I've spent over 15 years in the software industry, much of it in management, and there are certain conversations that I have either witnessed or participated in repeatedly over the course of my career. Not surprisingly, many of them are related to the concept of the proper way to build software.

If there was ever any question, Tuesday’s stunning results in Virginia validated the important roles that both technology and grassroots organizing play in winning elections. Democrats routed their Republican opponents up and down the ballot, propelled by historic levels of voter engagement.

Earlier this month, we concluded our fifth Hackathon, and we're excited to announce the results!

Last year, we completed a massive project, Action Platform, which our CTO, John Lee, describes here. Needless to say, we consider this project to be a huge success. One reason for that is alluded to in John's third Lesson from his post: "Plan Your Trip Well". He discusses the importance of milestones, which are really a component of a more important process: Estimation. Estimating large software development projects is hard, but necessary. 

We're seeing a revolution in progressive technology. Everywhere we look, coders are taking to their keyboards in order to build apps and tools to help the resistance. It's one of the most hopeful signs we've seen since the 2016 elections - and we are excited to pitch in and help! NGP VAN's tools are a great way to turbo-charge the progressive hacking community.

Many software developers are understandably eager to jump into their first job with both feet. They're raring to write great code to change the world, but then in the first few months they find themselves frustrated. "Why all the red tape? Why so much bureaucracy? Why don't they just let me write code and get out of my way? Why am I only doing small UI tweaks?" If this sounds like you, you may be encountering two of the most common roadblocks in a young engineer's career.

Regardless of what gets you excited about progressive politics - whether it's health care reform, or making college affordable, or a clean energy future - the chances are pretty good that you've encountered a signup form, contribution form, or petition. These forms, which political campaigns use to gather supporters and survey their volunteers, are just about ubiquitous today.

The leaves are turning and pumpkins are going on sale, and that can mean only one thing: Political campaigns are gearing up to go door-to-door, asking for your vote.

The progressive movement is a thriving ecosystem of political candidates, labor unions, interest groups, and grassroots activists. Together, these far-flung and energetic people have made history at the presidential level - twice! - in the space of 8 short years. They've brought down discriminatory barriers for LGBT individuals, guaranteed health insurance for every American, instituted major financial protections for consumers - and on and on. But how did they do it?  What makes this incredible movement tick?