Cometh the hour...

What's that saying? Cometh the hour, cometh the man..... It's never been truer than it is right now as the U.S. sits on the eve of history either way. I written a fair few posts on the online campaigns from both parties, but more on the Obama campaign's efforts as they seem to be doing more.

But it's not over yet, you may remember the iPhone apps story that I posted sometime ago - that'll be in full swing right now. Also, people logging on to Facebook today will have a nice little reminder to go and vote and guess which campaign uses Facebook the most...yep, you've guessed it. Looking at the Facebook updates from my friends, there seems to be such a buzz with people organising to go to parties, making sure their friends have voted...I for one am very excited and can't wait to see the results. If you want to read more from a U.S. perspective, check out my friend Ed's blog - a Washington based PR.

MyTake - I have said is before and I'll say it again - they are going to talk about this campaign for years to come and from an online perspective, they are going to teach this stuff in colleges and universities around the world. Will we see something similar from the next UK elections? Probably not, but it's nice to dream...

If Hollywood worked for McCain

I got forwarded this today by my friend Ed, yep, this Ed.  I have to say, it's great when you see this type of thing being done - it shows that election fever is getting higher and higher.

I particularly like the John Woo ad, especially the slow-mo shots and running towards each other with guns yet somehow nobody gets hurt?

MyTake - Stay tuned for more of this stuff. I have already seen a few campaign badges going round featuring a Bulldog with lipstick and another one where Palin has the top billing over McCain.  There's going to be a million and one opinions during this election and the net is going to provide a great output for them. Hopefully we'll get a few more of these 

Oh, check out the Vlad and Boris song for Mrs Palin.... nice hair do

Obama's got game revisited

Who’s going to win the US election? We’ll, there appears to only be one team actually treating it like a race for the most important political position in the world, and that’s the Obama campaign. At work, I sit very near a good mannered US citizen by the name of Ed (read his blog here) who I always talk to when I want update on the US election…mainly because he explains everything in simple terms that I can understand, but also because I get to learn American phrases such as “that dog don’t hunt”. 

The latest bit of news that Ed shared with me was that the Obama campaign has started advertising in online video games, namely Burnout Paradise on the Xbox 360 using Microsoft’s Live network. The adverts are actually on billboards along side the road in the game and advertise the campaign’s website VoteForChange.com. A quote from an EA rep (who makes the game) reads: "Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates. Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.” 

MyTake – The Obama campaign is busy nailing the few last nails in the coffin of the McCain campaign. Not only is Obama himself cleaning up in the debates, his team are kicking every goal possible in the online space. Trust me, they are going to write a text book on this election and generation of Communications students will learn about it. 

The phone that changed the world just might win the US election

OK, a lofty claim, but the iPhone might do just that for the Obama campaign. A new application developed for Apple’s runaway success allows users to rally the troops in so called swing states. Called "Call Friends", the idea is simple – you call your friends around the country in order to get as much support as possible. The application puts a structure and tracking mechanism around this idea, letting users make notes on who they have called, where they live, how they will be voting and even if they need a reminder on election day. 

But…there’s more. The app also provides up to date information and news from campaign HQ, plus a whole host of talking pints, video and photos to help convince in the most stubborn of pals. Obama, as I have previously posted, is very active in the online space and this could be the thing that tips it over the edge, alongside his other activities on YouTube and Facebook. 

MyTake – You go where the audience is, and guess what, they’re online. The iPhone blew the mobile web market wide open with its easy-to-use software, big screen, speed and more importantly, the SDK.  This is probably the smartest move to date by either party, tunneling through from the web to the phone, opening up the range of influence and taking that right up to the voting booth in the hands of countless voters. 

It pays to be social

I’m a bit biased when it comes to the U.S. elections as I’m very much an Obama fan. Even though I’m not American (and therefore have no say in the matter) I think that the election of the next President of the United Sates of America is pretty important to all of us. So, it’s with interest that I have been following the news on the election, occasionally posting a few stories here when it relates. Here is one such story that relates –Obama has more friends than McCain.

It’s official. According to a report by Pew Research Centre that looked at the respective candidate’s online presence, Obama is the man out in front.  With 1.7 million Facebook supporters and 510,000 MySpace friends, Obama out punches McCain with 309,000 Facebook supporters and 88,000 MySpace Friends. The report also revealed that Obama’s fan base on YouTube was 11 times the size of McCain’s. 

MyTake – They’re going to call this the Facebook election the rate this is going. It’s amazing to see the emphasis that is being placed on each candidate’s online presence and activities. With such a large geographic area to cover, online does offer the best solution to interact with your audience on a continuous basis, but it's the effort that's being put into the space that is quite amazing. I can’t wait for election day on Facebook -  “Barack Obama is……the President of the United Sates of America”

I am also not Sarah Palin

Another day, another Wikipedia scandal. This time, it is Sarah Palin’s entry that has been, shall we say, finessed. Here are the facts: about a day before she was announced as the running mate for McCain, the entry for Sarah Palin was significantly changed with a more than positive glow added by a user called Young Trigg. Trigg, as my colleague Ed Hoover told me this morning, is in fact the name of Sarah Palin’s baby son….the plot thickens.   

Apparently, the last edits by Young Trigg were made only a few hours before the big announcement, just in time for the million-plus hits it was about to receive.  Young Trigg has since disappeared into nowhere and Wikipedia is now only allowing established editors to change the entry. The usual ruckus then commenced with questions over Young Trigg’s integrity until he came out to answer all the speculation: “I am not Sarah Palin. I am not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family…..I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign, one of thousands of people nationwide who are working to elect the best candidate for the job. Palin was not the nominee when I made my edits, though I am certainly excited about the selection. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem.” It's a bit like Spartacus, only without the swords...and the hero....

MyTake – I have this vision of little Trigg editing the entry himself, sort of like Stewie from Family Guy, only without the British accent. In all seriousness, Wikipedia is becoming a huge part of the political battle and the importance being placed upon it is fairly obvious from incidents like this. As a PR practitioner who always advises transparency online, I’d probably say that they have gotten away with it – of the people that hit that page in all its polished glory, I bet only a handful hear about the fact that it was altered by a “volunteer for the McCain campaign”. To close, I’d like to follow Young Trigg and say that I am also not Sarah Palin. I am also not a member of Sarah Palin’s family, or even Michael Palin’s family. I will acknowledge that I write this blog, one of thousands of people all over the world that write blogs. Palin was the nominee when I wrote this post. I don’t believe I have a conflict of interest problem – I am a non-violent person and I believe myself to be quite interesting. 

Wake up and smell the .blogspot, we've got an election to win

How important are bloggers? Very... at least the (US) Democrats think so. Well, that's not entirely fair, both sides of the US election are coming to the realisation that bloggers have a lot of power when it comes to spreading the campaign message.

At this year's convention, the democrats gave out 120 passes to bloggers with a whole host of extra bloggers sneaking in without passes. Not to be outdone, the Republicans will be giving around 200 bloggers the pat on the back to get the message out at their conference. For the bloggers at the Democratic convention, things get even better with a Blogger's Lounge at their disposal and even some floor passes thrown in for extra measure.

MyTake - Of course bloggers are important, anybody that doesn't think so, wake up and smell the .blogspot. The money that gets pumped into the election from both sides is phenomenal and there are a lot of smart people deciding where to spend that money. If they give the bloggers a lounge, floor passes and 120-200 passes, it's because they believe that these guys are pretty influencial. So.... Smart people think bloggers are so important that they'd spend US election campaign money to influence them. 'Nuff said.

Is Obama game?

The US elections, I just can’t get enough of them. I recently wrote about the Obama camp emailing supporters the name of his running mate as it was announced to the media, and at the weekend I read that supporters were also texted the name, asking them to “spread the word”.

I don’t know what the opposition are doing on the digital space, but it can’t be that much because we don’t hear about it. The Obama camp, on the other hand, is getting its message out there for all the read – see this article on the Washington Post’s website sent to me by my colleague Ed Hoover as an example.

The latest news to come out about an election that is being increasingly fought online, is that activist group “Rock the Vote” has signed a deal with Microsoft to boost interest among young people in the US. Part of this tie-up (and the genius bit) is that they are working with the Xbox Live service to allow its users to take part in a number of polls. Starting on 25 August, Xbox Live users will be able to take part in polls and forums to have their say on their preferred candidates, with feedback and results passed on to the candidates

MyTake – Guess what, young people aren’t watching CNN for the latest campaign announcements. Good news, somebody’s figured that out. Great news, somebody is actually doing something about it! There’s obviously a revenue model in there somewhere – after all, that kind of data is going to be very valuable to both parties. Putting everything else aside, it seems that this election could be about to change the way elections are fought and won – it’s becoming less about spin and more about collaboration, listing and presence. What I mean by presence is actually going to where your audience is – after all, the old fashioned campaign trail is about going to see your audience and telling them your story in person. What's happening online is no different - the Obamas of this world are going online to get a presence in spaces and places where their audiences are. Bloody smart move.

You've got mail

For me, Barack Obama represents change on a number of different fronts, but it’s his latest move in the online space that's interesting me. According to an email sent from the senator's campaign manager to Obama’s supporters, the name of the senator’s running mate will be emailed to all those subscribing to the email service, letting them “be the first to know”.

Who knows exactly what “be the first to know” means, but if taken literally, the announcement of one of the biggest pieces of news in one of the most eagerly anticipated elections could be floating round cyberspace before it hits the print or broadcast media – what a thought. This type of thing usually never happens when it comes to such big campaigns, but it demonstrates the forward-thinking nature of the team behind it. They are understanding the power of the medium and using it.

MyTake – I doubt that they will announce such a huge piece of news via email then wait for the rest of the media to find out. I think that they will have a number of well timed embargoes in place for media to run the story as the emails are sent out, if not before. But, what a great move by team Obama. It’s certainly going to get the numbers on that email service up to dizzy heights and create a groundswell of online noise. What was the email address?