"Little Known Facts" about Sarah Palin

Update: already have news items about this too:

On Twitter, McCain veep choice Sarah Palin already a folk hero


It started roughly about six hours ago give or take. It was shortly after the McCain announcement of his VP pick: Sarah Palin.

As far as I can tell from the tweets, it was a lark. Yeah. That's it! A lark (love that word!). Anyway, a website was created called "Palin Facts". And then the tweets got started. Viral is NOT the word for this one.

Now you can add to the meme yourself with your "little known fact" about Sarah Palin. Some of my favorites so far are:

• Sarah Palin is Spartacus.
• Sarah Palin can win the VP nomination using nothing but a piece of gum and a paperclip.
• Sarah Palin shot J.R.
• Sarah Palin taught MacGuyver everything he knows.
• Sarah Palin can catch salmon swimming upstream with her teeth

There is now someone on Twitter calling themselves "thefakesarahpalin" and there is also already a facebook application that you can add to your facebook.

It was all started by this guy.

Hmmm...

So the question is...is this GOOD PR for Sarah Palin, John McCain and the Republicans...or is it BAD? What will they do with this?

If it were me, I'd let it ride. I'd follow it. I'd take the good ones. I'd play with them in my ads. But, it's not me.

Let's watch and find out...shall we?

Welcome Class of 2012

Today we welcomed the freshmen class of 2012 here at Champlain.

For those of you who do the college thing, you'll understand what it is like to go from the sleepy summer campus to, in one day, a vibe that is all excitement, fear, anxiety, thrill and well...just fresh and new. Every year at this time you can feel the excitement in the air. You can touch the excitement.

It's in all the faces around you.

And I'm not talking about the freshmen!

Our current students who are Resident Assistants, Orientation Leaders and Peer Advisors put themselves out there today. They were full of energy, enthusiasim and downright silliness as they pulled out all the stops.

This year in particular is a new beginning for me as well. Having resigned as program director of the e-business and marketing programs, this is my first year at Champlain (and I've been here since 2000) that I will be 100% full time faculty. No administrative contract. No running any programs. Just focusing on the part of my job I love the most. Teaching.

Figuring out the game and holding down the fort

The students, staff and faculty from Champlain College who left for South Africa on their research project have arrived. According to a very short note on the Games Take on Violence Against Women blog:

Long 24 hours of flights. Jet lag hasn't had a chance to hit yet. BUT we are here. Internet is spotty, weather is early spring - cold, damp. 40 Winks is a bed and breakfast establishment we are staying at. Yogurt and muesli for breakfast. Now we are off to the township. 40% of the Cape Town residents live in these. We saw them through our airport transportation. Little tin "rooms" with electricity strung high. That was brought in 8 years ago. Cape Town looks to be a city of diversity in many ways.

By now they have probably completed the tour -- they are 6 or 7 hours ahead of us. I wonder how they are doing. To be able to go on a trip like this when you are 19, 20 or 21. Can you imagine how it opens your eyes to a new world view? Shocks your norms? Shakes you up?

Here I sit, wondering. Here I sit in my old house, typing on my high-powered computer, wondering what they are seeing, wondering what they are doing and above all hoping they are coping and relying on one another during this profound time of growth.

The real work begins when they get back -- sifting through the interviews, the photos, the drawings and helping them to make sense of it all so everything they learned, everything they internalized can help them to create a game. A game like no other. An impossible game. And yet, if anyone can do it, this group of outstanding individuals will make it happen.

Meanwhile, I'll watch the blogs and the facebook and keep my skype open...just in case they reach out with some little bit of news.

A timeline of a VP Announcement that was "supposed" to use social media

Updated as of 11:30 a.m. : I finally received my e-mail from the campaign at 10:19 a.m. while I was eating breakfast at Maxi's (a wonderful local restaurant in Waterbury, VT) and watching CNN Headline News talk about it. Local blogger and newsperson Cathy Resmer has also commented on the a.m. wake-up call from the Obama Campaign over at Blurt, as has my sister in the comments below.

If the goal of the Obama campaign was to whip people into a frenzy via social media, (and in the process get way more email addresses and txt contact to mine for money) they did that. If the goal of the Obama campaign was to actually reach out to people directly to inform them of the VP choice, well in "professorial talk", they failed. They failed big time.

As we all know the frenzy has been building. About two weeks ago, the campaign announced that they would alert people through email and txt messaging so they would be "the first to know" who the VP was. Yesterday speculation was rampant. Traditional media outlets, especially CNN, were conducting interviews and stalking potentials. Everything they reported was echoed in the Twitter-verse where individuals were tweeting all day about waiting for their cell phones to go off.

Anticipation was high.

And then...

Well, here is how it went for me, an individual who signed up for the email, the text and the twitter.

12:55 a.m.: Breaking alert from CNN: CNN confirms Sen. Barack Obama has chosen Delaware Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice-presidential running mate.

3:27 a.m.: Text Alert from Obama 62262: Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3 p.m. ET on http://www.barackobaman.com/. Spread the word!

5:25 a.m.: Twitter Alert from BarackObama: Announcing Senator Joe Biden as our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3 p.m. ET on http://barackobaman.com/

I never received an email.

So, after all the hype and all the hoopla, at the end of the day CNN was the winner. The campaign did not reach me first. Media did. The conversation over at the twitter-verse, is as always diverse, interesting, silly and downright um...whatever. Check that out here: http://tinyurl.com/5ucaot.

What was the point anyway? An Agence France-Presse article headline reads: Obama's VP alerts trumped by media leaks. Others are writing about the frenzy and how it captured many news cycles. Regardless I have to admit to being disappointed. While a realist I do still have pockets of idealism hidden away and this one got me. We all know I dig the social media. I really see it as a sea change for how we get our information. So when a presidential candidate "looks" like they are going to side step the mainstream and go directly to the people, I get very excited. Even though, in the back of my marketing mind, I know, deep down inside it's all about hype. It's about data mining. And well, it's politics and the Obama Campaign is clearly a political machine.

The campaign website is updated with a new big donate splash page -- very inspiring picture of Obama and Biden together (got to LOVE Photoshop):

Bypassing the splash screen we now see on the website this banner first (don't they know that red is subconsciously a "stop" color ... a warning...a don't go there. They should pick a different color for their buttons. Seriously ... like green which is go):

However, the Obama store isn't ready yet (smile). No Obama-Biden merchandise...as of the writing of this post.

My final question is with all the hype about change and doing things differently, the only different thing that was done here was the campaign expertly manipulated the media AND the people who "wanted to know first" so they got the maximum news coverage. How is that change? Seems like the same old thing to me.

A social media analysis of the DNC and RNC Conventions: Who would I vote for?

As the Olympics come to a close we are on the threshold of two vital events in the election of our next President -- the national conventions of the Democratic and Republican parties.

In just four days, the DNC Convention opens up with much pomp and circumstance in Colorado at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Here's their logo, which I was able to download from their website:

In 11 days, the RNC opens its convention doors in Minneapolis, St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. Here's their banner which I was able to get the code for from their website:

In preparation for my convention watching I decided to take a pre-look at the two sites to find out how I can stay connected with social media.

One has a page that shows all the different ways you can connect (with links) including: Blogging, Ustream.tv, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and Digg. I can get banners for my website, and wallpaper for my computer. On the site I can sign up to to be a "digital delegate" and get updates via email so I'm "in the know". I can subscribe to the blog, news releases, general news of note, videos and convention updates with RSS. It's easy to navigate and follow and quite usable overall.

The other site has a blog that I can subscribe to and is using YouTube (actually had a contest using YouTube), and FlickR. I can sign up for an email newsletter. And well...that's it. As far as I can tell with a quick visit -- the amount of time a normal person would take to nose around a site like this to find things. It's a little challenging to navigate, the type is really small (I know...I'm old) and I'm not sure I have found everything that is available.

So which do I think is the better social media site?

Well as of right now, the RNC gets my vote. They have all the links to the different sites. The site is easy to navigate and they are providing me with many different ways to connect. The RSS feeds from the media page are particularly nice as is the banner code which I can add to my site. I really like the "Digital Delegate" feature. I know it's not much more than an email alert system, but the name and the focus on being part of the convention even if you can't be there is sweet.

The DNC has the FlickR thing going on, but they aren't linking me out to much of anything and aren't using any social presence (like Twitter or Plurk) to keep me up to date. Odd coming from the party of the candidate who plans on alerting us to the VP nomination via email. Hmmm....however, the YouTube contest was very good and the winner was picked well -- betcha a lot of people will want HIS contact info (grin). (note, on the home page the contest is still going on...but on the blog they have announced the winner.)

Ok...I like this video so much I'm gonna embed it here:

Both the DNC and RNC have focused a great deal more on Bloggers -- what a difference four years make, eh? Now there are "Blogger Credentialing" processes and at the RNC there is even a distinction between Bloggers affiliated with Traditional Media Outlets and Independent Bloggers.

So what more could they all do?

Start by setting up a formal Twitter Stream such as #RNC08 or #DNC08 and get people to know it is there and to use it as they watch. Point them to Twitter search so they can follow the tweets as they come in. Make sure that there are some big names that are using twitter.

Point me to the bloggers. Who is blogging? Give me a synopsis so I can find them easily and tell me why you selected them. Make it easy for me to read and more importantly connect with them. Give me information on the main blog that I can't get on TV or anywhere else. Right now you are unveiling images of the locations and concentrating on videos from supporters. Give me some behind the scenes -- tell me whats coming up, who is talking to who, and post exclusive entries from the "stars" like our own Sen. Pat Leahy!

For video compress the speeches into highlight reels that get dumped to YouTube quickly, and then highlight them on your site and your RSS so I can see the synopsis and highlights. Remember I'm busy and I'm going to check things out throughout the day. I might not be able to watch the Prime Time. Give me some preview sneak peaks at the main candidate speeches as they practice -- that would be fun for sure.

Broadcast your twitter stream at the bottom of the big screen that everyone watches...now that would be fun!

Overall...take some risks. Remember you'll go off script a little (maybe a lot) with social media, but the rewards for engagement of voters who use a mix of traditional and non-traditional media may net big payoffs come November.

South Africa...here they come!

The students working on the South Africa project leave bright and early tomorrow morning from Burlington. They arrive Saturday afternoon in Cape Town and their itinerary includes many opportunities to learn and observe the South African culture in many different ways.

I'm excited for them.

I'm jealous that I'm not going ... but ... this is not my time, it is their time.

But, they are in good hands and they are very ready for this work.

Read their blog posts here: emc-gamestakeonvaw.blogspot.com. It's a community blog set up by the Emergent Media Center to allow all the individuals who are part of the project to post their thoughts. I'll be making periodic posts as well.

But for now, my job is to sit and wait and look forward to helping them sort out everything they learn when they get back.

Blogging comes to the Olympics

I signed up to be part of a "social media experiment" kicked off by Marketing Guru Rohit Bhargava on August 6th with a post he wrote calling on volunteers to re-post, re-purpose and link to his Olympic postings.

The goal is not really to promote the games...really (smile). It's a sponsorship gig with Lenovo who has created a site called The Voices of the Olympic Games. It's an international blogging community that is writing about all the different events. Who are these bloggers? Well they are the athletes themselves!

I LOVE THIS. Really. It so changes the event which has for so long been tied to TV, quick interviews after the contest/competition and then odd sportscaster commentary (ick). Although thanks to NBC at their Olympics site I can still watch Bela Karolyi "go wild" for Liukin. Anyway to get the full voices and experiences of different athletes is really great and it's what social media has brought us. No longer do sponsors provide on-site shwag -- they can now create a full online community where the athletes themselves provide the content. Nice.

So I have been lax in my postings to Rohit's information as part of the social experiment. Today I make up for that. Here's a quick synopsis of the things you can read about if you want more depth and more diversity in your Olympic Coverage.

The two blogs to check out are Influential Marketing and the Catchup Lady where you can find a series of great posts that include:

1. Secret Things Only An Olympic Athlete In Beijing Would Know (Rohit)
2. Notes from inside the Olympic Village (Rohit) and
3. Kleenex premiering an Olympic Documentary -- this one is cool because it will be release as a trailer in theaters as Rohit wrote, "Check out the trailer for "Let It Out" below - its actually really good and will be premiering for a limited engagement in theaters in 25 cities starting August 13th across the US. It will also be available on www.letitout.com from August 14th. To read more real athlete's stories, visit Lenovo's Voices of the Olympic Games (link to http://summergames.lenovo.com)!"
4. What the Olympics are All About (Kaitlyn aka the Catchup Lady)
5. Super Fan on the Move -- great shots of fans in the stands from the Catchup lady.

Of course I would be remiss if I don't include links to our own local athlete blogs that are sponsored by local news organizations:

1. Carissa Gump (Vermont Born Weight-lifter) blogging for the Free Press
2. Jaime Brassard (WPTZ Photographer) is blogging for WPTZ

Don't know of any others.

Anyway, that it for another post on the Olympics and Social Media. Oh wait...one more thing...

If you are a facebook user, you should check out the "Bumper Sticker" application. Whole lots of people have created bumper stickers that include Olympic Athletes -- several nice ones of Michael Phelps. Now that's viral eh?

Got Game: Watching new teams form as South Africa looms

The student teams working on the UN Violence Against Women game are getting ready for their trip to South Africa.

They are conducting secondary research. They are asking a lot of questions. They've had a presentation on the "Sabido" method from Bill Reyerson at Population Media Center. They've got their passports and they have their shots.

The biggest challenge right now? Building a cohesive team that can work together and rely on one another. A few weeks ago it was clear that things were a little tough for the Marketing students. The eGame art and design students have been working on projects together and know one another very well. The research team (comprised of Marketing and e-Biz students) know each other well. But bringing the two groups together ... well that there is a different kettle of fish.

How do students who don't game talk to students who do game? How do students who understand promotion and target market talk with students who are focused on aesthetics and story?

Wait...this sounds JUST LIKE REAL LIFE!

It's the perennial challenge for the marketing professional. Having to come into a project and work with people to ensure that the end product/service can reach the right audience and the messaging is relevant.

I impressed this on the students last week.

And then the project team at the Emergent Media Center broke the students up into different research "pods" mixing up the disciplines.

At our last meeting I saw more integration and watched as students from all disciplines sat intermingled, brainstormed and listened to information about their itinerary and talked about branding.

They are learning the most important part about forming a cohesive team -- get to know one another. Learn from one another. Respect one another.

I think they are realizing that they are getting ready for the trip of their lives. They are being asked to do what others before them have been unable to do. They are being asked to take a proven behavior change model that works in "soap opera" form and translate it for gaming. They have less than 10 days on the ground in South Africa in which to gather as much information they can to better understand the culture and beliefs. And then they have to come back, start their classes and work through their research to get them to proof of concept by December.

Frankly I believe that no matter what the end product is, these students are embarking on a life-changing journey that may change many other's lives as well. And that, folks, is what education is all about.

Politicians experimenting with online media

WCAX ran their story tonight about the local politicians including Gov. Jim Douglas and Gaye Symington using web ads in their campaigns.

It was a good piece (of course, I should remind you that I'm in it ... so of course it's good!) that showed several of the different attack ads that the campaigns are using. The focus of the story was really on the attach ads and I'm glad that reporter Kristin Carlson moved it to my point that they need to move beyond using attack ads online and focus on engaging with their constituents.

What it missed was not showing how other candidates like Anthony Pollina and Sam Young are using the web as well -- which is a shame because there is a lot of good work going on locally.

Overall though it's still a time of experimentation.

Take our national politicians for example.

Obama has announced that he'll be alerting the public to his Vice Presidential choice via email and his website provides you the place to do it. Hmmm...interesting that this gets such a news push. Not too long ago a gentleman by the name of Fred Thompson was running for the Presidential Nomination on the Republican side. Well, as we know, things didn't work out for him. How did I find out? Via my Twitter. He alerted his Twitter followers at the same time as the national media and I got my Twitter from him before I got my alert from CNN. Now that's using social media.

Why else would I sign up for Twitter or SMS to begin with? I want to know something before everyone else.

So they are trying something "new" -- going direct to voters through other means that don't include the mainstream media gatekeepers. Except for the fact that all the media have signed up for it by now too (grin). Although I just tried signing up for the Text Alert on my phone -- haven't gotten any notification. I wonder if they are including Twitter in their info...I'm already following him there.

Social Media Comes to the Olympics and Twitter might just win the Gold!

It's Friday morning here in Vermont. It's soggy and grey but there is an excitement in the air. It's anticipation, it's the knowledge that the one sporting mega event in history that I actually enjoy watching on TV is coming. Yep...it's the Olympics! In Beijing. Wow!

Would you like to know what the opening ceremonies are like? Right now? Live? Before we get them here locally (cause they don't happen until Friday NIGHT).

Just go to http://search.twitter.com/ and search for #080808 (get it? It's the date!).

Right now I know that the opening ceremony celebrates Chinese history, inventions (gunpowder, paper, compass and tea), that the commentators are terrible, the fireworks are amazing and that those of us who are NOT Chinese will have a hard time getting the story behind the full production. I also know,thanks to Blogger and Tweeter Rohit Bhargava that the first non-Chinese person to appear is Sarah Brightman who sings (according to the other tweets it's quite um...piercing). And I also know that the athletes will be marching in alpha order according to the local language which is Mandarin...so it's not what you'll expect.

It's a global Twitter with many languages BUT...they've got that covered too over at the Twitter Search -- there's a great little option to "translate" into English.

So we have this Twitter stream where people from all over the world are commenting on everything about the ceremony from the production itself to the commentators to the technical difficulties of being able to load the website of cctvolympics.com and cctvolympics.cn.

During the actual competition I can only imagine how this will work. I wonder how many news organizations are paying attention?

I wonder if NBC is paying attention?

I checked out their website at http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html and they've got all sorts of things going on -- they've got mobile so I can get mobile alerts (hmmm...my twitter can come in on my phone and it's MUCH more interesting), and there seems to be a blog going on but the only way to find THAT is to watch the intro videos and look for the tiny print "blog" -- or do a search or look through the site to find SOMETHING. The one nice feature is the localization feature.

Why no social media links? Because they can't control it I bet. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Way to innovate there NBC! Thank goodness I have access to CBC out of Canada. They aren't rock'n the social media either, BUT at least I can find their blogs by clicking on the tab at the top!

If you look closely at the image below NBC is on top and CBC is on the bottom you can see that there is actually a "blog" link on the CBC banner. Not so for NBC.

Meanwhile our own Burlington Free Press is running a blog by Essex, Vt., native Carissa Gump who is a weightlifter. Those local ties to the games are always cool. I wonder if they'll set up a Twitter stream for during her competition?

So because of the preview, I'll watch tonight and see if I agree with the tweets in my commentary!

By the way, this is but one piece of some of the amazing social media that is going on. There's a whole different level from SPONSORS. Check out this blog post from ReadWriteWeb that shows examples of what McDonalds, Lenovo, Coke and Pepsi are doing with consumer generated content and social media to engage with athletes, customers and their brands. I'll be using this one in my classes for sure.

Finally, check out this "mashup" of the different social media from photos to tweets to blogs etc. at http://tag080808.appspot.com/. If you include tag080808 in any of YOUR posts, you'll be part of the timeline of connection during these games.

Social Media Analysis at the local level: The Vermont Race for Governor

I was interviewed today by Kristin Carlson of local CBS affiliate WCAX about the Vermont Gubernatorial Race and how the candidates are using social media, specifically YouTube, to post online videos about themselves and their opponents.

That got me thinking that perhaps I should do the same thing on the local level for our Governor's race that I've done for the presidency...so here goes!

As of this typing (smile) there are four candidates for Vermont Governor that I am aware of (have I missed anyone?):

1. Gov. Jim Douglas (R): The current governor running for re-election
   


2. Gaye Symington (D): Former speaker of the House of Representatives
   


3. Anthony Pollina (I or P, depending on how you lean): Perennial candidate for some office
   


4. Sam Young (I): Newly announced candidate probably most famous for getting his site shut down by facebook a week or so ago.

All of the candidates have a website. Let's take a look:

Gov. Jim Douglas

A quick Google search on "Jim Douglas for Governor" brought this site right up (no ad words campaigns being used by the other candidates, however the Vermont Captive Insurance Industry does have a sponsored listing...odd). Nothing really out of the ordinary here, frankly it's a bit boring. Ok. No it's not a bit boring...it's REALLY BORING. BUT...notice the little FACEBOOK Icon down at the bottom of the homepage? Also there's this really interesting link to a YouTube Video the campaign has posted about Gaye Symington and how she is anti-IBM. And, very cool, by the way, they have pulled in a Google Calendar...it's empty and shows no activity...but we'll give the campaign points for at least putting it there!

So it's clear that this campaign has a Facebook site and a YouTube site.

At the FB site there are 583 supporters, two photo albums, some posted video from YouTube, 1 fan video, 70 Wall posts, and a voice message. What's missing? Well no discussions. So the campaign is treating this as a place to post things but they are missing the main point -- engaging with the audience. Interesting that there are no discussion topics to find out what people might be interested in or concerned about.

The YouTube site is a bit trickier to find. It's clear they have one but doing a search on Jim Douglas doesn't get to a Gov. Jim Douglas YouTube site. It does, however reveal a GREAT adword from the Pollina campaign:

2 More Years of Douglas Think Vermont needs a change in leadership? Learn
about Pollina. http://www.anthonypollinaforgovernor.com/

Perhaps a search on "Governor Douglas" -- nope. So resort to double-clicking the YouTube video from the Governr's site and you get DouglasforGovernor at YouTube. Two videos posted. Two subscribers (ok, now three that I signed up) and two comments on the one Symington video. Ho Hum. What could they do? A direct link to the campaign YouTube site and get people to subscribe. Load more video. Get people to comment. Start a conversation.

Of course, as the incumbent, resting on your laurels, whether they be real or virtual isn't necessarily a bad thing either!

Gaye Symington (D)

Searching for Gaye Symington on Google doesn't quickly reveal a campaign site. There are lots of other sites that come up...but the campaign site doesn't hit until seventh on the list. No sponsored ads or adwords here from her competition. Her site looks more polished and very, dare I say it, "Obama-like" or Democracy for America-like:

Notice the support videos, the icons and blocky feel and the Facebook and YouTube links. Also the Google Calendar here is populated with events! (by the way if you didn't know this you can subscribe to that calendar in your own Google calendar...that way you ALWAYS know where Gaye is!) The supporter videos are a nice touch -- especially on the homepage!

Clicking the link to the FB group reveals a REALLY BIG PICTURE OF GAYE!!!! Wow! Um...note to the campaign, smaller picture = better. Big picture = scary. 184 supporters at this group, 3 videos, a Google calendar feed, 7 wall posts, and well...that's it. Pretty quiet in there.

Over at YouTube (direct link thank you!) there are 13 videos and 5 subscribers (one of which is me) and not too much commenting going on. Same advice here that I gave above for Gov. Douglas.

Some good things going on here -- the burning question, will it help?

Anthony Pollina (I) (P)

A Google search on "Anthony Pollina" brings up the campaign site right away. No Adwords or sponsored listings, though. The site, as you can see is very very very very long....and I still cut off the bottom part where it lets you "Digg" the site.

What they've got going on here is a video right up front, news items, links to FB and Myspace, as well as the ability to add code to your website that has "progressive" messaging on it -- I like this, but they aren't showing us what it would look like. Oops!

I took the direct link to FB and found that Pollina has no face -- just a logo. Um, campaign folks, while I don't advocate for the BIG FACE like Symington has, some kind of face would be good here. 139 supporters, the Google calendar application, video and notes. No discussion here either folks.

The MySpace page for Pollina at least has a face on it (smile), as well as a BIG MOOSE in the background --isn't that the progressive party symbol? I thought he was an independent? Anyway, he's got 24 friends and 1 "thanks for adding me as a friend" comment. Yawn.

So what about YouTube? No direct link from the website and all the video on the website is from BlipTV. I did a search and it was easy. So the candidate does have a YouTube site. It's just not linked to from the website. Perhaps they should try linking them together -- yeah...that's the ticket!

Sam Young (I)

Sam Young is new to this contest. We've already seen that he was busy using FB to friend people which got him in a bit of hot water with the FB spam patrol, so now he can't reach out to you...but you can still friend him (grin). A Google search on Sam Young reveals lot's of other Sam Youngs...so we'll narrow that one down to Sam Young, Vermont -- Bingo! We have a winner. First listing.

Another really long site but this one is really pushing the social media. Right up front there are links to Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn and Digg. There's even a donate button powered by Pay-pal. He's got a theme song and is rockin the many different apps that come when you use a content management system such as Joomla. He knows his stuff for sure. There's also a prominent RSS feed and even an email sign up. All of these are great features -- but my advice here is to be sure he doesn't spend all of his time online because he'll need to reach voters using all the media. He's using a great application from "IdeaSource" -- you MUST check this out. This is a very nice feature and a way to engage with people who are interested in the campaign. He's promoting it via FB and Twitter so far.

Over at FB he is running a global group AND his own personal site. The difference? Features mostly. Each one has different functionality. At the group, he's got 150 members. At the personal site (the one he got clipped for) he's got 1,118 friends.

His MySpace page has a lot of the same content and here he has 162 friends.

He is the FIRST local candidate I've seen so far to use TWITTER! Which I found on his Facebook page, not his website -- time to add that one in Sam! Oh...and add an image to your Twitter page please. I'm one of his three followers.

Now on to YouTube. Um...maybe not. The only video on his site is from Stuck in Vermont over at Seven Days. Perhaps that is coming.

Wrap-up and Analysis

So our four local candidates for Governor seem to be mirroring quite nicely the national campaigns attempts at using social media. Some are trying more than others but no one is hitting what I would call a home run. They all need to be more intentional about what tools they are using and they need to make sure that anyone can find any of the tools from whatever place they are at. If I'm at YouTube, I should be able to find Young's Twitter, or Symington's Facebook. If I'm at Facebook I should be able to see Pollina's MySpace and YouTube. If I'm at Douglas' website I should be able to see not just Facebook but his YouTube site and any others. That's the key.

Kristen asked me today how would the campaigns know what "worked". I told her it all has to do with metrics and deciding what you think is a success -- the number of subscribers or supporters or visits. However, in the end none of that will matter. It will be who got the most votes at the polls.

Summer Presentation Series: The American Cancer Society

I'll be presenting at a panel discussion this morning for the America Cancer Society New England Divisions Marketing and Communication leaders. The topic? Why social media of course! And using it for volunteers, fundraising, and PR.

I used Google Docs to create my agenda and then "published to my blog" and have now added this intro. Sweet! Here's what we'll be talking about today:

1. Intro Me:
• Currently Assoc. Prof of Marketing and e-Business Management
• Formerly the Regional Communication Director for ACS (1998-1999)
  
2. Goals:
• how local nonprofit offices might begin to establish a presence on social sites
• how new/social media are being used successfully in fund-raising, volunteer recruitment, and public relations
• and how marcomm efforts in new media can effectively compliment work in traditional media
  
3. How might a local nonprofit office establish a presence on social sites?
• Start with your audience and your goal and the appropriate social site will reveal itself.
• If you are trying to recruite college students to participate in Relay for Life, you would want to create a group on facebook with an event calendar.
• If you are trying to recruite prostate cancer survivors you would probably do better with a blog.
• Looking to get people to purchase daffodils for Daffodil Days? You might not use social media at all!
• Working on advocacy? A Twitter alert system could work well.
• Be intentional and thoughtful just as you would be with the branded Relay for Life campaign.
  
4. How is new/social meda being used successfully in fund-raising, volunteer recruitment and PR?
• Note that people are really still trying to figure it out. What follows are some good examples
• DonorsChoose.org
• SixDegrees.org
• American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
• Helpareporter.com
  
5. How can Marcomm Efforts in new media effectively compliment work in traditional media
• It's an overall strategy and they are NOT seperate!
• If you create a news release about an event for example:
• create a facebook group
• set up a twitter account for event updates
• add the facebook group link and the twitter updates to the event website
• list all of the ways to connect in the news release.
• send out your news release
• post your news release on your website
• ...on your blog
• ...link to it in your twitter
• ...put it in your facebook
• create a video and put it in your YouTube group
• post it on your website -- linking to your YouTube group
• ...in your blog and write about it
• ...on your FB
• ...alert people on your Twitter
• Your event will get covered, people will come and the media might cover your use of different media to get people to the event
• You can monitor different discussions about your event using Google Alerts and Twitter Search in addition to your other things.
• Provide up to the minute alerts via Twitter that the press can get as well.
  
6. Q&A

I'll be recommending some books as well:

1. Mobilizing Generation 2.0 by Ben Rigby
2. Groundswell by Charlene Li
3. The New Influencers by Paul Gillin
4. Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
5. The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott
6. Robin Hood Marketing by Katya Andresen