VasGk | Κοινωνικό Νερό

It was awesome to be part of this very interesting discussion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . The Minister ( Ms Dora Bakoyannis ) along with a number of Bloggers and people active through social media had an opportunity to exchange views and debate concerning the role of the Internet and web 2.o technologies with concern to politics and political communications. It was quite interesting brainstorming ideas and suggesting technologies that can become instruments for developing foreign policy, while bringing together the Hellenic community overseas. All the people involved were excellent in their remarks and I personally believe that it was a great opportunity to exchange views and hopefully shape political communications strategies in Greek politics. My talking points included: Permission Marketing techniques, Online political communications, facebook groups concerning the issue of Macedonia Communication tools of a Foreign Ministry website. I must say that I...

The Internet is a vital two way communication tool for sharing information and opinions and for building communities of people with common interests and ideas. According to the Greek observatory for the information society, there was a rise in the number of people that connected to the Internet over the last two years. Greek political parties have developed web sites in order to attract new members and improve communication with the public, especially during the election period. In addition, concerned citizens with political Blogs have entered into the political arena and added to the ongoing political discussion. In the past two years online communities and the Blogsphere have become as important as mainstream media, creating a new forum of political debate. The recent Greek national elections of September 2007 had three very unique characteristics. The pre-election period was very short (30 days) as compared to all previous elections over the last three decades. Two weeks before the ...

Ελλάδα, η Δημοκρατία των «κολλητών»   Το ρουσφέτι, η κομπίνα, το «λάδωμα» αποτελούν καθημερινές πρακτικές που  βιώνουν οι πολίτες σε κάθε τους συναλλαγή Του Τακη Καμπυλη «Ρεκομεντάτος: (ο, η) Προσεγμένος. Η λέξη προέρχεται από πρώην φοιτητές στην Ιταλία που λάδωναν τη μαφία για να περνούν τα μαθήματα. Εχει τη χάρη του καθηγητή. Στην Ελλάδα έχει την ερμηνεία του « συστημένου», ενός από τα δικά μας παιδιά». Ο Βασίλης Γκινόπουλος είναι μάλλον ο πρώτος πολίτης στην Ελλάδα που θα βγάλει χρήματα καταγγέλλοντας τη διαφθορά. Εφυγε ανήλικος από τη ζεστασιά της οικογένειάς του για τα βόρεια κλίματα. Σπούδασε και ξανασπούδασε στο Λονδίνο (ήθελε πολιτικό μάρκετινγκ και το ήθελε και με διδακτορικό). Οκτώ χρόνια μετά, το 2006, επέστρεψε στη χώρα του. Και άρχισε να ψάχνει για δουλειά. Δουλειά τελικά δεν βρήκε, αλλά η πίκρα και η αγανάκτησή του βρήκαν μια δημιουργική διέξοδο. Ετοίμασε το πρώτο στο είδος του «Λεξικό του ρουσφετιού και της κομπίνας» (εκδόσεις Παπαζήση) το οποίο στις τρεις...

I want to say a big thank you to everybody that came to my book launch last Thursday. My deepest regards to my close friends who supported me throughout the drafting of my 1st book. The Dictionary of Corruption presents 270 words and expressions that are commonly used by citizens talking about political and business life issues. Corrupt politicians, corrupt businesses, most of all, corrupt citizens. The words people use indicate deep and inherit characteristics, and at the same time, represent the lack of progressiveness in our society and sometimes economic backwardness. Corruption is a social characteristic. It is neither good nor bad; it is a social phenomenon, and needs to be handled as such in order to be eradicated form political, business and everyday life.

Following on the footsteps of CNN, the Greek TV channel SKAI is introducing a YouTube Debate for the upcoming Greek Elections (16 Sep 2007). Hopefully this will add to a discussion that is focused around issues, rather than vague election promises.