Shortly after I turned my last paper for school, I wanted to pick up a book that had nothing to do with business, ethics, finances or leadership — which had constituted the bulk of my reading for the better part of the last two years. I knew I wanted to immerse into how political campaigns are organized, ran and won – at both the national and local level. However, the 2008 presidential election was too recent and none of the inside players had published in-depth account of the operations. That being said, David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, recently released his book – The Audacity To Win. The 2000 presidential election, with its supreme court decision, was a bit of an anomaly. And let’s face it, I don’t remember the 1998 presidential election and I was not yet in the country for the 1992 election. That’s left 2004 election. The Dean campaign immediately came to mind because of their use of the Internet during the campaign. Additionally aside from Ted Kennedy being the first elected official with a web page and McCain raising $1 million online in 2000, the Dean campaign has been widely credited has with birth of Internet politics and advocacy and many of current players in the field are from that campaign. Having seen him speak and followed him on twitter, I decided on a Joe’s Trippi’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

The book effectively chronicles Trippi’s love for technology and politics and how the two finally came together for Dean’s improbable presidential run. Filled with humor, the book begins with Trippi’s earl days as an activist on the San Jose State University and goes through his experience working four presidential campaigns prior to Dean’s. The reader can witness Trippi evolve as a political operative (and become more cynical) who manages to bring together all the lessons he has learned over the years to the Dean campaign. Without a doubt, the most interesting part of the book revolves around the Dean campaign. Trippi provides a candid insider account of what went on daily in the Burlington HQ as well as online. He goes over high and lows, the success and failures – both online and offline and ultimately leaving the campaign. All of it, very interesting. Knowing that readers would looking for the recipe of success online, Trippi’s provides the following points

1. Be first – The first comer has a heard start on building a community.
2. Keep it moving / Don’t be static – The Internet is a fluid medium and your presence should should be organic and flowing.
3. Use an authentic voice – The Internet is not the place to be safe
4. Tell the truth – The Internet has an inherent transparency.
5. Build a community – Get people involved!
6. Cede Control – Your supporters are smarter than you. Given them a chance.
7. Believe again

I really enjoyed reading this book. It provided me with a behind the scene context of the 2004 election. Having read Matt Bai’s The Argument, I’d say this book is a good pre-cursor to that one because it helps frame meteoric rise MoveOn.org, DailyKos and the political blogosphere. One disappointment that I have after reading the book is Trippi’s blog itself. There is a disconnect between what he writes in his book about the Internet and blogging how he runs his blog. These days, his blog is a collection quotes from articles that he read or promotion of recent works (and sometime speaking engagements). It lacks original content, thought leadership, and forward thinking especially for someone who The New Republic called “the man who reinvented campaigning” and GQ dubbed “the new Carville”. Despite this, I still recommend the book. It’s worth the read.

Technorati Tags: 2004 election, Books, Joe Trippi, Online politics

The Audacity of Whiteness -  Jill Nelson makes the argument that there should be more black Journalist covering the White house. 

The Meaning of Michael Steele – While it hasn’t made the headline as much as it should have, the election of Michael Steele as RNC chairman is a huge deal. Michael Fauntroy dives into the the meaning of the election.  The NY Times also had an nice piece about the new leader of the RNC.

In Daschle’s Tax Woes, a Peek Into Washington – This article  tries to give a inside view about what’s wrong with the political system in DC.  Most believe that Daschle didn’t really do anything wrong but what instead a victim of the system as is.  Joe Trippi proposes a solution in this HuffPost article.  If you think something should be done about the system, consider joining change-congress.org.

The Social Media Echo Chamber Makes Me not Want to Listen -  This is a blog post I think every social media experts/guru/whatever should read. I firmly believe that sometimes we get lost into our world and forget to pay attention to those around us that still have something important and intelligent to say.

And to appeal to your light hearted side of you:

The District -  Think of the Hills (or any other MTV show) staring Barack Obama and every other major political figure; Kind of funny.

Olympic-Size Bong Hits – Juliet Lapidos of Slate breaks down whether of not  Michael Phelps’ extraordinary lung capacity enables him to take larger bong hits.

What Women Want -  The million dollar question.  It turns out they are not quite sure either.  

Have you read anything interesting lately?  Please share. 

Technorati Tags: Headlines

Technorati Tags: Obama, Politics, Web 2.0

First, I am flattered that my comment would inspired Lindy to follow up blog post.   I’m blushing… can you tell?   In her follow up post, Lindy makes the argument that every organization should invest in social media.  She argues that they may not necessarily want to break the bank on social media outreach but every organization should at least invest some time into social media.

While I’m flattered about inspiring a blog post, I remain skeptical that every organization should invest in social media.  I contend that while an organization may not foresee all the benefits of jumping on the social media bandwagon, the organization should at least insure that there is something tangible to be gained by investing their time into social media.  For example, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is an organization focused on serving local health officials. At this point their membership consists of the vast majority, if not all, of the local health officials around the country.  Their funding comes from the CDC and their programs are geared towards their current membership. To continue to be successful, an organization like NACCHO has to continue serving its members  by answering to identified needs/wishes.  If their membership has not identified social media as need or has not identified problems that could be solved using social media, it would be a waste of time and resources for the organization to invest in social media.

On the other hand, an organization like Be The Change, Inc.  whose core mission is “building a broad-based, web-fueled, citizens’ movement that will campaign for better public policies, promote active citizenship and citizen democracy” has no choice but to jump on social media band wagon.  To be successful on the web, the BTC has to follow current trends and eventually become one of the leaders when it comes to social media outreach.

To re-iterate my point, Lindy is right that your organization should have a social media plan and if you don’t have one, hire her to help you come up with one (Lindy, I want 10% referral fee…joking).  However before you that, your organization should first establish that it fits within its mission and it stands to gain something by jump on the bandwagon.  Once you jump on, it’s really hard to get off.

Technorati Tags: Lindy Dryer, Social Media, SocialFish, Web 2.0

Seriously…drop what you are doing and watch this… - I’m not a fan of this type of title for blog posts.  Usually, it’s a stupid video of somone doing something moronic that they will regret having posted online in five years.   While i think that this title is a bit over the top, I think the video of Gary Vaynerchuck that Saul of Freshbooks shares in this post is worth watching.

After the Election, Will Obama’s Online Army Target Congress? – This is an “old” but good one.  In this post, Colin Delany of E-politics.com discusses the possibility of Obama unleashing his online supporters on the hill to apply pressure on congress as needed to get legislation through were he to be elected president.  Very interesting read.

Finance Industry Giving Visualized -  In the wake of the current financial crisis, we’ve been wondering how the financial industry became such  “laissez faire” industry.  Well,  the good folks at the Sunlight foundation built a tool that shows campaign donations from the financial sector since the early 90′s.   Needless to say the findings dont boathe well for our elected officials who claim to be independent.

Twitter, Facebook, Charitable Campaigning – In this post, Jeff Trexter warns online community managers of 501(c)3 organizations about the hidden risks of Web 2.o technologies when it comes to online activism.  If you blog, tweet or manage your organization’s Facebook/MySpace page, this is a must read.

Five Ways to Use Social Media to Reach People Who Don’t Use Social Media – Have friends/colleagues that think social media is worthless?  Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb suggests five ways to rope them in.   If you’re already a web person, the suggestion are very easy to implement. I’m thinking of setting up Yahoo Pipes myself.

***Bonus***   The Playboys of Tech – The title is self-explanatory.  Who says geeks don’t know how to party?

If you are reading any interesting blogs, please don’t hesitate to share them with me via comment or email at blog at makembe dot com.  A more extensive list of shared reading items can be found on my Google reader shared page.

Technorati Tags: blogging, Good Reads, Web 2.0

Technorati Tags: Pictures

Mobilize.org is an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people to increase our civic engagement and political participation. We work to show young people how public policy impacts our lives, and more importantly – how we can impact public policy.

The orgnization put its name on the map by taking over the 2100 Fund, an organization that raised funds for organzations promoting youth activism, and writing the  Democracy 2.0 Declaration (watch it). 

Admitidly, prior to the summit, I had heard of Mobilize.org but I was not very familiar w/ its work.  I had planned to submit a proposal for the summit but missed the deadline because of the Silverman campaign and the presidential forum.  As luck would have it,  at the forum, I got the priviledge and opportunity to meet mobilize’s CEO, Maya Enista, and work with her in a breakout session. During that time, I told her about my interest in the forum and she invited me to attend.  

A crucial piece of the summit was the ability for those attending to present ideas and plans that solve the issue of money in politics. From the mobilize.org website:

Competitors in the Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit must advance a new solution or approach to the money in politics problem – that will change the pattern in the field of civic engagement. Winners will each receive a grant, between $3,000 and $5,000 and will receive the support of Mobilize.org and its partner network to champion their proposal, creating systemic and sustainable change in the way elections are administered.Competitors in the Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit must advance a new solution or approach to the money in politics problem – that will change the pattern in the field of civic engagement. Winners will each receive a grant, between $3,000 and $5,000 and will receive the support of Mobilize.org and its partner network to champion their proposal, creating systemic and sustainable change in the way elections are administered.

On the first day, keynote speaker, former Representative John Buchanan, gave an inspiring address encouraging and challenging my generation, the Millenials, to become the greatest American generation. He pointed out that money has become an element in our democracy. Technology, along with other tools, makes it easier to promote transparency and hold elected officials more accountable.

The morning on the second day, Nancy Watzman, of the Sunlight Foundation, and Political Party Time, a blog dedicacated to tracking parties thrown at both party conventions as well as fundraising activities of lawmakers, spoke about her exprience trying to bring transparancy to government since the 1990s and all the Sunlight Foundation’s projects and resources.  Nancy’s address was followed by a panel that included Josh Zaharoff of Common Cause and Matt Stempeck of Americans for Campaign Reform. In the afternoon, Sam Rasoul, candidate for U.S. Congress in VA-6,  stopped by to talk to us about his campaigns, his goals, the change would try to enact in congress and what he has been able to accomplish so far in VA.   Between the two speakers, competitors had a chance to meet with panels of experts who gave them feedback about their proposals.

On the last day, David Mark, Senior Editor at Politico and author of Going Dirty, shared his thoughts about the current Presidential campaign as well as some notes about his book. Competitors also got a chance to present their proposals in front of the entire conference. Four winners were later announced. The first prize went to Sam Oliker-Friedland of GoVoteAbsentee.org.  I whole heartily agree with the decision, as his proposal was the most developed and most likely to be sustained over the course of time. Basically, his website takes any voter of any district in the US throught the process of getting an absentee ballot. Check it out (Facebook Page) if you get a chance, and please spread the word.

The summit was a great fun and learning experience. It was a eye-opener in the fact that it made me realize how many Millenials are invovled in the political process and are seeking to improve the process and make it more accessible to everyone. I feel as though we sometimes get a bad rap for being overconnected and lazy and the summit gives us as a gneration the chacne to fight that stereotype and put our best effort into improving our democracy.

Tags: Democracy 2.0, Mobilize.org, Money in Politics Grant Summit, Sunlight Foundation, Common Cause, Just6dollars.org

Technorati Tags: Democracy 2.0, Mobolize.org, Money in Politics, Politics

Some interesting blogs post that I think everyone should read. 

Mashable’s posts about T-Mobile Google phone -  Google’s G1 Isn’t Pretty, But Is Impressively Disruptive and Now I’ve Finally Seen It, I Still Dig the ‘gPhone’.  I’m pretty sure I’m getting this phone when it comes out. Please share any reviews with me.

What color is your nonprofit’s blog ? – In this blog post, Beth Kanter takes Nina Simon’s categorization of different type of museums blogs and applies it to Non-profit blogs as well as provide some strategy tips.   Very interesting reading for those blogging for your job/company.

Why Doesn’t Anyone Comment on Your Blog? -  In this article of ASAE, Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer suggest some ways to get ways associations can get more comments on their blogs.  I think the advice can also be true to individual blogger.  Simple suggestions but they work.

What is a non-profit blog?  – In this post, Britt Bravo – officially one of my new favorite bloggers – shares a list of blogs authored by non-profits/NGO orgs.  Some are worth adding to your reading list.

 Mass Instant Message That Link With The Tell-A-Friend Widget – TechCrunch shares what will possibly become the most annoying widget to date.  I might add it to my blog tho.  Thoughts?

If you like these, you can find more on my Google Reader shared page.  I’m also going over my feeds and removing the blogs that I don’t read anymore.  If you’re reading some good blogs and think I might find them interesting, please share them.   I’m pretty much  interested in everything — from politics to fashion.

Technorati Tags: Good Reads

Amy, from Idealist, pointed out that I missed a few posts.

• ServiceNation the Finale
• Kennedy – Hatch Serve America Act

I prepared this for work today.  I figured it would be a good idea to share.  It will be will be cross-posted at www.changewireblog.org.   It was privilege to meet and work with these folks.    Let me know if I missed any.  It certainly was not my intentions.

After the feed back from the first video, I decide to make another one.  Please share your thoughts.