Digital Interactif

Speaking Truth to Power

"When we initially introduced our framework, they [Republicans] were pleasantly surprised and complimentary about the tax cuts that were presented in that framework.  Those tax cuts are still in there.  I suppose what I could have done is started off with no tax cuts, knowing that I was going to want some, and then let them [Republicans] take credit for all of them.  Maybe that's the lesson I learned." - President Barak Obama, 2/9/08

The good stuff starts at 1:14 in the video below:

Influenza in Massachusetts - Google Approved

A Boston Globe article states that 'The Flu' is currently picking up steam here in Massachusetts.  The article is based upon information gathered from local doctors who have noticed an uptick in the amount of people coming into their offices with flu-like symptoms. 

Google Flu Trends (below) also confirms that search activity for the word "flu" has picked up significatly in Massachusetts during the past week and a half, indicating that folks are actively googling for information on influenza.  Cyberchondriacs? Not likely. Tis' the season.

Wild Light - California on My Mind

Tapes N' Tapes is playing at the Paradise Rock Club here in Boston on February 24th (Tuesday) in what is sure to be great show.  Tape N' Tapes have a Pixie-esque sound to them, putting together solid rock progressions that most music fans could digg. 

An equally cool thing about the show is that Wild Light is currently on tour with Tapes N' Tapes and will be opening the show.  Check out Wild Light's "California on My Mind" video below.  Excellent video for sure: 

Wild Light-"California on My Mind" from Drew Innis on Vimeo.

Online Music Promotion / Distribution

For the past several months, DayTrotter has been helping me get back up to speed with new bands that are currently on tour.  The idea of the site is genius because it's so simple: Have bands record a few tracks in your studio and in return you write them up and promote them on your website.  Ok, I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that - but I've been enamored with site's offerings, which have lead me to many shows in the past year such as Black Kids, Ra Ra Rot, Vampire Weekend, and Delta Spirit, among others. 

Apparently this business model is not so unique.  Shortly after I stumbled upon DayTrotter, Matt Shaer alerted me to a local boston website, Band In Boston, that promotes local bands from Boston's rock scene.  The Band In Boston sessions are then placed into podcast form and can be downloaded or steamed from the website.  It's my opinion that every city should have such a site.  Thanks to Band In Boston, I'm getting myself to a Muy Cansado show in the next month and I expect to find more local bands via the site in the future.  

Upcoming MITX Event - 2/26 - Election 2008 and Digital Marketing

There's a great MITX event coming up here in Boston (Sponsored by Technology Review) that will examine how the 2008 Presidential Campaigns leveraged digital marketing and social media.  Cost is $70 for non-members ($35 for members) and it includes an open bar and apps - can't go wrong! 

Here's the official description:

What?
How Digital Wired the 2008 Presidential Elections and is Changing the World of Politics
When?
February 26, 2009 - 6pm to 8:30pm
Where?
Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, 245 Summer Street, Fl 14, Boston MA

Moderator: David Talbot, Chief Correspondent, Tech Review

Panelists to date: Jascha Franklin-Hodge - Chief Technology Officer & Founding Partner, Blue State Digital; Mark Sullivan - Co-Founder, Voter Activation Network

In unprecedented ways, the 2008 presidential elections capitalized on the opportunities of the digital world to build the candidates’ campaigns and involve more people than ever in the political process.  With comparisons to FDR’s use of radio for his fireside chats and JFK’s mastery of the television, President Barack Obama and the team behind his interactive strategy are the ultimate example of the power of interactive technology to connect people online and in the real world.

In this forum, a panel of key political contributors to digital campaigns will discuss the convergence of purposeful communications, marketing prowess, business acumen, technology awareness and personal engagement used in 2008, heading into 2009 and extending into the next election campaign.  Discussion points include:

• A review of the successful tactics President Obama used during his election campaign

• A dialogue about the use of digital technology during Obama’s presidential term
• Predictions for how interactive campaigns will be used during the 2012 elections
• A conversation about privacy and how the use of digital technology during political campaigns will affect it

Politics Online - Boston's Flaherty goes 2.0

Michael Flaherty announced last week that he will be running against Mayor Menino in the upcoming Boston Mayor's race.  The Boston Herald is touting Flaherty's campaign as being in line with the Web 2.0 strategy because he built a new site, MichaelFlaherty.com, and released a few videos on Youtube. 

My first impression of the new site is that the email capture that takes over the screen is a little invasive.  Additionally, it doesn't necessarily work - or if it does, there's no indication that it did, nevermind a "thank you" for entering your personal email that will surely be spammed with campaign emails over the next several months.

A nice feature is the SMS integration at the top of the right hand column, though I would be surpised if anyone opted-in for SMS texts from their computers.  I would imagine this marketing strategy would provide a higher yield out-of-home.  Cell phone numbers should be gathered at every single campaign event (in addition to email address) in order to ensure that the core supporters are fully in touch with the campaign.  "No kidding, we already collect cell phone numbers" some campaign worker would probably reply...but the means of collection can also be disguised as an end.  For instance, it is incredibly inefficient to have interns combing the event with clip boards while a savy field organizer could provide SMS Polls at events that provided the double task of 1)collecting cell phone numbers and 2)polling the base. 

One thing I find surprising is that Flaherty's campaign is paying $10,000/month to Echoditto, an online consultancy firm founded by Howard Dean's internet guru, and there are no Pay-Per-Click ads associated with the new MichaelFlaherty.com.  Good sir, buy up as much inventory on "Menino", "Boston Mayor", "Mayor Menino", and any local search query that involves "mayor".  While he's at it, he might as well invest in "Obama" as well.  Whatever keywords he buys, he needs to do something, anything, to get his site in front of more eyeballs...and the best way to do that is to employ Google Search Advertising in his favor. 

Anyways, I'm glad Flaherty's campaigh is going the Web 2.0 route because it'll be interesting to see if he can take down the Menino-machine that is Boston.     

Facebook Sentiment Behavior Monitoring?

According to Robert Scoble, Facebook is currently working on the ability to monitor user sentiment:

"Facebook is, he [Zuckerberg] told me, studying “sentiment” behavior. It hasn’t yet used that research in its public service yet, but is looking to figure out if people are having a good day or bad day. He said that already his teams are able to sense when nasty news, like stock prices are headed down, is underway."

Not gonna lie, Facebook.  That's a little creepy.   

But it does present some interesting possibilities - for instance, how many years before Amazon.com user data is factored into the Consumer Confidence Index?  If user data is not identifiable, I would think that Amazon could be a viable data point in gauging consumers' current willingness to spend.