the country (about 350,000). Addresses in the Maldives are complex, because there are no streets or street numbers: just a house and an island. Houses have names, not numbers, rather like English country manors. And people's legal names are different from our expectations in the U.S.: a person might have three names (Abdul Abdullah Abdul), or two names (Abdul Abdullah), or even just one (Abdul). We created a custom version of Campaign Engine to handle this different structure.

In a field of 6 candidates including the incumbent dictator, Dr. Saeed ultimately achieved third place. In a runoff round, however, Mohamed Nasheed won against the dictator, and the free elections were a success.

We will continue technology consulting with Dr. Saeed throughout the year as he builds a new party from scratch in this new democracy. This has been an exciting project and I am pleased to be a footnote to history.

Posted by Ben Schaffer at 2:53 PM | Permalink

Barack Obama will be our next President. It has seemed possible, and even likely, for some time. But that doesn't change how it feels now that it is an unshakable fact. Congratulations to all those who contributed to this campaign and helped bring America the leadership we need at the time we need it most.

I am also proud to say that Jeff Merkley has been elected as Oregon's junior Senator. Jeff will be a progressive voice for Oregon and for the nation, and an excellent partner for President Obama. It has been a great experience to work with his team this cycle.

Congratulations are also in order to Senator-Elect Daniel Squadron, of New York's 25th State Senate District. This was also a special campaign for me personally, as I live in the district Daniel will be representing in Albany! I know we can expect him to be a leader in the New York Senate, which will also be under Democratic control for the first time in forty years.

Rounding out the night for us, San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi earned a second term in a broad showing of support for his progressive record.

So, a great night for America, and a great night for Media Mezcla clients. We're three for three for the evening. And did you hear -- President Obama?

Posted by Ben Schaffer at 9:10 PM | Permalink

In one of the most dynamic races of this season, Campaign Engine client Daniel Squadron unseated a 30-year incumbent in New York's 25th State Senate District. Daniel's progressive program for reform in Albany comes at the right time. We at Media Mezcla are proud to have been on his team.

Congratulations Daniel!

Posted by Ben Schaffer at 11:04 PM | Permalink

I knew Sam was a different kind of politician from the beginning, but when he started his campaign video with a quote from Alasdair Gray, one of my favorite authors, I knew I was in on something special.

Congratulations to Mayor Sam Adams, of Portland, Oregon!

Posted by Ben Schaffer at 2:17 AM | Permalink

Our most extensive changes to Campaign Engine are here with Campaign Engine 2.0. The major new areas of functionality in this release are fundraising-related, but we've also made significant enhancements to email broadcasting and a dozen other areas.

The most obvious change for users will be the new contribution screen, which automatically adapts to events and memberships as well. This is a one-screen contribution process, the same approach taken by the web sites of the Democratic candidates for President, which will now be familiar to your supporters.

But that's just one example — there are over 40 new features in Campaign Engine 2.0. We'll be happy to go over them all with you! Please contact us for a free demo to see for yourself.

Posted by Ben Schaffer at 6:04 PM | Permalink

Today on Daily Kos, Markos points out that in our age of easy online communication, being politically engaged shouldn't mean being "deluged" by paper mailings.

In fact, he goes on to boldly state that "I will NOT FUNDRAISE for any candidate who does not pledge to stop direct mail" to those who prefer not to receive it.

While Markos has called upon web site vendors such as ActBlue to enable an opt-out checkbox for contributors who don't wish to be contacted via snail mail, there's good news for Campaign Engine clients today.

In the version of Campaign Engine you already have, our Form Designer allows you to add a custom checkbox to your contribute, volunteer, email signup, or any other form, by which your supporters can opt out of paper mailings. That status will be marked in their records and with every export of your list.

It's just a question of creating the field and dragging it onto your form. That's the simple approach we take to solving these real-world problems.

If you're currently a Campaign Engine client, please feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have. If you're not a Campaign Engine client -- we'll be standing by to make sure Markos will still fundraise for you.

Posted by Ben Schaffer at 11:02 PM | Permalink