May 2008 — Campaign Advantage President Emi Ireland authored the chapter on Online Campaigning in a major reference book to be published this year, the Routledge Handbook on Political Management. The book, which includes international experts writing about the various aspects of offline and online campaigning, is edited by Prof. Dennis Johnson of George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM).
"We are proud that Emi was invited to participate in this publication," said Phil Tajitsu Nash, CEO of Campaign Advantage, "and we look forward to publication of the Handbook so that all campaigns can learn the latest strategies and tactics."
May 2008 — As anti-war sentiment has grown in the nation, anti-war veterans have emerged as some of the strongest opponents of Mr. Bush's war. Even when they do not have prior political experience, they are formidable additions to the anti-war debates because of their lived experiences as veterans.
Two of Campaign Advantage's 2008 clients are anti-war veterans who are running as first-time candidates. Jerry Northington, a veterinarian from Delaware, and Paul Renneisen, a business owner from south Florida, are bringing a lot of energy and insight to their respective campaigns.
"It has been our privilege to work with candidates such as Jerry and Paul," said Phil Tajitsu Nash, CEO of Campaign Advantage. "Every candidate deserves the best online tools so that they can get their message out. But in this case, the message is important for both the candidates and our country."
Among the first awards won by Campaign Advantage was a website created for an Iraq War veteran, Rick Johnson of Missouri.
April 2008 — Campaign Advantage created a blog for the Asian American Action Fund, an Asian American PAC whose website we created several years ago. Within months of its launch, the blog now has traffic comparable to the website itself.
"This is an example of how a client's needs evolve as the technology evolves," said Phil Tajitsu Nash, CEO of Campaign Advantage. "Once we started the blog and trained their volunteer editors, they have been posting diaries almost every day."
A popular feature on the blog has been the opportunity for any member of the Asian American community to say in 500 words or less why they support any candidate. This, in turn, has led to an upsurge in comments and increased viewership.
April 2008 — Continuing a tradition first started in the 2000 campaign, Campaign Advantage has won a number of top honors in each campaign cycle. One of our websites was named recently as the nation's Best Local (non-federal) Website by the Institute for Politics and Democracy on the Internet (IPDI) at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM). Other honors included a "Site of the Day" designation by Politics1.com and selection as an "historic" site by the Library of Congress, which guarantees permanent archiving of the site in the LOC's permanent online archive.
"We are proud that our client websites are being recognized by our professional colleagues," said Phil Tajitsu Nash, CEO of Campaign Advantage, " but we are even more proud when our websites help our clients to achieve their strategic objectives."
Among the earlier awards won by Campaign Advantage are a recognition for excellence in blog advertising and a First Place "Pollie" award from the American Association of Political Consultants for the Best Public Affairs Website in the nation.
April 2008 — Campaign Advantage principals Emi Ireland and Phil Nash announced that the third edition of their award-winning book, "Winning Campaigns Online," will be published in the Fall of 2008. "We appreciate the feedback on the Second Edition as well as the new ideas for websites, strategies, and other campaign innovations sent in by our readers," said CEO Phil Nash.
"Winning Campaigns Online" was honored by the Society for Technical Communication in Washington, D.C. for "Excellence" at its annual International Online Communication, Technical Art, and Technical Publications Competition. The judging, which ranks publications against objective criteria instead of against other publications, is considered extremely rigorous, and very few entries reach the "Excellence" standard.
The judges' comments included the following:
- "Beautifully written, fascinating, very topical discussion."
- "The tone of the discussion was confident and relaxed but very professional — perfect for the subject matter."
- "Terminology usage was just right — technical terms were used with enough context to make them completely understandable to a non-technical reader"
"Winning Campaigns Online" has previously been honored as Book of the Month at www.politics1.com, and has been featured at Amazon.com, in bookstores worldwide, and at political campaign training conferences.
2007 Flashback — Missouri State Representative Sam Page, running in his first statewide campaign, needed to raise a significant amount online to end the quarter. Big online fundraising totals would show his statewide strength and deter possible oppoents from entering the race for Lt. Governor.
Campaign Advantage, with online fundraising experience for campaigns from the presidential to local levels, helped to write and send targeted emails that raised $52,175 in 11 days. Potential donors were sent to the Page website, where Campaign Advantage donation processing tools completed the transactions.
Rep. Page, an anesthesiologist from Creve Coeur, started using Campaign Advantage web services in 2002, when he won a hotly contested race for the 82nd District seat by only 700 votes. In the process, the Page website won a First Place Pollie Award from the AAPC (American Association of Political Consultants) as the Best State Legislative Website of 2002.
