It’s not often I see a campaign website from the Labour party that I think is the real deal, but that has changed with the launch of YourKen.org, a new website from the Ken Livingstone for Mayor 2012 campaign team.

It may sound familiar, but that’s because it deliberately takes its lessons from my.barackobama.com – the campaign website which did so much to help mobilise supporters during Obama’s primary contest, and the 2008 presidential election. The watchword at the centre of the Obama website was community, and this is what YourKen.org seeks to create: a community of Labour members and supporters who can use the website to share ideas, organise campaign events and communicate with members of the campaign team.

Created in a very short space of time, the website is based on technology supplied by NationBuilder, a US-based company which calls its product ‘Wordpress for organising’. Jim Gilliam, the founder, talking about his tools said: ‘too often, online efforts are seen as a sideline to the offline efforts of a campaign. NationBuilder brings the two together, showing the incredible impact that the internet and social media can bring to empowering volunteers and energising campaigns.’

We’re not the first UK political party to use the technology: the SNP got there first and ran a good online campaign for the Scottish elections. But with many of the features tailormade for the London mayoral election, this looks set to be an interesting e-campaigns development for the Labour party.

The key element of the website is organisational – it allows users to find campaign events, sign up to them and set up their own. But crucially, it also acts as a communications portal allowing users to throw in their ideas (current ones include canvassing at different London festivals and community events), and it also allows campaigners to post reports of their campaigns. Users will also be regularly updated with exclusive campaign trail material from named members of the campaign team, including Mike Joslin, Regional Organiser; Joe Derrett, Head of Press; Simon Fletcher, Chief of Staff; and Anneliese Midgley, Head of Events and Visits.

Another innovation includes a reward-and-recognition scheme so that users receive ‘action points’ for their efforts online and on the ground. The top five volunteers each month will receive exclusive invites to events and other prizes such as dinner with Ken or signed political memorabilia. Once again, this element of competition was used particularly effectively by the Obama campaign, notably to increase their online donations. YourKen.org will also profile different volunteers each week. It is about time that campaigners received a bit more recognition for what they do – this site does it very publicly and will help to showcase the very real commitment so many members and supporters give.

Finally, the social media element of the site is looking good. It tracks activity which uses the Ken4London Twitter handle and Ken’s Facebook pages. Users can gain action points by retweeting, posting on Facebook, LinkedIn and emailing links. Campaign organisers will also be able to track its most influential Tweeters through Topsy and Klout allowing them to target social media messages.

Whether the website will be a success, of course, will be down to whether supporters use it. There’s already a lot of activity, however, and as long as they keep the content going and innovation coming, I’ve got high hopes. So really it’s up to you now. Sign up and start collecting those action points!

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Jessica Asato is a social media consultant and a Labour councillor

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Photo: yourken.org