<div dir="ltr"><div><div>>It will be interesting to see what the next crop of Texas
Libertarian "experts" come up with.<br><br></div>I want to point out as always that while I AM an expert with web and software architecture, I am NOT even close to being an expert with design. I do know what looks bad, but I lack the artistic skills to make it good. My expertise comes in the form of humbly accepting that and outsourcing the design effort to an actual professional. I think you'd be pretty amazed with what an expert design team could do.<br><br></div>-Kevin<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 16, 2016 at 5:17 PM, Wes Benedict <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
The new convention website is here:
<a href="http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/" target="_blank">http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/</a><br>
<br>
More about it is below. It was put together in 8 weeks by a pair of
experts in Texas who said national's marketing, branding, messaging,
and website LP.org sucked. <br>
<br>
Back in 2009 I was so disappointed by national's marketing,
branding, and messaging myself, that I lobbied heavily for the LNC's
executive director position. I've fixed quite a few things over the
years, but more work remains. I was happy when some new Texans with
new ideas got them rolled out via
<a href="http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/" target="_blank">http://libertarian.nationbuilder.com/</a><br>
<br>
It will be interesting to see what the next crop of Texas
Libertarian "experts" come up with. <br>
<br>
<pre cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<span class=""><a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></span></pre><div><div class="h5">
<div>On 11/24/2015 2:09 PM, Wes Benedict
wrote:<br>
</div>
</div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div class="h5">
Unless I detect significant opposition soon from the LNC, I plan
to have built a 2016 convention website using the NationBuilder
platform.<br>
<br>
I've already broached the topic with Nick Sarwark and Sam
Goldstein. <br>
<br>
I'm excited about the possibilities the NationBuilder technology
offers, but not yet completely sold on the platform or the
enormity of the conversion task. <br>
<br>
Starting with a convention website will allow us to get our feet
wet with the technology, and at the same time, to quickly roll out
some of our new branding. And since this won't involve a massive
wholesale instantaneous changeover from our current website,
LP.org on Drupal, and our current membership database,
RaisersEdge, it's something we can manage without the risk of
destabilizing our entire organization at the start of a
Presidential election year. <br>
<br>
If you like the content of the 2013 Libertarian Party of Texas
Annual Report:<br>
<a href="http://www.lp.org/files/LPTX_2014_Annual_Report.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.lp.org/files/LPTX_2014_Annual_Report.pdf</a><br>
then I think you're going to like our upcoming branding efforts
and convention website.<br>
<br>
The makers of that annual report, including the events portrayed,
the graphics, and I'll add to that--most of the content of the
current LPTexas website <a href="http://lptexas.org/" target="_blank">http://lptexas.org/</a>
(joomla platform I think), will be building the 2016 convention
website.<br>
<br>
Separately, Andy Burns, our affiliate support specialist, has
already implemented a couple NationBuilder sites at the state
level. He won't be the main driver of this project, but of course
we'll consult him for practical advice.<br>
<br>
The convention theme, as voted on by members, will be
#LegalizeFreedom<br>
<a href="http://www.lp.org/" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="cid:part3.08090500.06050405@lp.org" height="233" border="0" width="466"></a><br>
<br>
Starting with a convention website allows us to import a small
portion of our database contacts, which keeps the pricing very
low, but allows us to experiment with its interactivity
capabilities with our best activists.<br>
<br>
If things go well, I can see migrating other things, like perhaps
<a href="http://lpstore.org/" target="_blank">http://lpstore.org/</a> to the
NationBuilder site. Perhaps the site could eventually morph into
the replacement for LP.org, but that's something we can decide
later.<br>
<br>
Perhaps we will be able to get away from some of the additional
payment portals we've had to rely on, like <a href="https://secure.piryx.com/donate/uO2ehmy0/libertarian/llpp22" target="_blank">Piryx
pages</a>, and <a href="http://www.lp.org/office-fund" target="_blank">Authorize.net</a>, and
consolidate those functions into the NationBuilder system.<br>
<br>
The 2014 convention website is here, <a href="https://lpcon2014.org/" target="_blank">https://lpcon2014.org/</a>
and I suspect we'll easily outdo that one.<br>
<br>
Content for the 2016 convention is currently embedded in pages on
our existing website: <a href="http://www.lp.org/convention/welcome" target="_blank">http://www.lp.org/convention/welcome</a><br>
<br>
I see the new website as a combination of a convention project, an
I.T. project, and a branding project. The costs will be relatively
low. The risks will be relatively low. Our Treasurer and Audit
Committee will have plenty of fun double-checking the cost
allocations. <br>
<br>
I plan to tell our team to get started on this next week, and to
have it live before the end of the year, unless you guys want to
stop this before then, which I can live with. There are many
viable paths around the roadblocks of progress.<br>
<div>-- <br>
Wes Benedict, Executive Director<br>
<small><small>Libertarian National Committee, Inc.<br>
<b>New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314</b><br>
<a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a><br>
<a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational<br>
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></small></small><br>
<br>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>========================================================<br>Kevin Ludlow<br>512-773-3968<br></div><div><a href="http://www.kevinludlow.com" target="_blank">http://www.kevinludlow.com</a><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div>
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