**Save the Date: DIA's First Annual User Conference: June 26-27, Washington DC**

Dear DIA Friends and Colleagues,

It must be spring. Conference season is in full swing and the streets of Washington are overflowing with the power of the people. By all accounts, the progressive movement is alive and well -- gearing up to hold whatever administration is elected in the fall accountable. And we couldn't be more excited to pour our energies into supporting this movement and the hundreds of amazing organizations working so hard for the change we all want to see. It's an exciting time. Read on to hear how what we're doing lately to wire the progressive movement.

Get updates and tips galore at DIAtribe, our blog.

Actions 2.0 Giving your supporters a voice just got easier.

We've been working hard on a complete overhaul of our core petitions and campaigns tool that raises the bar of what's possible with online advocacy. You've heard this before, so we won't go into details here, but we're happy to announce that our new actions tool has just gone from private to public beta. If you'd like to be a beta tester, email us for an account.  Look for many more details and a public launch in April! 

Join us at the NTC in New Orleans

Several of us will be in New Orleans this week at the NTC Conference. Stop by and say hello if you're there!



Science Fair: Wednesday  3:00 - 8:00 p.m.  Booth 70, Grand Ballroom
Hospitality Suite: Friday: Salsa <->Salesforce Integration Demo; etc 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Margaritas and Nachos 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., The Gallery

Events and Trainings

List Management Basics: March 27, 2008

Join us for the first half of "Salsa 101", a telephone training/webinar on Supporter/List Management -- the database that underpins your entire system.
Sign up
Email Basics: March 28, 2008

Join us for the second half of "DIA 101", a telephone training/webinar on sending Email Blasts and setting up user-facing pages.
Sign up
List Management Basics: April 7, 2008

Join us for the first half of "Salsa 101", a telephone training/webinar on Supporter/List Management -- the database that underpins your entire system.
Sign up
Tagging: April 8, 2008

Join us for a webinar on Salsa's unique tagging capabilities. Learn about search, tracking and reporting. Appropriate for both newer and more advanced users interested in exploring tagging.
Sign up
Email Basics: April 8, 2008

Join us for the second half of "DIA 101", a telephone training/webinar on sending Email Blasts and setting up user-facing pages. Prospective clients, new users and old hands looking for a refresher all welcome!
Sign up

DIA Empowers Grant

We had nearly 100 applications; it was agonizing to pick just five. Last week we announced the recipients of our Empowers Grant. Now in its third season, the grant offers five organizations complete access to Salsa, DIA's online communication, fundraising, and advocacy platform. Read the full press release. This year's grant recipients are:

The following organizations were also given partial grants:

Be a DIA Guru

Each month, we pick a topic that will give you that edge on making the most out of Salsa. In this month's DIA Guru, we take a look at Campaign Managers and how you should be using them. Make sure you've created one for the people in your office who log in to Salsa. Take a look!

Meet the Staff

We are very pleased to announce three new amazing additions to our team. Please drop them a line and say hello!

Dennis Powell is an energetic marketing communications professional and fearless public relations "guru" with over ten years experience in promoting and growing nonprofit, commercial and information technology organizations. Prior to making the jump back to nonprofits, Dennis was vice president of marketing and communications as Filnet Inc., an award-winning information technology company. In that role, he also spearheaded a successful public relations program, which resulted in numerous corporate accolades, press interviews and media coverage. Throughout his career, Dennis has worked on communications campaigns such as the former Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), Howard University, DHL Smart & Global Mail, and Thomson Scientific. He has secured positive press coverage for his clients in media outlets such as /The New York Times/, /Reuters,/ /The Associated Press/, /Forbes/, /The Washington Post/, /Boston Globe/, /Washington Business Journal/, /Dallas Morning News, as well as on FOX, ABC, NBC and CBS affiliate news programs. With a strong commitment to volunteerism, he offers his time annually to the NBCDI conference-the largest convention of educators, health care professionals and social workers. In his spare time, Dennis loves swimming, hiking, cycling and eating heart-healthy gourmet vegetarian and vegan cuisine. He also forces himself to take an annual retreat to his home island of Jamaica.

Taylor Kennan comes to DIA to lead the operations and finances of the organization.  Prior to joining DIA Taylor worked in the finance department of Chemonics International, monitoring accounting and finance activities for a global portfolio of development projects.  Before Chemonics, Taylor did a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia working on sustainable forestry. He holds a M.S in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a Finance degree from Texas A&M University-College Station.

David Selsky, West Coast Outreach and Support Manager, is happy to be back amongst the palm trees after spending a few years in Washington, DC. He has previously worked for the Environmental Working Group, where he used DIA tools as the Development Associate, as well as Search for Common Ground and a variety of other nonprofits. David has an MA in International Peace & Conflict Resolution from American University and a BA in Film from UC Berkeley. He is an avid photographer (mostly Polaroids), plays guitar, practices yoga and meditation, enjoys searching for yummy raw & vegan food, and still follows baseball for some reason.

Around the DIA Community

Today, March 19, marks the fifth anniversary of the United States' invasion of Iraq -- already the second-longest war (after Vietnam) in American history, and no end in sight.  Many organizations in the DemocracyInAction community are organizing protests, vigils, and other actions -- here are just a few.

United for Peace and Justice has initiated a massive day of creative, nonviolent action and civil disobedience in the nation's capital, focusing on the "pillars of war" to interrupt business as usual for those promoting and profiting from war and empire building. People from 36 states have registered to participate in the actions in DC, and more are signing up every day. There are also more than 640 local events in all 50 states on the 5 Years Too Many calendar, and more are being posted hourly. Hundreds more vigils are posted here as well.

Get all the details and more at 5yearstoomany.org. Join them on March 19th!

Happy Campaigning,

The DIA Team

Sent with DemocracyInAction's