In any other city in the world, it may seem unusual to mix together the topics of new media, journalism, philanthropy, and politics. But here in Washington, DC, it's simply smart business.

Last week ended with the first AMP Summit - AMP standing for Activism, Media and Politics. The conference, conspicuously sponsored by Google and AOL, attracted 300 attendees and thought leaders in respective fields from across the country, most notably famed Howard Dean campaign manager, Joe Trippi, Gowalla founder Josh Williams, and four-time Emmy award winning producer, Bill Pruitt, who is best known for reality TV shows "The Apprentice" and "The Amazing Race."

The event aimed to "bring together respected colleagues and new friends to inspire new thinking, challenge traditional strategies, and create opportunities to learn from each other." Speakers and panelists ranged from ABC political news producer, Amy Walter, to social media scientist, Dan Zarrella. There was even a joint presentation by the technocrats of the Republican and Democratic national parties that emanated enough atypical DC bipartisanship to give even Glenn Beck the goosebumps.

On Saturday, the last day of the two-day summit, the conference featured a bipartisan panel on the future of digital politics where Joe Trippi and Saul Anuzis discussed and debated the impact of the Tea Party and the state of technology among Democrats. Trippi kicked off the panel by opining: "The innovators have always been the party out of power. With Dean, we did what we did because we didn't have a choice. Everyone wants to plug in to take out the other guy and that creates innovation out of necessity and that is where we are today."

The comment was in line with a new study, which reported that Republican members of Congress dominated their Democratic counterparts on social media uptake over the summer. The report is significant in that it showed public support for Republican candidates is growing at a significantly faster rate on social media than for Democratic candidates.

Trippi, former manager of Howard Dean's historic 2004 presidential campaign, is a longtime Democratic strategist and largely heralded as the father of online politics. Anuzis is the former Michigan state Republican Committee chairman and upstart national RNC candidate. Asked to address 2012 and the future of technology in politics Anuzis told attendees that "we are seeing a revolution in the way campaigns are run but more importantly how we are interacting and communicating with people and how they are communicating with one another. I believe we are just getting started and I think we will see revolutionary change every cycle and it is not stoppable or controllable."

"If a community exists and there is a way for them to get involved, they can do amazing things," Trippi added. "This may be the first time that both parties are innovating and moving forward technologically and empowering their networks at the same time. My prediction is it's the network stupid. Its all about the network."

A live Twitter stream from the conference could be followed via the hash tag #amp10, where attendees sent over 1300 tweets in two days. Check out OhMyGov's #EventRehash™ story, collecting the 50 of the most memorable tweets from the event.

Summit attendees and viewers streaming through www.AMPSummit.com were also able to ask questions of Trippi and Anuzis through the Summit's Facebook page.  

See also: AMP Summit #EventRehash