Near-Time Web 2.0 Hosted Service Accelerates Political Campaign Communications and Collaboration

May 9, 2007; 04:02 AM
Near-Time, Inc. today announced that its hosted collaboration service has been adopted by political consulting firm The Campaign Network to deliver next generation, integrated Web communications and campaign management. Near-Time integrates Wikis, Weblogs, and group file sharing and calendars in a hosted and secure platform. It gives users a way to collaborate on content and activities and quickly make new content and communications available on the Web. The Campaign Network is using Near-Time in a number of political campaigns, to help candidates and their staffs launch public Web sites, manage campaigns and collaborate on content.

“Today’s political campaigns have many moving parts,” remarked Jim Spencer, a Democratic political consultant and President of The Campaign Network. “Candidates and campaign managers are benefiting from Near-Time because it’s a platform that accelerates communications and collaboration, while ensuring that they are in-synch with their constituents and are shaping their agendas according to the key issues driving voters. Near-Time links campaign consultants from across the country with people on the ground,” continued Spencer.

The Internet has emerged as a primary media channel to reach voters of all ages – and the preferred channel among young voters. As a result of this, more and more issue advocacy groups are moving their campaigns online, and candidates are shifting the focus of their efforts to new media. The Campaign Network, whose communication and campaign specialists work with Democratic candidates, labor unions, and progressive political organizations throughout the United States, is using Near-Time to offer its clients integrated marketing and communications campaigns that combine the power of the latest Web technologies with direct mail and other traditional, tried-and-true marketing vehicles.

Wisconsin Congressman Steve Kagen decided to replace his Web site (www.kagen4congress.com) with Near-Time, after The Campaign Network helped him win a seat in Congress last November. Texas gubernatorial candidate Joe Jaworski and Boston city councilman Sam Yoon are also using Near-Time for their internal campaign management sites.

Near-Time Delivers Political Campaigning 2.0

The Internet has become a critical channel for campaigns, not only for internal communications but also for fundraising, voter contact, administration and management. Near-Time extends this hub for internal planning and collaboration, giving everyone involved the tools to share information, files and schedules and collaborate via integrated Weblogs and Wikis in a private and secure, Web hosted environment. In addition to Weblogs and Wikis, the technology offers a variety of Web 2.0 tools to connect with voters and communicate both internally and with the public, including RSS and Atom feeds, tags, social bookmarks and hypertext linking. Recent podcasting enhancements to the technology allow users to make podcasts available from both public and private Near-Time spaces.

“The Campaign Network is the premiere campaign consulting firm in the country. We are thrilled to work with them,” said Reid Conrad, CEO of Near-Time. “The Web has become much more than a platform for publishing information globally. In this age of the Internet campaign, Near-Time transforms the Web into a truly collaborative publishing medium, enabling groups to interact and engage with each other privately or with the Web at large,” continued Conrad

As the 2008 election cycle approaches, expect to see more and more politicians using the Near-Time solution to get the message out and streamline the complicated logistics of collaboration on the campaign trail.

About The Campaign Network

The Campaign Network is a strategic communication company specializing in direct mail. The Campaign Network’s communication and campaign specialists work with Democratic candidates, labor unions, and progressive political organizations throughout the United States. We are a team of experienced professionals with more than 50 years of combined experience. We know how to develop a plan, craft a message, move key constituencies, organize supporters, and execute a winning strategy. For more information, visit http://www.thecampaignnetwork.com.

About Near-Time

Near-Time brings collaboration, content and knowledge management together. Near-Time integrates weblogs and Wikis with Web technologies to enable groups to work together more effectively in a secure, hosted platform. Near-Time users can share information, files and create group calendars. Near-Time is in use in over 40 nations by hundreds of businesses, academic institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations to maximize internal and external collaboration. For more information, go to http://www.near-time.com/.