Joaquin Guerra was one of the first BootCampers and is currently organizing at Presente.org.

For the last six years, the New Organizing Institute has been at the forefront of training the next generation of online organizers in the political and community organizing. I should know because I was in NOI's very first New Media BootCamp class in the Winter of 2006. When I look back on the last 6 years of working in New Media and organizing, it's not an understatement when I tell people that an email from a listserv changed my life in January of 2006.

Back then, I was working for Governor Bill Richardson as a field and political operative, when I was surreptitiously chosen to run his new media shop for his 2006 re-elect. I didn't have any tech, IT, or programing experience -- all things that people on campaigns think you have if you're working with computers -- but what I did have was experience in field organizing, running campaigns, and an intense curiosity about how our campaign could use the Internet to engage new and traditional voters like Governor Dean had.

When I arrived at BootCamp, I immediately met people who were like me: experienced in community and/or political organizing that were trying to figure out how to use the Internet. But I also met others who were not like me, like people who had backgrounds in programming, but who were working to find a way to change the world. And that's been the beauty of my involvement with NOI - they bring together people who are working for social and political change in their respective fields and teach them a new way to think about organizing using the Internet, and combine that with traditional organizing methods.

Looking back on it now, I know I was lucky to have been part of NOI's first BootCamp class. The community that I am a part of has been invaluable to my growth as an organizer and a mentor to those who find themselves in the same place I was six years ago. I can't say enough good things about NOI, but believe me when I say "Apply. It will change your life."