National Journal's Tech Daily Dose had a post that explains a bit about what I'm doing these days:

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has a new position in her office that does not yet have a recognizable acronym on Capitol Hill when the hires of LAs, LDs, COSs, and AAs, are discussed. Collins’s new media director, Lance Dutson, will be charged with oversight of online forums, blogs, increased use of the Web site, Web video initiatives, and user-generated content. "Our use of new media will take many forms, the most obvious of which will be an increase in the use of our Web site as a medium for two-way communication," Dutson said in an email.

"We plan to dramatically increase our use of Web video to keep constituents abreast of what is happening in Washington, and to use the medium to explain both the process and the reasoning behind the legislative work that is done on their behalf," he said. Web video will provide an efficient way for Collins to speak directly to Mainers and provides a venue for her to hear concerns of her constituents, he said. The office will also boost communication through email and RSS distribution and employ micro-targeting, hyper-local blogs and user-generated content.

Read the whole story >>

Maine's blog world continues to grow. Here are a couple great new blogs I've come across lately:

• ME-01- The race for Maine's 1st Congressional District
  This site gives some clear, concise statistical analysis of the CD1 race, something that is much needed in general up here. The post about Pingree's funding sources was especially good:A Closer Look at Chellie Pingree's Fundraising
• Lucky Cambridge's Maine Point
  This site is a riot. Cambridge has a real unique voice, and his analysis of the CD1 race so far has been poignant and funny. Here's an example, from a post about the CD1 candidate commercials:

  Chellie Pingree is sticking with what didn’t work in 2002 - the “I’m pissed off because somebody hit me in the forehead with a hatchet” gig. Girded with plenty of campaign cash, the Pingree camp contracts with high-level media production therefore using a camera slightly more sophisticated than a Brennan cell phone. Even though it’s evident that Cote’s 14-year-old niece had the day off from doing make-up, no amount of filler or base can hide that cleft sitting smack-dab in the middle of Chellie’s squash. One thing comes across - She’s still pissed off.

  Maine Point May 26- Commercials

I've been fortunate to spend this weekend in Chicago at Samsphere, a gathering of right-of-center online activists sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance.

It's going to take some time to process the weekend, but it's been a fantastic experience to interact with people who have decided that it's not enough to just complain about the Right's perceived deficit in the online zone. These folks are making big things happen, and I'm coming away with a scary set of tools to play with.

I generally don't like to talk business at MWR, but I'm pretty pleased about this.

I recently worked on an extensive website project with Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine, along with my good friend Jamie Bloomquist. Jamie and I have teamed up on a number of projects, he was the designer for the Collins for Senator site as well. We just learned that MaineBoats.com won an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Interactive Media Council (click to view)

Jamie is an incredibly talented person, he did a fantastic job pulling this project together and I'm proud to have worked with him on this. Other winners included CNNMoney.com, Cosmopolitan.com and New England Home Magazine’s website, NEHomeMag.com. Here is Maine Boats' press release: