LIVE from Pittsburgh: Veterans of Obama campaign discuss lessons from 2008

We've moved into our second group of sessions here at Netroots Nation. At this moment I'm listening to a panel about applying lessons from the Obama campaign to state and local races. The panel has mostly focused on reviewing Obama's use of new media and technology as opposed to providing advice to candidates and volunteers waging campaigns at the local level.

Still, it's been a good discussion.

Among the best practices the speakers have touched on:

• Tools are not as important as how they are used. It's better to have a good plan for making use of a tool then to breathlessly experiment with the latest gee-whiz technology, setting up one thing after another.
• Don't write off "old" means of online communication (like email). Not everyone is on social networks, for instance. That said, there's no reason not to be on Facebook and niche social networks, as that is a potential low overhead way to recruit supporters for a cause.
• How time is allocated is often far more important than how money is allocated. This is especially the case in low budget campaigns for city council or school board that rely mostly on volunteers.
• Organizers need to be able to tell a story and have a consistent message. Integration across different media (for example, yard signs and websites) is really important.

The panel spent a lot of time discussing the proliferation of mobile phones and text messaging, a means of communication that has been widely embraced by young people. The market is so saturated that seniors have become the fastest growing demographic that is adopting text messaging.

This panel will be wrapping up before long, and then it'll be lunchtime. I'll check in again as the afternoon panels get underway.