When you watch that six-minute silent montage at the beginning of Pixar’s UP, you probably start sobbing like a small child. But why? Great storytellers know how to build empathy between a character and an audience, and they know how to do it quickly.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. Today’s post focuses on a session that will break down storytelling techniques used by screenwriters and teach attendees how to apply that same technique for more effective organizing, from email to fundraising to video.

As organizers identify innovative solutions to problems they uncover on the campaign trail, many see opportunities to launch new startups. However, too many organizers don’t know where to start regarding the essential tools for building a business—everything from financing to legal structure to customer development.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. Today’s post focuses on a training that will go in-depth with key resources and tools culled from the worlds of social entrepreneurship, technology startups and online organizing to provide concrete support for people starting their own progressive ventures.

A handful of progressive organizers have built a new tool for finding the best social posts on the web.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. For today’s post we’re focusing on a session that will explore this new tool and share all the best practices the designers have learned from monitoring nearly 10,000 Facebook Pages for the last year.

Can a c3 lose its tax status over a careless Tweet? What happens when a politician “likes” your organization’s Facebook page?

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. Today’s post focuses on a session designed to clarify the rules for using social media, blogs and email as part of an advocacy toolkit.

You can’t make everything go viral. We both know that. You’re boss doesn’t though.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. Today’s post focuses on a session led by the self-proclaimed hacks from Upworthy. In this session they’ll teach attendees how to win on the social web, thereby growing traffic on their own sites and making their bosses understand that what they do matters, and that while they aren’t magicians, they got the skills to pay the bills.