Key Takeaways from the 2024 Election Tech Debrief: Arena’s Role in Advancing Campaign Tech

In January, Team Arena joined forces with some of the most influential people and organizations in progressive political tech to host the 2024 Election Tech Debrief.

Over 2.5 days in Phoenix, Arizona, a select group of 300 attendees convened for in-depth discussion, keynotes, panels, lightning talks, and report backs around political tech’s role in the 2024 election.

Why This Debrief Mattered

Elections come and go, but the key to strengthening our movement is learning from each one. Team Arena understands that it’s essential to bring political staff from across the country to discuss what worked, what didn’t, and how we move forward.

At the Election Tech Debrief Team Arena put our facilitation and training skills into action and helped frame the three big themes the debrief set out to tackle:

Learning from 2024: Assessing our wins and setbacks to refine future strategies.
Resilient and Adaptive Tech: Ensuring tools evolve to meet the needs of campaigns and organizers.
Bridging Strategy and Tech: Closing the gap between movement strategy and the technology that supports it.

Arena’s Role: Elevating the Conversation and Driving Solutions

We played an active role in shaping discussions at the Election Tech Debrief—not just by leading sessions but by helping participants connect the dots between past lessons and future innovations.

We kicked off on day one with a retrospective, where Arena Partner Santiago Martinez and Arena Training Director Jess Weldon guided participants through a collaborative reflection on what worked and what fell short. Together, we worked to surface insights that will strengthen our movement’s approach to political tech in the future.

Talent is the backbone of our movement, and Arena Partner Debra Cohen and Arena Director of Career Development Aziz Yakub tackled one of the most pressing challenges we face: how to recruit and retain the best people in campaign tech, data, and digital roles. They joined forces with staffers from ZINC, Trestle, and ADLCC to host a panel and interactive breakout to surface new ideas for these ongoing challenges.

With the 2024 presidential cycle behind us, Santiago moderated a panel covering key lessons from the Presidential campaign. And to help tie the action-packed 2.5 days together, Jess and Santiago closed the debrief by helping attendees synthesize their learnings and plan action steps for the future.

But the real highlight? Seeing Arena Academy graduates at the forefront of these conversations.Their leadership is proof that when we invest in talent, we build a movement that lasts.

Cayana Mackey Nance took the stage in a panel on digital media and platforms, while Tarah Marshall broke down how data-driven decision-making is reshaping campaign strategy. Ashley Brennan and Tearanie Chinn spoke on a panel about the political landscape in Arizona, and Hector Portillo helped guide conversations about voter targeting. We were also excited to see countless grads face to face in sessions and learn from their insights during breakout conversations, lunches, and informal meetups.

What We learned

While there was no shortage of key takeaways, here are a few standout insights that capture some of the most pressing themes and lessons from the event.

The boom-and-bust cycle of campaign work makes it hard to retain top tech talent. Presidential years demand massive infrastructure, while off-years leave gaps. We need sustainable models to keep skilled technologists in the movement long-term, for example, but contracting out work to them through a centralized system.
Campaigns need to meet voters where they are, and that means adapting to new platforms. Traditional ads and voter contact methods like phone calls alone aren’t enough—we need to invest in creators and YouTube strategies to engage audiences in the spaces where they spend their time.
Our biggest challenge isn’t just how we communicate—it’s ensuring we have the right message in the first place. We need better alignment on what truly resonates with voters, how we test it, and how we disseminate learnings from our testing across the Democratic ecosystem.
Years of investment in Democratic tech and data paid off this cycle—our systems were stronger, more resilient, and maintained solid uptime when it mattered most. This progress shows the power of sustained funding and innovation in campaign technology.
While there’s no shortage of tech tools available, adoption and implementation remain uneven. Campaigns at different levels have vastly different capacities, leaving gaps in how effectively these tools are used.
Real progress in campaign strategy and technology comes from candid reflection. We need more spaces for tough, solutions-focused conversations to refine our approach and strengthen the movement for the long haul.

Thank you to the co-hosts, steering committee, and sponsors who made this event possible.

Higher Ground Labs, Zinc Labs, The Movement Cooperative, Cooperative Impact Lab, Tech For Campaigns, stac labs, Trestle Collaborative, Democratic National Committee, Arena, Community Tech Alliance, Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Investing In US, OneOne Ventures, SEIU, Analyst Institute, Arizona Democratic Party, Iconico, and Blueline with thanks to Action Network, COURIER, PDI, Microsoft, Bully Pulpit International, and TargetSmart.