I posted previously regarding our “Plan to Vote” widget that we developed for the Elections Ontario referendum public education campaign. Guess what? As of October 10 it was viewed over 250,000 times and supported by over 200 web locations. Thanks everyone!
This morning the team was chatting about the internet and social marketing. Sarah and Matt had gone to a gathering on Monday night where the speaker was talking about internet fundraising. One of the most impressive examples I know is Kiva.org. Kiva lets you connect and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world through mirco-lending. I have loaned to funds to micro-entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan, the Ukraine and Mexico. Kiva.org features a great video of a New York Times reporter who visited his lending beneficiary in Kabal.
Kudos to “The Agenda”, Ontario public broadcaster TVO’s nightly public affairs program. Last Wednesday “The Agenda” ran a segment debating the impact of social media on politics, particularly the upcoming Ontario election and referendum. I found the segment so engaging that we ran a tape of it at Friday’s GCI staff “Lunch and Learn”. With panelists from both Ontario and the US, the group was divided in their views but the Ontarians seemed to agree that social media had had a limited impact in shaping the debate or outcome of this Wednesday’s election and referendum. The discussion was wide ranging from why the impact was seemingly different in the US from Canada, based on political culture and history, to the fact that we were entering an age of “radical transparency” for politicians. They were divided as to whether this “radical transparency” would be accepted willingingly by politicians and they would modify their behaviours or rather lead to extreme secrecy and highly centralized, scripted communications. A great discussion.
Andy Lark, the new VP, Global Marketing and Communications for Dell, has a fairly eclectic blog - www.andylark.blogs.com. Andy is particularly well known in technology PR circles based on previous stints with Nortel and Sunmicrosystems. His blog suggests a high energy guy with a personal passion for rugby, commentary on the field of public relations and technology PR hits and misses. One of the books he is currently recommending is “Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know your Values and Frame the Debate” by George Lakoff. The book’s focus is the use of langugage in debate and messaging and is apparently draws a great deal of its argument from commentary on the former success of US Republicans versus Democrats in driving public support.
Well, GCI Canada’s first widget, on behalf of the Elections Ontario referendum public education campaign, has been viewed an amazing 47,000 times since it launched and we still have just over a week to go until the October 10 provincial election and referendum date.
