The White House launches its new blog!

Today was certainly exciting. And amid all the excitement – and following up on the heels of Obama’s near-flawless digital campaign, including his YouTube weekly addresses which I’ve vowed to watch regularly now! (NY resolution #43925732890!) – the re-vamped Whitehouse.gov site (did anyone visit the White House Web site when Bush was in office? I sure didn’t) launched its new blog!

Heading up the blog is a new name (to me, anyway) – Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House. Macon explains the new Administration’s goals for the blog in one of the first posts.

 

I find this all very, very cool, as I think I’ve blogged about previously. Can’t wait to see all that comes out of this Presidency and our Government, moving foward.

Would be interested in your feedback on the site – what would you find most valuable from your government on its Web site and blog? Engage!

 

Also – some fun trivia for the day from Mashable via the CNN/Facebook alignment for inauguration day coverage:

1. There were 200,000+ status updates through the Facebook integration on CNN.com

2. at that time, 3,000 people commented on the Facebook CNN feed per minute

3. Obama’s Facebook Fan Page has more than 4 million fans and in excess of 500,000 wall posts 

Did anyone tune in to this live streaming? I personally watched on the big (old school) screen with the office. Do share thoughts if you tuned in!

 

Peace! Enjoy your inaug celebrations!

Dr. Marvin, I’m blogging!

OK so since I sent about 50 emails to the BM New Media Team alias today, decided to post this last one in our blog. Not sure why but it seems easier sometimes to just punch out an email. When really, it’s kind of the same thing. Think I’m getting sucked into that mindset that blogging is too cumbersome – I blame Twitter; quick shouts vs. thought-out posts. (So much more my style, even offline). :)

Anyway, wanted to share this – have you all seen already? I have sadly been too busy since the election to track the news surrounding the President-Elect and his activity (although every time I walk past the freaking TV in the front lobby it’s SARAH PALIN THIS, SARAH PALIN THAT – GOOOOOO) but this Web site might be a great resource to help me get caught up. CHANGE.GOV – the new Web site “from the office of the President-Elect.”

It’s gorgeous, visually, and seems to employ a lot of the features we came to know and love on barackobama.com during his campaign for Office. There’s a voluteer portal, multimedia and even user-generated content, via the “share your story” [from election day]. COOL.

Change.gov supports Veterans' Day

What are your thoughts? What will happen to a) this site once Obama goes to the Oval Office for his term and b) the OG site – BarackObama.com? Curious where the good content there will go. Will he just create a link bridge? Is that one now going away since it was focused on advocacy and fundraising?

Either way – love this campaigns involvement in all things digital! Should be a very open, interesting term – no matter what your politics. (Thinking of the Russian President video blog Stephen sent around recently and how, upon watching, I had envisioned Obama doing the same, addressing the US. Rad!)

~Jes

My name is Barack, and I am textually active

credit - PBS Media Shift

In his continued flirtations with the mobile medium, BarackObama made an ever-so buzzworthy pledge to his constituents that he would text them at the moment he chose his veep. Obama’s textual comehithers hooked me and many other Americans, who were eagerly waiting to “break” the news to friends who aren’t as cutting-edge :). Imagine how upset I was when I got the news from a CNN breaking news alert at 11:02pm on Friday, and a text message from my man, Obama, at 1:04am on Saturday.

As the AP put it, “The Democratic presidential candidate got scooped by the media on his own announcement, done in by dogged reporting, loose-lipped party insiders and the limits of technology.”

oops.

Well, turn that frown upside-down, Obama. Come fall, you’ll have millions of friends to text message when you are coming to their neck of the woods (because you got all our ZIP codes when we signed up for the alerts).

From a “new media” perspective, the most powerful thing to note is the transfer from the mobile medium to the Web. The Obama campaign said more than 48,000 people watched the live stream of Obama and Biden‘s first joint appearance from their Web site. Also, by mid-afternoon, they’d received more than $1.8 million in donations via the site. That’s nothing to LOL at.

This is politics’ first “go” at mobile marketing, and in my opinion, it’s been hugely successful. Supporters who signed up for the alerts certainly couldn’t be so miffed that they switch their allegiance from Obama. I think it’s awesome to see tried and true mobile marketing tactics at use in this way. I’m also wondering if this may have a mirrored effect on media companies and other brands, who were the first US companies to adopt this marketing tactic. That is, if Obama is able to engage with his audience this way, then why can’t they?

Meantime, I’ll look forward to more SMS from OBAMA.

FYI…if you want to sign up, just text *GO* to OBAMA.

Posted by Sharon

The DNC and new media

Anticipation for the Democratic National Convention is palpable. And, of course, there has been much to-do about the (continued) role that social media and technology will play at this particular event.

Arianna Huffington posts today about a panel that the HuffPo will be hosting – with Universal Music Group – during the DNC about the ways that social media has impacted this campaign. The panel line up includes representatives from the new media (YouTube co-founder and Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, who launched the “Yes We Can” music video on YouTube) and traditional media (Stephanopoulos of ABC and publisher of Washington Post) sides, as well as a panelist from SNL – on the role that satire has played in this campaign (interesting!) and also repping the business perspective, a UMG public policy/government SVP. The  happens Tuesday at The Brown Palace hotel in Denver. Should be interesting, wish I could go!

Cliz – if you go, will you please take pictures and blog about it? Pretty please??? With a cherry on top!!?

TGIF!!!

Yeah!