VasGk | Κοινωνικό Νερό

Yesterday I saw these updates on facebook, they were identical, both from Barack Obama and the Democratic Party . They directed to a website, part of the 2010 get out the vote web campaign to " Add your name as a strong supporter of comprehensive energy and climate reform" I would argue that this can be quite excessive use of Internet campaigning from both these accounts to communicate one message. BUT that does not matter. Internet campaigns don't matter, raising money in running for office don't matter. Votes Matter. This is what Alvin Greene said, the 2010 Democratic Nominee for Senate in South Carolina. Alvin Greene is an unemployed Army veteran who had been completely unknown until becoming the state’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. Who can disagree with "Votes Matter". Alvin does not have a website and does not have any presence on social media. So, Who’s Alvin Greene? Alvin is running against Jim DeMint, a United States...

Tα λεγόμενα Ελληνικά Μπλόκς (Blogs), είναι μία ιδιαίτερη περίπτωση. Μερικοί νομίζουν πως δημιούργησαν μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης και είναι πλέον και αυτοί δημοσιογράφοι, παρουσιαστές, εκδότες ...διαπλεκόμενοι της διαδικτυακής πληροφόρησης. Ενώ το Internet έχει βρει την θέση του στην Ελληνική ενημέρωση και επικοινωνία, αρκετός κόσμος δεν έχει καταλάβει ακόμη πως ο ίδιος έχει την δυνατότητα να προβάλει τις σκέψεις του, και τη γνώμη του χωρίς διαμεσολαβητές. Ακούς λοιπόν την ερώτηση... “Τι λένε τα Μπλόκς; (Blogs)” λες και πρόκειται για 5-10 εφημερίδες που έχουν μία συγκεκριμένη πολιτική γραμμή. Πολλοί νομίζουν πως τα Μπλόκς (Blogs) είναι και αυτά μία εφημερίδα ή ένας τηλεοπτικός/ ραδιοφωνικός σταθμός. Δεν είναι έτσι. Υπάρχουν, και δημιουργούνται, χιλιάδες Μπλόκς (Blogs) όπου ο καθένας έχει την ελευθερία και την ευκολία να εκθέσει και να παραθέσει τις γνώμες του, χωρίς να χρειάζεται να διαμεσολαβεί κανένας δημοσιογράφος ή ΜΜΕ. Είναι τόσο απλό. Και οι νέες γενιές χρηστών Inte...

Just wanted to squeeze another Blog post just before the new year. And yes, I will be more active in my Blogging in 2010, it is one of my many 2010, and new decade, resolutions... Maybe because I use twitter a lot, maybe because I was working hard on two political campaigns, I didn't have the time or the drive to keep up with my Blog, however, the next year is going to be a banner year in many aspects. I am really looking forward working on corporate new media communications, you may also find some of my Blog posts to be on business and new media, while still keeping up to date with online political communications and the use of social media. Let me also get myself on record here saying that I will pursue my academic goals in doing some research on new communications and marketing policies, whether that being in politics, corporate B2B, or freelance business. I believe that Direct-to-consumer advertising is going to be re-shaped and utilized more personally, given the fusion that ...

I really like this tool by " Organizing for America " as a user, by entering a zip code, you will be re-directed to Twitter (you need to be logged in) where you will be prompted to tweet your senator with a pre-written text Example: "To Sen. Charles Schumer: Please pass health insurance reform this year http://bit.ly/j 63 je #hc 09 #NY #10010" . Note the hashtags that are added automatically and watch your tweet on the interactive map. Great tool! but why only Senators and not all members of Congress? And What about Senators that use twitter? the site could cross reference those that are active on twitter and mention @theirusername. You can find a list of Congressmen and Senators on tweeter by clicking through TweetCongress . Some of the extra features of the site are maybe the most important ones. It is good to tweet out to your Senators but if you want to follow through, you can call your senators with a good set of tools provided, including Calling Tips and Exa...

Far from formal structured political campaigns in most developed or developing countries, there are other examples of people that start a political campaign from zero, with little or no help (financial or otherwise); more importantly it is excellent when this happens in Afghanistan ; a country at war, with democracy just creeping in to the political system. The upcoming Afghan Presidential election is scheduled for August 20th 2009. I came across this video of an Afghan candidate for President, campaigning on a bicycle. What I really appreciated is the simplicity of his decision to campaign, even if he does not stand a chance to win. But this is a success story that explains how democratic transition can give all citizens the opportunity to stand as candidates and communicate directly with people that will hopefully vote for them. I suppose that web 2.0 technologies and the Internet have nothing to do with this campaign since most people do not have access to the net; the inten...

So, I came across these 2 videos from the YouTube channel of the GOP . First, Michael Steel, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, congratulates another YouTube user for his innovative video approach to spending cuts under the Obama administration, and invites him to come to Washington DC and "sell" the use of simple and straightforward messages. You see the important thing about this is that it links to people, it shows that the GOP is monitoring YouTube and that experts do crunch the numbers. It is so far from reiterating talking points and empty words; and I must say that Pres Obama has started to talk in Management speech, sticking to the talking points and playing it really safe. I also saw the new RNC ad "How are Democrats and President Obama going to pay for Government Run Health Care?" But wait! I just remembered how! Yesterday I received an email from The Obama Campaign or should I say the " Organizing for America " project of the ...

So, my first post this month is from the East Village NYC. Visiting New York for the Internet Week , have been to a number of events throughout the city, from Columbia University to downtown Manhattan. It has been an excellent week so far, I hope to attend some late events over this weekend, seen some late Internet parties that look good! I am also touring NYC, I haven't traveled outside Manhattan yet, hope to visit Brooklyn and Astoria before I leave for Washington D.C. Today was fantastic, managed to visit the NASDAQ opening bell live at Times Square! I have Diana to thank for that. There are so many subjects that I would have liked to Blog about, but couldn't find the time, like Presidents' Obama speech at Cairo University and some new Internet techniques from the U.S. State department website; Oh yea, and the Euro elections... forgot about those... anyways, According to weather reports, this weekend will be sunny in NY, hope to hit as many Internet week evens as I can,...

You might think that a pan-European "Get out the vote" campaign will be an opportunity to embrace and promote the upcoming EU elections . Well, after watching this video clip I must say that I feel disturbed and surely not motivated to go and vote. I cannot believe that the EU Parliament has not put more research into it. As I commented to the European Parliament facebook page "Who does these commercials?! did you ever thought of consulting a Marketing or Political Communications consultant? This is amateur stuff!!! Plus it is repulsive to look at; do you honestly believe that screaming women and Friday the 13th figures will make EU citizens go to the polls? Really?..."

So, I traveled to Thessaloniki for the Greek Easter, and you can imagine my surprise when at the tolls just outside Athens I saw these flags by the Greek Communist Party please note the hammer and sickle symbol at the top of the flags. Now, my first reaction was total surprise! I asked myself whether this photo would be possible on any other European highway; I am now back in Vienna, Austria and it really strikes me as impossible. Also, along with the flags, there were volunteers covering all lanes, with fryers explaining the values of the communist party with the slogan "Trust the KKE in the upcoming EU elections". I must say that this is one of the first campaign moves from a Greek Political party for the upcoming European elections, scheduled between 4 and 7 of June 2009. The message was clear enough: even if you don't agree with the Communists, vote for them in the European elections to send a "message"... whatever that means... Also in the same fryers the...

Hey everybody, It has been long since my last Blog post; but I have been keeping active in my social media responsibilities… Hope to tweet even more now that I will have my new blackberry! As you might have noticed, I currently work at the The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna. I am at the PPIS (this stands for Press and Public Information Section) in developing a social media strategy for the Organization and using a multimedia approach to get the OSCE message out, create awareness and further expand the communication strategy. Check out the official facebook page of the OSCE , follow OSCE updates on twitter and be sure to watch our videos on the OSCE YouTube channel! Will try to Blog even more! But keep up with me on twitter!

hey everybody, So many thing have been written about the President-elect, some argue that expectations are so high that Barack Obama will need to do it's best in the first 100 days in office. I would like to share my experience of http://www.change.gov/ It is a first, a move from the transition team of the President-elect to provide information openly about the new administration and the planing on how change will happen. It is a great example of change 2.0! I am sure that business strategists and academics will create excellent case studies and simulation exercises based on the "change politics" of campaign Obama. Let me just suggest some reference books on "Change Management": Burnes, B. (2004) Managing Change, London: Prentice Hall. Hayes, J. (2002) The Theory and Practice of Change Management, London: Palgrave Brockbank, A. McGill I and Beech, N.(2006) Reflective Learning in Practice, London:Gower Somekh, B. (2006) Action Research: A Methodol...

Great Debate! I really enjoyed John McCain, he was really hitting all the points, his best performance yet. Barack Obama reiterated his talking points (which are really good) and the polls decided that he was the winner.  But the best part... the twitter election page ! It was awesome! the discussion was dynamic, and you really get a sense of the debate as it happens. You share your commentary with other people, you see attack twits, love twits, action commentary ... is a great experience, well better than the jiggly lines on CNN.  I really enjoyed the "Joe the Plumper" commentary... Check out my Twitter Posts during the debate: Final Thought: McCain differentiated, Joe the Plumper can play a big role, Obama needs to get more offensive. about 8 hours ago from Election 2008 My friends: McCain won the debate. about 8 hours ago from Election 2008 Obama: Change - McCain: Reform about 8 hours ago from Election 2008 Obama: stay into frame! about 8 hours ago from Election ...

As a citizen and a voter, the sites of most candidates feel the same. Now every politician or public life wannabe, running for office, has a template website, all done by some young aspiring political team and/or campaign media advisor. It doesn’t have the sparkle no more. Take any reasonable website of a candidate running for U.S. Congress or Senate, political candidates and parties in Europe or local government elections. They are the same! (ok, if you exclude the name of the candidate and some coloring). Now, any respectable campaign has: a newsletter, an RSS feed, a Blog, a podcast a page on facebook... twitter, youtube, myspace, flickr, digg, stumble upon, linked in, you name it its there. All the sites have a contribute button, a volunteer button, host an event, join the newsletter, get involved, watch the webTV, see the calendar, the issues, the media … Although I am not trying to argue that all these tools are not important in a campaign. They have become Stereotypical and Must...

On the subject of flip flops I came across http://www.obamaflipflops.org/ . I would have expected to see merchandising like this from the official McCain campaign; but hey, I'm sure that they will end up as a great memorabilia campaign item at eBay. Both candidates are rather busy of late, my take is that Obama needs to get back on message, energize people and focus on policy - themes that have brought him so far. P.S. Hope to Blog more often during the last days of the election.

Just take a look at the last 8 YouTube videos from the 2 campaigns... see anything interesting? McCain's videos (by far) are the most popular... Now, why is that, well first of all the McCain campaign has uploaded videos creating TV buzz (most interesting the Celeb & The One video), second, all of the McCain videos are fun, specific, and single issued, Thirdly, the Obama campaign continues to work very hard to create viral videos with Barack backstage, and with the campaign eating at a diner. Now is the time to attack! YouTube can be fun and creative, but, most importantly, it can carry your message. The McCain videos do just that, they carry the message, that it why the are popular.

Χάρηκα πολύ να δω την κριτική του βιβλίου μου ¨Το λεξικό του Ρουσφετιού και της Κομπίνας¨ στο newsletter του Κέντρου Μεταφραστικών Σπουδών . Ναι, καλά διαβάσατε! Βρέθηκε ένας άνθρωπος με χιούμορ (προφανώς) και απόλυτη συναίσθηση της ελληνικής πραγματικότητας, ο οποίος θέλησε να συντάξει ένα λεξικό με την «ορολογία» αυτών των δύο παγιωμένων και… καταξιωμένων προσεγγίσεων. Όπως διαβάζουμε σε συνέντευξή του στην Ελευθεροτυπία , ο Βασίλης Γκινόπουλος, μετά από πολυετείς σπουδές πολιτικού μάρκετινγκ στην Αγγλία, αποφάσισε να επιστρέψει στην Ελλάδα για να εργαστεί. Αποτέλεσμα της ταλαιπωρίας και της απογοήτευσής του από τη διαδικασία αναζήτησης εργασίας ήταν η συλλογή 270 λέξεων και εκφράσεων που περιγράφουν ανθρώπους (π.χ. «μανδαρίνοι», «τσιράκι», «τσάτσος»), ενέργειες (π.χ. «ταΐζω», «διπλάρωμα»), καταστάσεις (π.χ. «κύκλωμα», «τρύπωμα») και γενικά κάθε έννοια που χαρακτηρίζει την παθογένεια ορισμένων ελληνικών πρακτικών. Διαβάζοντάς το, δεν μπορέσαμε παρά να σκεφτούμε πόσο χρήσιμο είναι α...

Barack Obama launched  www.fightthesmears.com , a new webpage that: Informs the people about the rumors smearing Obama  Stating the truth around the issues, with video and links to support the argument Exposing the people that are behind the unjust attacks (with links to their sites and mainstream media reports) Urging people to report smears to the campaign and email them to watchdog@barackobama.com  It is a move that has got mainstream media publicity and a great tool to defend against Internet rumors becoming campaign issues.

A really great new segmentation tool by the McCain campaign. http://www.johnmccain.com asks people visiting to distinguish themselves between Supporter - Undecided and Unregistered Voter. After someone makes his or her choice the website ranks subjects and messages accordingly. The most interesting thing is that through the Internet and web 2.0 technologies voters can be segmented into 3 broad, but smart categories. Also the website is becoming user friendly towards all the people. In doing so, the website is appealing to voters across party lines, undecided and first time voters. Also, in the new website, visitors are not confronted with a signup page (as is the case with both Democratic candidates) and the website is not all about Contributions and Donations. Big up to the John McCain web team!

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...