We recently launched this redesign for Congressman John Boehner. The site includes a unique slideshow of features, videos and photos bringing greater attention to his regular “Constituent Mailbag” videos and all of the services he offers to the constituents of Ohio’s 8th Congressional district.

Congressman Paul Ryan’s new web site puts news, videos, and helpful information right at his constituents’ fingertips.

Congressman Doc Hastings new web site is easy-to-read, clean and clutter-free. All the important information is there and it’s easy to browse though.

We are excited to announce an enhancement to the Photo Album section in your Fireside Web account: you can now upload more than one photo at a time.

ADDING NEW PHOTOS:

We have enabled the ability to upload multiple pictures quickly. You can add names and descriptions just like before, or skip that until all the photos have been uploaded (see below about editing photo information from the album view).

1. Click on Add Photo.
2. Select what Album you want the photo to go into.
3. Name the Photo. (recommended – the photo name shows up in the associate photo box when you are adding a document under News & Media)
4. Add a Description. (optional)
5. Upload the file.
6. Click on Submit Photo.
7. The photo will show up below the Submit Photo button under a section called Uploaded Photos.
8. status of the photo will show up on the left and the file (that you uploaded) will show up on the right. You can edit this by clicking on the edit link on the right side. While that photo is uploading you can type into the Name field, add a description and browse for a different photo. Click Submit.
9. This will add a second line item under Uploaded Photos. You can add as many photos as you want. When the photos are done uploading they will show up in the photo album.

ENHANCEMENTS TO PHOTO ALBUMS:

When you are browsing the Photos section, you still navigate through different albums by using the drop down menu at the top. There is a new edit button next to the drop down menu that you can use to edit the album’s properties.

To the right of your photo thumbnails, the name and descriptions can now be clicked to edit the text. Be sure to click the save button to commit any updates.

We’ve also updated the photo URL selector. This is a handy tool if you want to paste a picture into another page or even an email. You can click on the Lo, Med, or HI resolution button (thumbnail is default) to pick the size of the photo you wish to copy, then select the URL from the textbox and paste it into HTML.

Another new features is that you can click and drag photos (or use the old move up/down buttons) to change their order in the album. Finally, if you click the edit button, you to change the album the photo is in, and as always, you can delete the photo by using the X button.

Congressman Lamar Smith launched a new website with a unique video slideshow allowing constituents of Texas 21st district to watch videos right on the homepage.

One thing has pretty well dominated the news for the past three months: the Gulf oil spill. While our CCI index showed increased correspondence to Congress on environment and energy topics in April and May, it seems that the ongoing nature of the crisis led those topics to skyrocket in June.

Here’s the full report and heatmap of all issues:

Congressman Ted Deutch took office just a few short months ago, and his staffers wasted no time in setting up a new web site that would give their constituents immediate access to important resources and keep them up to date on his work in Congress:

There’s a lot to admire about House Republican Leader John Boehner’s newly redesigned web site, but its excellent presentation of news stories and social media might be its key features.  Between blog posts, press releases, tweets, and video feeds,  the GOP Leader’s office generates a lot of news, and their site offers visitors a great way to sift through recent updates right on the homepage.  And make sure you check out the internal pages, too, for the Facebook share and Retweet features.

What are the issues that really get voters talking? What motivates them to pick up the phone, write a letter, or send an email to their representatives in Congress?

We wanted to find out. So, together with Adfero Group and some of our clients on the Hill, we began compiling a monthly survey of the top issues Congress hears about from citizens.

We call it the Congressional Conversation Index (CCI). We’re eager to see how these issues change over time, and we think it will be an interesting gauge of citizen interest – both for the public and for Congress.

Want to see what the top issues are so far? Check out the press release, here.

A big thanks to the Members of Congress who have agreed to participate. We’d love to get more offices involved, so please contact us if you’d like to contribute to this ongoing project.

Congressman Bob Etheridge uses a few carefully-selected and prominently-displayed photos to focus visitors’ attention on some of most important issues in North Carolina’s 2nd district:

We’ve taken to calling this the “quick-and-easy-button” around here, and I think you’ll see why the next time you print or email a batch that contains duplicate pieces of correspondence.

Have any of the constituents in your batch already received that form letter? Or are there more than one of the same form letter open for a single constituent? Fireside CRM will detect any duplicate pieces of correspondence to prevent you from sending your constituents the same form letter twice.

That much is old news, but you can now resolve those duplication issues with a single click. Select “Automatically process duplicates” on the Print/Send screen for batches, and Fireside CRM will close out any duplicate correspondence and send the remaining. Quick and easy, isn’t it?

Kudos to Congressman Brad Ellsworth and his staff for taking their web site design in such an original direction.  With its modern look and revolving color schemes (try it out - refresh the page a few times), constituents with an eye for design will be pleased:

Simplicity is one of the chief strengths of Congressman Vern Ehlers’ redesigned site.   Rather than clutter the homepage, his office developed a site that is clean, easy-to-read, and a pleasure to browse.  All of the important information is there, and it’s a breeze to find thanks to the thoughtful navigation and crisp look.