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Bells & Whistles

• Establish your campaign headquarters on the Internet as part of your Web site
  If you're running a small city election, a physical "campaign headquarters" may provide the necessary "visual" to your neighborhood. But most races need only a virtual campaign headquarters -- a place on the Web to set up shop that allows you to organize, update, schedule and communicate with all facets of the campaign. Even small campaigns can benefit from something of this sort. To really make this feature as secure as possible, you'll need a volunteer with some programming experience, or you'll need to invest some of your finances into this option, but you'll find that not only is this a cheaper alternative than renting an office front, it eliminates the frustrating coffeemaker/couch/desks/copier search. Your virtual campaign headquarters will be the center for all campaign activity. It will be part of your Web site. From here, you will be able to do things such as: disseminate signs and information, let supporters know about upcoming events, hold real-time meetings with volunteers or campaign organizers. This "back shop" can include the personal telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of all campaign staff, as well as a database of all volunteers and their e-mail addresses, a list of people who want campaign signs, upcoming events, assignments for walking precincts - just about anything you can imagine. Most importantly, you'll want to protect this information, ideally by requiring access via a password for use only by authorized volunteers and campaign coordinators. If you've been collecting e-mail addresses this is a good place to store that database as well.
  
  
• Video & Audio
  Most computers today are equipped with speakers, but candidates and campaigns have yet to embrace video and audio as a component of their Web site. Once they do, watch out. "Streaming" audio and video on a Web site costs much less than paid television or radio advertising, and the campaign has much more latitude to experiment with what works. How about a two-minute audio tour of the Web site or a quick video that shows visuals of the issue being decided? Separate audio and/or video clips to accompany various text messages: the campaign's platform, a fund-raising plea, or announcements of upcoming events. The cost of this feature can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. The costs include converting the tape to digital format, adding it to the Web site and, in some cases, hosting the site. The price tag increases if you ask others to help craft your message.
  
  
• Language translation
  Make your Web site available in a different language. While translation software doesn't work perfectly, there are translation services available.
  
  
• Bumper stickers, fliers, posters
  Make your campaign number, letter or slogan available for printout in a variety of styles so that supporters can endorse what you're doing. This can be as simple as providing a Web page with "www.YesonA.com" in large enough type to print out onto an 8 1/2 by 11-inch piece of paper to something more dramatic, such as three-color posters that come out in tiles. Be imaginative.

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