Archive for the 'politics+technology' Category

Rudy discovers Google Maps

Published
by
Ed
on October 26, 2007
in 2008 us presidential election, american politics, politics+technology and republicans
. 0 Comments

After a sluggish start, Rudy Giuliani’s campaign continues to make strides online. They have now added an interactive Google map to the ‘Why Rudy’ section of the former New York mayor’s website.

The map shows the location of Rudy’s supporters across the US, including recent official endorsements from Texas Governor, Rick Perry, and former Wisconsin Governor, Tommy Thompson. Supporters can fill in a form to add their names, comments, photos and YouTube videos, explaining why they support Rudy. So far, there does not appear to be one genuine supporter’s video (i.e. one not filmed and uploaded by Rudy’s campaign team)

Unsurprisingly, the majority of Rudy’s supporters are concentrated in the wider North East region and California and Florida. As this tool becomes more widely used, it will be interesting to see where concentrations of Rudy supporters build up.

The Adfero Group produced a similar tool for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s virtual march on Washington earlier this year. Given that the Adfero Group have already done some work for Rudy’s campaign, I think it’s safe to assume they adapted and built on the same tool for Rudy’s benefit.

Although I welcome this innovation and acknowledge that it does go some way to building a sense of community amongst Rudy’s supporters, as well as serving a valuable data gathering function, I think it could be even more effective if it was not so isolated. It seems very disconnected from the rest of Rudy’s campaign. It sits on its own, on a single page, without even a link from the homepage.

Why not post the map in the sidebar of Rudy’s blog to show the mayor’s ever growing support or allow supporters to embed the map on their own websites? Rudy’s campaign was one of the first to produce widgets for supporter’s websites. Why not produce another to make it easy for supporters to share their reasons for supporting Rudy?

Isolating the map on a single page massively reduces the opportunities for supporter interaction and decreases its effectiveness as a campaign tool significantly. Come on Rudy, just one more step…

McCain Does Humor (oh, and also raises some cash)

Published
by
Ed
on October 26, 2007
in 2008 us presidential election, american politics, politics+technology and republicans
. 0 Comments

John McCain’s campaign has just released a new TV ad capitalizing on McCain’s nimble attack on Hillary Clinton at the recent Fox News Republican Presidential debate in Florida, which also enabled him to highlight his experiences as a POW in Vietnam.

Bashing Hillary Clinton is always a winner with the Republican base and the contrast with McCain’s record in Vietnam is stark. Great job by John McCain and also by his staff for putting this into a TV ad and email fundraising campaign so quickly (the email went out today). The message is perfect web video fodder and I’m sure it will pull in lots of money.

UPDATE: Fox News is apparently demanding McCain pull all Fox News video from his website. By contrast, Rudy Giuliani’s website is blanketed with Fox News video, but he is yet to receive a similar cease and desist letter.

Nick Clegg’s Secret YouTube Weapon

Published
by
Ed
on October 26, 2007
in british politics, liberal democrats and politics+technology
. 0 Comments

I just came across this video (via Lib Dem Voice) of Paddy Ashdown, former Liberal Democrat party leader, explaining why he’s backing Nick Clegg in the leadership race.

It’s really rather good. Paddy looks relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera, aided by the fact the camera is shooting from an angle and not head on (kudos to the cameraman!). This is a highly effective technique that can instantly improve the quality of a video. The lighting is good, streaming in through the window behind him, making Paddy look young and fresh. The open laptop and coffee mug on the desk also add a sense of authenticity.

This is an excellent example of good quality online video. Regardless of who you support in the Lib Dem leadership race, I hope all Lib Dem members will take note of the simple techniques applied in this video and try to put them into practice themselves.

It will also be interesting to see if Nick can match Paddy’s on camera performance and whether his campaign team are going to make online video a central part of their campaign. A large YouTube button does appear very prominently on the frontpage of Nick’s website at least, alongside buttons for two other major social networking sites, Flickr and Facebook.

My one request though, please get rid of that ghastly background on Nick’s YouTube page! It gives me a headache every time I look at it and frankly the information you are trying to convey, i.e. Nick’s name, slogan and website url, is not very clear.

Facebook Strategy Now Essential for Politicians

Published
by
Ed
on October 24, 2007
in new media and politics+technology
. 0 Comments

Justin Hamilton points out a new Facebook app called FriendsCSV. It can extract virtually all personal information from your friends’ profiles and export to a csv file. Crucially, this can all be done without the agreement of your friends.

An effective method of data mining Facebook profiles has long been the holy grail for politicians. Now the data is so readily available there really is no excuse for any politician not to be on Facebook.

Social networks offer many potentially beneficial and less utilitarian uses for politicians, but the sad truth is the possibility of reams of fresh voter data is what will bring the remaining holdouts scampering to the trough with renewed enthusiasm.

Platform as a Service

Published
by
Ed
on September 22, 2007
in politics+technology and tech development
. 1 Comment

Want to know why I love Salesforce.com? Watch this…

Louisiana Internet Usage Stats

Published
by
Ed
on September 19, 2007
in louisiana politics, politics+technology and tech development
. 0 Comments

Since moving to Louisiana a couple of months ago, I’ve been trying to find up-to-date internet usage stats for the state. Although the Pew Internet & American Life Project provides an excellent overview, it does not break that data down by state (at least not publicly).

I did manage to find this data via TechPolicyBank:

  • Louisiana ranks 33rd in the US for overall number of high-tech workers and 43rd for average high-tech wage.
  • 52% of all Louisiana’s households own a computer. The national average is 62%.
  • 44% of all Louisiana’s households use the internet at home compared to 55% nationwide.
  • 10% of all Louisiana’s households have broadband compared to 20% nationally.

If you know where I can find more detailed and up-to-date internet usage stats for Louisiana please let me know.

Salesforce + Facebook = Potentially Lethal!

Published
by
Ed
on September 14, 2007
in politics+technology
. 1 Comment

My former colleagues at IPDI beat me to the story, but last night I received an email, courtesy of the excellent Non-Profit Salesforce.com Practioners Group, directing me to a post on Mashable! about a Salesforce App for Facebook called Faceforce.

Web-based CRM software provider Salesforce.com has launched a Facebook application for connecting data from the two services. Appropriately named Faceforce, the application allows you to see things like your contact record (which is kept in your Salesforce.com account) side-by-side with a user’s Facebook profile, assuming they are list as a friend. In theory, this enables a more personal relationship between sales people and their customers by letting them know more about each other.

Effectively (and legally!) utilizing Facebook data is considered the holy grail for many tech companies right now. Logically, a link up between Facebook and Salesforce should be profitable for both parties, strengthening relationships between contacts. A healthy dose of respect is required though. The strength of some Facebook friendships will be tested! Continue reading ‘Salesforce + Facebook = Potentially Lethal!’

Dreamforce, I Wish

Published
by
Ed
on September 14, 2007
in 2008 us presidential election, american politics and politics+technology
. 0 Comments
dreamforce

Sadly, I won’t be in San Francisco next week at Dreamforce, Salesforce’s annual extravaganza for users, partners, developers, etc. I really wish I was.

Not for want of a decent offer mind you. Kudos to Salesforce who generously offered $100 tickets to non-profits and last week I received this enticing offer: Continue reading ‘Dreamforce, I Wish’

Gordon, is that really you?

Published
by
Ed
on May 11, 2007
in british politics, labour party and politics+technology
. 2 Comments

Just took a quick look at Gordon Brown’s new website which was launched today to coincide with the start of his bid for leadership of the Labour Party and by default also Prime Minister (for the benefit of my non-British readers, yes I know this is ridiculous!).

Apart from the bizarre alterations to the RSS feed icon identified by Simon Collister at eDemocracy Update, the first thing that strikes me is the photo on the homepage. At first, I wondered if the photo had been doctored. That’s certainly what it looked like on Gordon Brown’s campaign site. However, when I saved the image and uploaded it to my own site it looked absolutely fine.

Gordon Brown’s Homepage Photo

Not quite the scoop I was hoping for, but a demonstration of the generally dismissive attitude of British politicos to the Internet and technology.

Given the recent scandal involving a Labour Party local council candidate, who doctored a photo to try and prove he attended the national anti-war march in February 2003, you would have thought Brown’s e-campaign team would have been more careful.

Correcting this error would not have taken them much effort. Instead, Britain’s Prime Minister in waiting kicks off his campaign surrounded by a whiff of scandal and looks amateurish and unprofessional.



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