Echo Ditto

• A framework for measuring social media
  "Here's a framework for measuring social media: 1. Attention. The amount of traffic to your content for a given period of time. Similar to the standard web metrics of site visits and page/video views. 2. Participation. The extent to which users engage with your content in a channel. Think blog comments, Facebook wall posts, YouTube ratings, or widget interactions. 3. Authority. Ala Technorati, the inbound links to your content - like trackbacks and inbound links to a blog post or sites linking to a YouTube video. 4. Influence. The size of the user base subscribed to your content. For blogs, feed or email subscribers; followers on Twitter or Friendfeed; or fans of your Facebook page."
• Twelve best practices for online customer communities
  being armed with this information is NOT, however, a license to start yet another niche online social network for your brand
• Strategies for Making Video Ads Go Viral
  summary: seeding (organic and paid) and syndication; nevermind the quality of the content i guess
• book: Born Digital - Understanding the first generation of digital natives
  "The first generation of “Digital Natives” – children who were born into and raised in the digital world – are coming of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our politics, our culture and even the shape of our family life will be forever transformed. But who are these Digital Natives?"
• Woman to Woman, Online
  NYT: "Sites aimed primarily at women, from “mommy blogs” to makeup and fashion sites, grew 35 percent last year — faster than every other category on the Web except politics, according to comScore,
• Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond
  from marshall kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb, "It can be hard to convince leadership that working with social media doesn't mean they've been paying you to catch up with friends on Facebook. You've probably heard some of the objections. But there are ways you can respond. Here's a list of common objections, along with suggestions for countering them:"
• Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond

• All Politicking is Local: How the Obama Campaign is Using Technology to Change Elections on the Ground
  Ed Cone's four part series: Part One, The Ground Game: Open Source vs Closed, sets up the big themes. Part Two, Local Area Networks: How the Obama Campaign Works on the Ground, looks at a group of volunteers in small-town North Carolina. Part Three: Connecting the Campaign: How the Democrats Built Their Network, looks at the plumbing and wiring behind the scenes. And Part Four, Going Mobile: Texting and Twittering in the New Ground Game
• Polling Web 2.0’s Presidential Debate Hubs
  good summary of the major political buzz monitoring hubs (twitter, Hack the Debate, C-Span Debate Hub, MySpace MyDebates, RealScoop)

• CBS Gets a Rude Lesson in Citizen Journalism - Advertising Age - Digital
  If you let users upload unmoderated content, be prepared for some of it to be of naked people.
• Vice Presidential Debate LINGO Cards
• Hungry for Obama
  awesome pyramid scheme for good

My front pocket, though, not my back pocket, because that's where I keep my iPhone. My iPhone that's now like my own red phone (or should we say, blue phone), to Obama HQ. With the campaign's very first iPhone application, Obama '08, I've got super-easy access to campaign information at the tap of a finger.

Released on Sept. 28 but officially launched today, the app has seven main functions: call friends, get involved, receive updates, news, local events, media and issues. Each of these makes participation in the campaign, at increasing levels of engagement, ridiculously easy. Oh yeah, and it's pretty, too.

The highlight of the app is the Call Friends function. Simple enough, it just pulls all the contacts from your address book, lists them in priority order with key battleground states at the top. Designed to encourage you to call your friends in these key states and stump for Obama, it then tracks who you've called and reports the stats (just number of calls) to campaign HQ. There's then a tab to track stats and you can compare the calls you've made to those made by supporters nationwide. As of this moment, there have been 54 calls made. It's stupidly easy and politically smart since we know it's conversations with people they know that is most likely to convince undecideds.

So imagine you're taking a test drive of this app and you decided to call your Aunt Edna in Pennsylvania. What do you do when she asks you what Obama's policy is on education? No need to fumble for words, you can look it up, right from the app. Between the News, Media and Issues functions of this app, you have nearly instant access to all the information you might need to answer the questions that the person on the other end of the line might be asking you. Not to mention, it's great for those impromptu arguments that arise at bus stops and bars -- you can make your case by showing the latest video of Obama talking about the issues.

I hate to be just another techopundit lauding the Obama campaign for its innovative use of technology, but I can't deny I'm impressed with this app.

Check it out yourself: Download the Obama '08 iPhone app (link opens iTunes).

• Print and Paste These Excellent (and free) Obama Posters
  Print and paste them around. Created by friend of EchoDitto Young Hahn.
• Your YouTube video: Hot or Not?
  Check to see where people are leaving your YouTube video. When the bar goes up, viewers are watching that segment again and again, and when the bar goes down viewers are moving on.
• 15 Minutes of Fame: Lean and mean with WoW - WOW Insider
  Using Warcraft and a treadmill to lose weight. Pretty awesome.
• Google Blogsearch Relaunches as Techmeme Killer, Across 11 Categories

• Acquia Debuts Drupal for Free
  Acquia has released a reduced-price version of it's service and support packages for Drupal. Ranges from a community account which enables update support and access to premium forums to enterprise support by Drupal's premier developers.
• The Author Will Take Q.’s Now - the blog book tour
  nice overview (from last yr) of the increasingly popular and economical virtual book tour

• debates + twitter on current.tv
  That's a good place for technology to be these days. We won't feel the same watching talking heads banter without viewer commentary ever again.
• "About Us" Usability on Websites
• Build-O-Bama

• Ping.fm - update all your social networks at once
  either a great or terrible idea
• RealScoop Tells You When Politicians And Celebrities Are Lying
  fun to play with in these demo videos, but hard to believe that this actually works
• Majority still share content over e-mail
  "A majority of online audiences – both youths and adults - still share online content via an e-mail to a friend, according to a new survey by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by ShareThis. However, youths ages 13 to 17 were found to be more likely to use new tools like wikis and social networks to share content. Overall, 69% of the more than 2,000 people surveyed relied on e-mail to share information; more specifically, 64% of adults do and 60% of youths do. "

• State of The Blogosphere: The More You Post, The Higher You Rank
  more data points and analysis from TechCrunch on Technorati's State of the Blogosphere report; including adjustable charts
• FiveThirtyEight.com: Electoral Projections Done Right
  politics + fantasy baseball
• What Is The Deal With This Stupid Lighter iPhone App?
  does the new social = the new mobile? the silly smule iphone lighter app may be a glipse of the future of viral.

• 35% of BlackBerry users would choose their PDA over their spouse
  say it ain't so
• State of the Blogosphere 2008
  The famous yearly report -- useful and juicy data points in here on the who, what, why, how, and where of blogging.
• Project 10 to the 100th: Google's $10 million pledge to big ideas
  For Google's 10th Anniversary, they're committing $10 million to implementing up to five ideas submitted until Oct 20.

• Sunlight's Ellen Miller is on Wired's "08 Smart List: 15 People the Next Prez Should Listen To"
  Head of Sunlight Foundation Ellen Miller made Wired's "2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To." Congrats! And to whoever it is, you should.

We are proud to be hosting a Drupal Therapy training on October 24th right here in our DC office. If you have some background in web content management systems and know a little bit about HTML/CSS we encourage you to attend.

This intensive all-day workshop will arm new and novice Drupal users with a solid foundation in the basics, including installation, configuration, core functions, contributed modules, themes, and a tour through a Drupal stunt driving course. You will head home with a dizzying overview that will set you on course to a better understanding of your own Drupal work.

Look over the components to learn more about the day's curriculum.

Update: The October 24th training is full. From initial demand, we decided to hold a second day of training on the 25th. If you are interested in joining the Saturday session, please notify us using the contact form here.

We are proud to be hosting a Drupal Therapy training on October 24th right here in our DC office. If you have some background in web content management systems and know a little bit about HTML/CSS we encourage you to attend.

This intensive all-day workshop will arm new and novice Drupal users with a solid foundation in the basics, including installation, configuration, core functions, contributed modules, themes, and a tour through a Drupal stunt driving course. You will head home with a dizzying overview that will set you on course to a better understanding of your own Drupal work.

Look over the components to learn more about the day's curriculum.

Update: The October 24th training is full. From initial demand, we decided to hold a second day of training on the 25th. If you are interested in joining the Saturday session, please notify us using the contact form here.

• E-mail signatures for Election '08
  from Austrian firm, E-Mail Charity
• Seventh Generation - Show What's Inside
  Check out our latest project with Seventh Generation.
• Martha Stewart Blogging Contest
  Not exactly a contest, but what a brilliant way to drive traffic to her blog. She's an evil genius, right up there with Karl Rove!

• Five Ways to Use Social Media to Reach People Who Don't Use Social Media
• Growing use of social media technologies in businesses
  A recent survey of over 500 executives carried out by global IT consultancy Avanade has found that social media technologies can have tremendous impact on client relationships in businesses. Around 60% of those interviewed agreed that social networking are becoming intrinsic to a firm's communication strategy.
• How the internet drives the US campaign
  Financial Times analysis on person-to-person campaigning and differences between the parties

• I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You: Brave New World of Digital Intimacy
  great overview of new communications landscape by Clive Thompson in NYT Magazine

• Large Hadron Collider nearly ready - The Big Picture - Boston.com
  Astounding photos. I can't believe humans can build things like this.
• On the Note of the Large Hadron Collider

I have been on the road for the past two weeks -- first in Denver at the Democratic National Convention (where I was on staff as a member of the Democratic National Convention's online content team) and more recently in Minneapolis, where I was attending, and blogging, the Republican National Convention (as Special Press, aka Credentialed New Media).

Why would anyone want to go to both Conventions? Lots of reasons, actually: First, I love politics -- and national Conventions are as big as it gets in politics. The best and brightest of the two political parties gather, share their thinking about the state of politics and the trajectory of the current election. As a longtime political operative, the Conventions also present a unique opportunity for me to see old friends and get updates on people's lives. Both weeks I have been able to get access to all the media facilities and stars, gaining a different perspective on the proceedings as well as seeing some of my media idols (who I not so secretly obsess about). Finally, if all goes as planned, I am able see/hear/write/offer something interesting that maybe, just maybe, contributes to the discussion this election cycle, helps people to understand the issues, motivates someone to participate or vote, or even does something small to improve the political process as a whole.

Of course, the events in Denver are significantly different than the ones in Minneapolis/St. Paul -- and not just because the issues and rhetoric are different. The Democrats and Republicans throw very different Conventions, with very different goals and purpose. Consider the following:

Denver vs. Minneapolis: Denver is a small city, nestled in the picturesque Rocky Mountains, with a decidedly western feel (red rock buildings, old banks converted into restaurants, horse posts left over from the old days, etc). The view in every direction is stunning. The air is crisp and clear, the temperatures very warm. The people are incredibly nice. And the city was alive, streets literally filled at all hours of the day, and signs for the Convention welcoming delegates at every turn. Most importantly, the Pepsi Center was just a few short blocks away from downtown (and even Invesco Field, where Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech on Thursday night, was reachable on foot - though it was a longer walk).

Minneapolis/Ste.Paul, by contrast is a sprawling metropolis -- two cities in fact --separated by highways with flat lands extending in all directions. There are some beautiful old and new buildings, and some wonderful public art - but for the most part the city seems very plain. During the day the weather has been humid and sticky, while at night the temperatures drop and it becomes chilly. The streets are eerily quiet, with only a handful of people on any corner and few signs to welcome or direct visitors to any official (or unofficial) Convention activities. The XCel Center is in downtown St. Paul, more than ten miles from the heart of downtown Minneapolis -- requiring a vehicle (and a good navigator in my case) to find. And though I know from experience that the residents of Minneapolis are incredible nice, I can't seem to find anyone who lives locally to ask for directions or help -- its all RNC staff and volunteers and none of them seem to be very helpful.

Democratic Delegates vs. Republican Delegates: I find the Republican delegates both more pleasant to be around, and more welcoming of outsiders -- though I suppose that would be different if they knew I was a Democrat (or worse, a blogger!). I also find the Republicans who have gathered in Minneapolis to be more interested in talking than the Democrats I met in Denver -- and more talkative once you get them started. Interestingly, the Republicans I encountered spend more of their time talking about the Democrats -- the latest rumors or accusations about Barack Obama are a popular topic -- than about their own candidates or proceedings. This is, of course, something the Democrats and Republicans have in common, since the Democrats love to talk about themselves. The majority of the attendees to the GOP Convention, it seems, are white, and older by comparison to the Democrats - who it seems have actually achieved (more this Convention than in past years) to build a truly big tent.

Convention Proceedings: The Convention programs differ greatly as well. The structure if basically the same -- real person speaker, elected official or high-profile candidate, video montage, repeat. But, the Democrats put on a glossy, glitzy, high-tech show with a sprawling multi-screen interactive stage setup, while the Republicans were more subdued, with a simple stage and a flowing American flag graphic behind most speakers (NOTE: This very basic presentation was not just because their plans had to be changed in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, that was the aesthetic they had planned before the schedule was changed). The Democrats music was loud and raucous, prompting even members of the media (who of course is accused of having a Democrat-leaning bias) to literally dance in the aisles alongside delegates. And, on the speechifying and rhetorical front, it wasn't until the final speech of the second night of Convention proceedings that any speaker at the Republican Convention referred to the Democratic nominee by name. The person who first uttered the word Barack Obama, of course, was former favorite-Democratic-son Senator Joe Lieberman. In fact, he used the Democratic nominee's name twice, in two consecutive sentences. Meanwhile, Barack Obama used John McCain's name four times in his acceptance speech. Joe Biden used John McCain's name more than a dozen times in his speech at the Democratic Convention, even going out of his way to call the Senator his 'friend.' In fact, with the exception of Bill Clinton's speech (which focused far more on bolstering Obama's candidacy than breaking down McCain's), no major speaker (and possibly no speaker at all) failed to mention Senator McCain by name, and most linked him directly to President Bush and even Karl Rove.

There are other comparisons I could make, some more flattering towards one side or the other, but you get the idea. The point is, for Democrats last week, and Republicans this week, the convention is the center of the political universe. They each have their own perspective on what makes for a good party, and what will present their candidate and their agenda in the best light. They each use the media differently to help tell their story, hoping that the millions of people around the country will get the right message. After all, this is a show. Their candidates can do no wrong. Their opponents don't know which end is up. And by the end of the week, the American people can see that the choice in November is clear. Well, sort of.

I have been on the road for the past two weeks -- first in Denver at the Democratic National Convention (where I was on staff as a member of the Democratic National Convention's online content team) and more recently in Minneapolis, where I was attending, and blogging, the Republican National Convention (as Special Press, aka Credentialed New Media).

Why would anyone want to go to both Conventions? Lots of reasons, actually: First, I love politics -- and national Conventions are as big as it gets in politics. The best and brightest of the two political parties gather, share their thinking about the state of politics and the trajectory of the current election. As a longtime political operative, the Conventions also present a unique opportunity for me to see old friends and get updates on people's lives. Both weeks I have been able to get access to all the media facilities and stars, gaining a different perspective on the proceedings as well as seeing some of my media idols (who I not so secretly obsess about). Finally, if all goes as planned, I am able see/hear/write/offer something interesting that maybe, just maybe, contributes to the discussion this election cycle, helps people to understand the issues, motivates someone to participate or vote, or even does something small to improve the political process as a whole.

Of course, the events in Denver are significantly different than the ones in Minneapolis/St. Paul -- and not just because the issues and rhetoric are different. The Democrats and Republicans throw very different Conventions, with very different goals and purpose. Consider the following:

Denver vs. Minneapolis: Denver is a small city, nestled in the picturesque Rocky Mountains, with a decidedly western feel (red rock buildings, old banks converted into restaurants, horse posts left over from the old days, etc). The view in every direction is stunning. The air is crisp and clear, the temperatures very warm. The people are incredibly nice. And the city was alive, streets literally filled at all hours of the day, and signs for the Convention welcoming delegates at every turn. Most importantly, the Pepsi Center was just a few short blocks away from downtown (and even Invesco Field, where Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech on Thursday night, was reachable on foot - though it was a longer walk).

Minneapolis/Ste.Paul, by contrast is a sprawling metropolis -- two cities in fact --separated by highways with flat lands extending in all directions. There are some beautiful old and new buildings, and some wonderful public art - but for the most part the city seems very plain. During the day the weather has been humid and sticky, while at night the temperatures drop and it becomes chilly. The streets are eerily quiet, with only a handful of people on any corner and few signs to welcome or direct visitors to any official (or unofficial) Convention activities. The XCel Center is in downtown St. Paul, more than ten miles from the heart of downtown Minneapolis -- requiring a vehicle (and a good navigator in my case) to find. And though I know from experience that the residents of Minneapolis are incredible nice, I can't seem to find anyone who lives locally to ask for directions or help -- its all RNC staff and volunteers and none of them seem to be very helpful.

Democratic Delegates vs. Republican Delegates: I find the Republican delegates both more pleasant to be around, and more welcoming of outsiders -- though I suppose that would be different if they knew I was a Democrat (or worse, a blogger!). I also find the Republicans who have gathered in Minneapolis to be more interested in talking than the Democrats I met in Denver -- and more talkative once you get them started. Interestingly, the Republicans I encountered spend more of their time talking about the Democrats -- the latest rumors or accusations about Barack Obama are a popular topic -- than about their own candidates or proceedings. This is, of course, something the Democrats and Republicans have in common, since the Democrats love to talk about themselves. The majority of the attendees to the GOP Convention, it seems, are white, and older by comparison to the Democrats - who it seems have actually achieved (more this Convention than in past years) to build a truly big tent.

Convention Proceedings: The Convention programs differ greatly as well. The structure if basically the same -- real person speaker, elected official or high-profile candidate, video montage, repeat. But, the Democrats put on a glossy, glitzy, high-tech show with a sprawling multi-screen interactive stage setup, while the Republicans were more subdued, with a simple stage and a flowing American flag graphic behind most speakers (NOTE: This very basic presentation was not just because their plans had to be changed in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, that was the aesthetic they had planned before the schedule was changed). The Democrats music was loud and raucous, prompting even members of the media (who of course is accused of having a Democrat-leaning bias) to literally dance in the aisles alongside delegates. And, on the speechifying and rhetorical front, it wasn't until the final speech of the second night of Convention proceedings that any speaker at the Republican Convention referred to the Democratic nominee by name. The person who first uttered the word Barack Obama, of course, was former favorite-Democratic-son Senator Joe Lieberman. In fact, he used the Democratic nominee's name twice, in two consecutive sentences. Meanwhile, Barack Obama used John McCain's name four times in his acceptance speech. Joe Biden used John McCain's name more than a dozen times in his speech at the Democratic Convention, even going out of his way to call the Senator his 'friend.' In fact, with the exception of Bill Clinton's speech (which focused far more on bolstering Obama's candidacy than breaking down McCain's), no major speaker (and possibly no speaker at all) failed to mention Senator McCain by name, and most linked him directly to President Bush and even Karl Rove.

There are other comparisons I could make, some more flattering towards one side or the other, but you get the idea. The point is, for Democrats last week, and Republicans this week, the convention is the center of the political universe. They each have their own perspective on what makes for a good party, and what will present their candidate and their agenda in the best light. They each use the media differently to help tell their story, hoping that the millions of people around the country will get the right message. After all, this is a show. Their candidates can do no wrong. Their opponents don't know which end is up. And by the end of the week, the American people can see that the choice in November is clear. Well, sort of.

As you may remember from Gisele's or Tom's posts earlier this year, EchoDitto spent a few days in February in New Orleans. Specifically, we spent one day cleaning out a church destroyed by Katrina. Because of that experience, I am especially saddened to hear that there's another hurricane, similar in size and strength to Katrina, headed that direction again. Nearly three years to the day that Katrina landed on the shores of the Gulf Coast, Gustav is expected to make landfall in the coming days. Like all of us, I am hoping for the best for New Orleans; in any case, it will be interesting to see how things turn out differently this time.

One thing that's different is the way technology is being used to track the storm. I'm not talking about meteorologists -- although I'd be interested to know what new technologies they may be using -- no, I mean the technologies that you and I are using to track the effects of the storm. Here are just a couple of ways I've discovered to stay up-to-date on the storm and the people being affected.

Watch conversations about Gustav on Twitter. If you're new to this blog, or to Twitter, it's a microblogging service that allows people to update their status in 140-character messages. In this case, Twitter is useful in several ways:

1. Follow @GustavAlerts for the latest updates on the hurricane.
2. Follow conversations by everyone about Gustav. Many people who use twitter use a hashtag (a word preceded by the # character) to indicate that their post is related to a specific topic. In this case, the hashtag #gustav is being used by those reporting about the hurricane. You can track conversations marked by this hashtag at the site hashtags.org, or by searching for #gustav on search.twitter.com.

Join the community at Ning. Ning is an online site where users can join (or set up) an number of niche social networks. Created by Andy Carvin, the Gustav Information Center is a site where concerned folks can read and share the latest information on Gustav and also participate in online discussions.

GustavWiki. I hear a wiki on Gustav is in the works. Updates on that as available. UPDATE: GustavWiki is up!

It is my earnest hope that this hurricane plays out much differently than the one that hit three years ago but however it should turn out, we are certain to have more information available to more people far more quickly.

New Orleans, you're in our thoughts and prayers.

UPDATE: Andy Carvin, creator of the Gustav Wiki, has a great post on the subject at NPR's blog.