I’m going to do something unusual. I’m going to recommend a product for your iPhone or Blackberry.
I’ve been using Congress In Your Pocket for a few months now. I bought it myself on a whim and it has been indispensable to me ever since.
The app contains every member of Congress, their staff, key phone numbers, committee assignments, etc. It’s great for on the fly contact information for both members and staffers.
I’m happy to plug a program I use everyday. If you have an iPhone or Blackberry, I can’t recommend it enough. And no, dear FTC goons, I have not been paid to plug this app. I just use it.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
No Android.
NightTwister (Diary) Thursday, November 5th at 10:35AM EST (link)Bummer.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. – Winston Churchill
Decent
ntvtxngop Thursday, November 5th at 11:37AM EST (link)That’s an okay app but it is far from great. It does a good job with info for each Member, but there is literally nothing about Committees. And half the links in the app launch web browsers, so it’s really slow. What we really need is for the people who make “Congress At Your Fingertips” to do an iPhone app.
From the developer
ciyp Monday, November 9th at 12:41PM EST (link)Hi,
How neat to be featured here? Thanks Erick! We’re very glad you like the application. FYI, it’s non-partisan so for those left-of-center lurkers here, please understand we just provide the information. Our application is far from perfect but we feel it’s a big step forward in being able to carry around this kind of info with you away from a computer or your office.
Let me answer some of the comments above.
ntvtxngop:
Congress+ and CongressPro include committee information. On Congress+, you get each members’ list of committee and subcommittee assignments. You can tap on each committee and subcommittee and get the website. Yes, most of those links are not formatted for the iPhone or for any mobile web browser for that matter. I agree it’s annoying to a certain extent and it’s a fair critique. However, you get what the government offers you, unfortunately and we’re not in the business of redesigning their websites. We are in discussions with several folks about trying to streamline some of their content as an option, but we are not close to getting it great for mobile devices yet. But we’re working on it.
CongressPro adds two additional options to view the members of committees and subcommittees in the “More” section of the app. For this version, you get each member listed first by chair and ranking member, then the majority, then the minority (yes, we’ll change that if the Republicans take back either chamber).
NightTwister:
Yes, it’s a bummer. I’m sorry we don’t offer it for your platform right now but we do offer it as a web application that works very well for the BlackBerry and any web browser like in Android. However, we are going ahead with development for Android and BlackBerry (AppWorld) so that you’ll have it (hopefully) soon.
More stuff:
Coming soon, you’ll be able to see The Cook Political Report’s analysis for each race they cover. We’re also adding a way to tell who your members are via zip code or GPS location. For pros, we are adding a way to take notes on your trips to member offices or to log your communications with your fellow activists.
One more thing about the “Congress At Your Fingertips” publication. It costs at least double what our Congress+ app costs and once you have it, it’s likely out-of-date already. We update our applications regularly and if you need it updated all the time, you can purchase a subscription to CongressPro for your iPhone or BlackBerry and it’s pretty inexpensive considering the alternatives.
If anyone has any questions about the application, please feel free to email us at info AT congressinyourpocket DOT com. There is also a website where you can see reviews, screenshots, etc at www.congressinyourpocket.com/about.cfm.
Respectfully,
Michael D. Cohen, Ph.D.
Congress In Your Pocket