About Us
CapitolGPA was created and is maintained by me Matt Thomas. This site has been a long time (3 years) in the works. The idea came about over a dinner table discussion. Talking with family and friends, we felt there needed to be a tool to help voters really see how they are being represented. We figured the best way would be to allow voters to compare their votes against their legislators.
Expanding on this, we came to the idea that if you combine all the "scores", you could come up with an overall grade. This grade or GPA as it came to be could then be reported to the public via traditional advertising. The ultimate result is that legislators and voters would have a means to evaluate their legislator's performance as well as be publicly held accountable.
The one big question mark of the model is how to pay for the reporting while still providing the site free of charge. To be honest this is and will be the biggest struggle, but I will always maintain that the site's tools should remain free as a public service. To address this issue, one thing that is in the works is a way for you to create your own ad "fund". This fund would go towards the purchase of ad space in local newspapers, etc in your area. You'll be able to search for other funds in your area and can promote this to local friends and family. Once the goal is reached, we will contact the newspaper, ad agency, etc and submit and pay for the GPA report. Stay tuned...
Overall, what started as a dinner table idea has turned into a fulltime "job." I owe thanks to the vendors below for the great work they did. I highly recommend them for their professionalism and quality of work. Most of all, I owe thanks to my wife for her patience and support as I work on this!
To avoid spam, I can be reached via our Contact Page.
Expanding on this, we came to the idea that if you combine all the "scores", you could come up with an overall grade. This grade or GPA as it came to be could then be reported to the public via traditional advertising. The ultimate result is that legislators and voters would have a means to evaluate their legislator's performance as well as be publicly held accountable.
The one big question mark of the model is how to pay for the reporting while still providing the site free of charge. To be honest this is and will be the biggest struggle, but I will always maintain that the site's tools should remain free as a public service. To address this issue, one thing that is in the works is a way for you to create your own ad "fund". This fund would go towards the purchase of ad space in local newspapers, etc in your area. You'll be able to search for other funds in your area and can promote this to local friends and family. Once the goal is reached, we will contact the newspaper, ad agency, etc and submit and pay for the GPA report. Stay tuned...
Overall, what started as a dinner table idea has turned into a fulltime "job." I owe thanks to the vendors below for the great work they did. I highly recommend them for their professionalism and quality of work. Most of all, I owe thanks to my wife for her patience and support as I work on this!
To avoid spam, I can be reached via our Contact Page.
- Fortress ITX - Dedicated Hosting. Fortress ITX has provided great support and fast setup. So far I've had 0 issues (that I didn't create) and 100% uptime. Their technical staff has been fully competent to all my needs.
- Ideas2Image - Site Branding. Ideas2Image did a fantastic job of our logo development. They are very customer focused and detail oriented. The design process was smooth and they met all deadlines.
- Maponics, Inc - ZIP Code Data. Maponics provided us with the best data in the business. Their sales staff has excellent communication and their product is grade A.
- 29 Nails - Flash Applications. 29 Nailes did great work on the flash "ticker". They had great communications and is an ongoing asset to the site.
- Google, Inc - News/Maps. Even though everthing we are using is free, I still feel a need to thank them. Their Maps sales staff was also great in helping me ensure we aren't in violation of their Terms of Service :)