Pickens Plan
Overview
In July 2008, T. Boone Pickens launched the Pickens Plan, a campaign to reduce American dependence on foreign oil. The goal of the campaign was to introduce energy issues into the national dialogue and to build a supporter base – the New Energy Army – that could be spurred to action in support of public policy initiatives related to the Plan. From the beginning, the Internet was seen as central to the creation and mobilization of the Army. Heather Lauer of Villageous LLC was tapped to lead the online efforts of the campaign.
Social Action Network
The online campaign consists of four main components:
- The main website, www.PickensPlan.com, is where visitors are introduced to the Plan, asked to join the movement and encouraged to take action. The main site is video-centric with clips of Boone communicating directly to supporters, along with behind-the-scene footage of his travels. The site also features extensive background information about components of the Pickens Plan and has a blog that is updated with energy news on a daily basis.
- Connected to the main website is an Action Center that hosts “email Congress” campaigns, petition drives, and other ways for the Army to take action at any given point based on current organizational priorities. All of our action programs are connected to social networking tools that make it easy for Army members to quickly spread the word about an initiative.
- Push.PickensPlan.com is the Plan’s Ning-based social action network; it provides a venue for the most committed activists to organize and collaborate by City, State and Congressional District in support of the Plan. Members of Push are the Special Forces of the New Energy Army and drive the off-line aspects of the campaign (in-person Congressional contacts, letters to the editor, local events, etc.). Push is the hub of the virtual grassroots organization the Pickens Plan has become.
- The Pickens Plan maintains outposts on social networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and MySpace. Conversations about energy reform and calls to action are facilitated by campaign staff on these sites on a daily basis so that supporters can connect with the Pickens Plan in the venue in which they are most comfortable.
Results
1.5 million members of the New Energy Army were recruited during the first 9 months of the campaign. To date, members of the Army have sent over 1.2 million emails in support of the Pickens Plan to their elected officials, and over 40% of supporters have taken action at least once on behalf of the Pickens Plan. 91% of the Congressional District Groups have a volunteer District Leader, and 2/3rds of those groups have established personal contact with their Member of Congress since the beginning of 2009.
Through regular updates and constant engagement, we have been able to maintain a high level of interest from supporters for nearly two years, and as legislation makes its way through Congress, the Army is always ready to take action at a moment’s notice. Many Members of Congress have indicated that the efforts of the New Energy Army have been highly influential in the push for energy reform and their decision to support key legislation.
Gina Bianchini, CEO of 
