Since taking the bench, Judge Engelhart has transformed the civil district courts. His advocacy for open courts and focus on taxpayer cost savings was demonstrated when he became the first judge in all of Harris County to require electronic filing of documents in new lawsuits.

E-filing helps small firm attorneys and those appearing pro se to easily file their lawsuit and other relevant documents with the court. The process has helped the Harris County District Clerk’s office save thousands of dollars annually in personnel and storage costs, not to mention paper and ink for printers. Harris County had to endure severe budget cuts in the last three years, but Judge Engelhart and his new approach to filing was helping save much-needed funds. Now, several other courts have followed the Judge’s lead and required electronic filing.

And yet our revolutionary judge wasn’t satisfied with just electronic filing. Prompted by his commitment to increase the public’s access to the courts, Engelhart next focused his energy to open a new system in Harris County called FREEfax. FREEfax allows litigants to file documents with the District Clerk’s office from their computers at no cost.

Judge Engelhart has been a vocal supporter of electronic filing and, last December, the Texas Supreme Court listened! Judge Engelhart was invited to testify before our state’s highest court to discuss electronic filing and the benefit to Texas courts of a move away from paper. He emphasized that the system should be free or at least a minimal cost, but that the system sustain itself through user fees for searches and copies. The Supreme Court was receptive and Engelhart continues to advocate for a statewide paperless system.

Beyond the amount of money taxpayers are saved, electronic filing also has great environmental implications. In Harris County, the District Clerk’s office uses several tons of paper on a regular basis. Through electronic filing, some of that paper is saved.

We are thrilled to see our clients use technology and innovation to create new solutions. Judge Engelhart is an advocate for technological advances in the courthouse and we cannot wait for his re-election party in November.

For more information about Judge Mike Engelhart or electronic filing, visit www.JudgeEngelhart.com.

Brandon joins Net Victories as a Senior Strategist and Director of Operations. He just returned from a stint in Washington D.C., and most recently worked as a direct mail account executive where he developed and executed strategic direct mail plans that integrated voter contact messaging with the online and field components of campaigns.

He honed his logistical skills working on the Democratic National Convention Committee in 2004 then went out into the field, serving as Lead Organizer in Southeast Michigan on the statewide coordinated campaign through two election cycles.

Brandon will head up our Austin operation. Welcome aboard, Brandon!

Garcia doesn’t just have social network accounts, he’s active on them. He utilizes both Twitter and Facebook to post real-time updates that include safety tips, breaking news, and behind-the-scenes photos. This is all in addition to timely responses and interaction with members of his online community. Send him a tweet – he’ll respond personally!

The Sheriff also utilizes a text messaging platform to compliment his other online communication efforts. Supporters sign up either through a form on AdrianGarcia.com or by text messaging ‘TeamAG’ to 24587. Through the use of text messaging, Sheriff Garcia not only provides a rapid news alert system, he’s also able to reach a constituency who might not have access to smartphones or computers.

Garcia also launched “APB: Assembled Press Briefs” – his ongoing email series that spotlights, through easy to digest posts, Harris County Sheriff’s Office news and important county-wide press offerings.

With just a few clicks, Sheriff Garcia provides for his community more communication and transparency than ever before. Purposeful use of online communications has not yet been widely adopted by law enforcement, making Sheriff Garcia a bit of a trendsetter. His forward-thinking is an example for agencies across the country. He has provided a fantastic model of how to earn the public’s trust and confidence through direct and frequent communication.

Six easy things you can do to make your offline event pay dividends – online and otherwise.

1. S.W.A.G. (Stuff We All Get)
Ever been to a swingin’ event and receive a cool ‘party favor’ to take home? Maybe a shirt, button, bumper sticker, or koozie (hey, people still use koozies!)? Give people something to remember you by and increase visibility for your organization. Get creative – perhaps generous donors get a party pack to hand to their friends. Remember: print your website and/or social media handles on everything.

2. Capture Moments.
People love pictures. They love to be in them, they love to see their friends in them, and they love to see ‘notables’ in them. For those that are unable to make it to the event, photos help them feel as if they were there. What’s more, they see attendees – people who support your organization and whose photos provide a (visual) testimonial for your organization.

3. Use Social Networks.
Be proactive on Facebook and Twitter leading up to and during your event. Establish a hashtagfor your event to use on Twitter. Encourage a few core supporters to help spread your posts and tags. Find a minute to compose a message encouraging supporters to invite on your behalf. Make sure that someone from your organization puts up posts and pictures in real time at the event (and mentions supporters, too – after all, these people are invested in your cause).

4. Capture Emails at Registration.
Often overlooked, so it bears repeating: your organization wants and needs emails. They are key to fundraising, spreading announcements, and building name identification. If possible, bring an laptop to your event so that when guests enter they can readily enter their email address via your website.

5. Send Reminder Message.
Don’t forget to follow the ‘Save the Date’ and/or original email invite with a reminder email. People are busy, not to mention inundated with information, so a reminder a day or two out from the event will be appreciated.

6. Fundraise.
Get out in front of the event on social media with a contribution ask. Set a fundraising goal for your event and let your supporters know. Don’t forget to tell your network what their contribution will help fund. Supporters are much more likely to invest if they know that their money is going to something tangible.

TDP Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa

The highlight of the weekend was Friday night’s keynote speech by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. Mayor Castro was introduced by his (identical twin) brother Joaquin Castro, the presumptive congressman from the new 35th Congressional district. It was great fun watching the two brothers on stage. They share the exact same smile and wave. They also represent the great promise of Democrats in Texas. Mayor Castro’s speech – which focused on education – motivated the crowd to keep up the fight for our kids’, thus our state’s, future.

We were able to attend several caucuses and trainings during the convention. During the Social Media Caucus, moderator Rachel Farris honed in on how Twitter and Facebook have dramatically transformed political communications and how social networks can be leveraged to organize and mobilize supporters.   The lunchtime youth panel, “The Young, The Motivated, The Now,” moderated by Bun B and Rocsi Diaz, was packed with eager young Democrats. And there were no empty seats at the Hispanic voter turnout panel, led by the TDP’s Promesa Project in conjunction with Univision.

The convention ended on two high notes. First, Texas Democrats adopted the most progressive platform in years, including advocating for marriage equality. Then, attendees elected Gilberto Hinojosa to be the new Chairman of the TDP, the first Hispanic to hold the position.

We look forward to working with Chairman Hinojosa to ensure Democratic progress in Texas this year and beyond.

NGP users can now easily identify who of their Facebook friends is registered to vote and also track which of them have voted. The feature is simple to use. Supporters log into a website, then match their Facebook friends to a targeted voter universe in the VAN.

We know that an individual is much more likely to vote if asked to do so by a personal acquaintance. Supporters can prioritize their campaign activity and present a most convincing message when they know who among their Facebook friends is included in a targeted voter group.

While we are savoring cooler weather (and great seafood) in Providence, we’ll be on the hunt for new developments like the one from NGP/VAN/Facebook that has such great potential for so many organizations and campaigns.

What you do and say on your site may immediately be seen and recorded. Not only are your supporters watching your site, but so are the media and your competition. In the right hands, the quality of your website content will soar and your communication campaign will progress. In the hands of a volunteer or under-qualified staffer (even if they’re well-intentioned), puts your online campaign headquarters (a.k.a. your website) at risk.

There are several good reasons to carefully select the individual(s) in charge of your organization’s website: Experience, Accountability, and Security.

• Experience
  Experienced individuals deliver experienced work. They can quickly identify and decisively execute successful strategies. You are more likely save time, effort, money – and achieve your organization’s objectives – if you put an experienced individual at the helm of your online communication efforts.
• Accountability
  If someone is being paid by you to do a job, they are accountable to you. It’s difficult to reprimand a volunteer for substandard performance that may include making content mistakes or for not showing up to work. After all, volunteers are working for your organization as a gift. Paying an experienced individual to manage your online profile and communications ensures quality work because you remain in control.
• Security
  If you provide your website log in and passwords to a ever growing circle of staff members then grant them management privileges,  you are likely to not only have less effective online communication, but you put your organization at risk of a security breach. The more people that can log in and tinker with your site, the greater the odds that your communication strategy plan veers off course, content quality control suffers, or worse, a careless employee stores password information where it can be obtained by people outside of the organization. TIP: Any time an employee who had management access to your site leaves your organization, be sure to revoke their privileges after their departure, then assign new passwords to your site.

Far too many organizations have fallen in the trap of treating their online communication as an afterthought. They seem to forget that it’s their online communication that’s seen each day by their audience. The choice of which individual to put in control of that online communication is worth careful consideration.

HCCC is a non-profit: they have a small staff working hard to accomplish big things with limited resources. And because HCCC is a leading institution in their field, the staff updates their website quite often—posting to the blog, changing exhibitions, adding upcoming events—and posting lots and lots of photos.

But, HCCC had a problem. Their website was difficult to update.  Too many changes required the staff to edit HTML code. What’s more, they had to move files around on the server just to add new photos.  Their website became burdened with outdated information. The staff was forced to spend too much time working on the website, rather building a successful organization.

Net Victories set out to make the entire website editable and to make managing the website as fast and easy as possible. To do this, we designed a back-end system tailored to HCCC’s specific needs. We also developed custom forms for every different type of content on their site, from exhibits to events, resident artists to gift shop items. No more editing HTML code, no more tweaking the server—just simple, easy-to-use web forms.

We built the website to be intelligent. For example, when an event or exhibit ends, the system automatically takes it down and relocates the event to the appropriate archive space. The HCCC can now post it once and forget about it—the system handles the rest.

Our clients want technology to make their lives easier, not harder. Now, the HCCC staff has a website that’s as on-the-ball as they are—and gives them more time to run their organization.

Folks have come a long way in the last few years when it comes to recognizing the value online communication. They invest to have platforms created and customized for their purposes. But the ones that achieve the most online success make an additional investment after these platforms are launched: their time. They show up to their party.

People ‘like’ you on Facebook, or follow you on Twitter, or sign up for your email alerts because of who you are and the insight you provide. They want to converse with you. Take time to read the posts on your social network feeds and to contribute to the online conversation. Officials should resist the instinct to staff this out entirely, like they might with many other jobs. In every conversation, authenticity matters. Hearing directly from an official about their take on an issue or about their latest activity will always be of interest to their network.

Commit to host the party and to show up, mingle, and thank your guests. Do that, and your crowd will keep growing and growing. Even better, they will understand what you need from them to move your organization, cause, efforts forward.

You invested time and money crafting a site that you can be proud of and that will do the job it’s meant to do. But if you neglect your site – fail to periodically audit each page and section – visitors become less compelled to remain on the site, much less take action.

We recommend a three-pronged focus for your website tune-up: Functionality, Components, and Aesthetics.

Functionality – “Adjust the valves.”
Perhaps there is no more discouraging experience for a visitor than to attempt to interact with a site only to have the effort met with a ‘404’ or ‘unable to process request’ message. Test each interactive portal on your site to ensure that it is operating properly.

If it has been a year or two since your site went live, odds are that it lacks the latest functionality and does not benefit from advances like new plug-ins (software that adds customized abilities to a larger application).

Components - “Change the spark plugs.”
Do you know the most popular elements on your site? Do visitors like the homepage photo album best? Are they more likely to click on headlines in the ‘Latest News’ section? Most importantly, what elements tend to draw the least traffic? Identify those sections of your site and decide if they need to be replaced, and with what.

Aesthetics - “Check the belts. Replace if worn.”
Remember the value of perception. Your website is the only impression most people will have of your organization. If your site consists of dated design elements and old imagery, it conveys that your organization is dated, old, and stagnate.

Your website tune-up doesn’t guarantee that visitor traffic and conversion rates will triple overnight, but if done regularly, it can guarantee that the investment made in your online headquarters keeps paying off.