Hi, my name is Apollo Gonzales and I'm the new guy here at EchoDitto.

For nearly five years now I've been developing digital strategies in the environmental non-profit space. When I started doing this work five years ago there were no members of congress on Facebook, and Twitter was a small niche service that few people knew existed. In those years the space has matured from a playground where college kids connected to one another, into one where elections are won and lost, and revolutions are born and witnessed.

From the advocate's perspective, there has never been a better time to communicate with your member of congress, corporations or candidates. Congressional staff put a disproportionate level of attention on what is said about their bosses online. Companies like Comcast and most airlines have staff dedicated to doing customer service on Twitter. Non incumbent candidates are willing to answer just about any question you post to their wall in Facebook, and some have taken to Reddit to do Q&A sessions.

From an organizational perspective, the tools at our disposal are a veritable candy store of possibilities. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the standards, but how about the more exotic flavors like Tumblr and Pinterest, or Juxtapost and Instagram (is something exotic if the White House has started using it?). And the age-old question about metrics? Well, we're virtually drowning in them.

The world of the possible in digital spaces is exciting, and it's easy to feel like a cat chasing a shiny point of light across the room.

In a meeting with a client the other day I was reminded that a smart activist or marketer will always remember the most important part of all of these social tools, the thing that makes them all possible - community. In my five years fighting congressional and industry attacks on the environment, the only victories that we ever achieved were the ones with community at their core.

I'm excited to be here at EchoDitto, not just because we've got the smartest tech team out there, and not just because together we can dream up some pretty cool ways to use the tech, but because building community is at the core of it all.

I'm looking forward to building awesome things with you and for you this year. 2012 is going to be amazing.