Mobile Diner® where wireless and washington meet….

With the November election on the horizon, we have pondered the implications of utilizing wireless to mobilize voters.  We believe that in a race this close, mobile offers a unique opportunity to raise awareness and engage folks.  However, will mobile make the difference in ‘08?

Our friends at Mobile Future or going to take a closer look at this question and have organized a timely forum on this subject at the National Press Club on October 14, 2008 titled “How Mobile Technologies are Changing Elections.”

Mobile Future Chairman, Jonathan Spalter, will moderate a panel discussion with some of the leading experts in mobile and its impact on politics. The dialogue will be facilitated by Jed Alpert (CEO of Mobile Commons), Michelle Mayorga (Rock the Vote, Mobile Programs), Casey O’Shea (DCCC National Field Director) and Katie Harbath (Former Deputy eCampaign Director, Giuliani for President).

Additionally, Peter Hart (Peter D. Hart Research Associates), a leading U.S. pollster, will address the atmosphere of the 2008 election and discuss the impact that mobile-only users will have upon the outcome in November.

The forum will be presented over lunch, and all are welcome! 

Be sure to Rsvp at http://www.mobilefuture.org/page/s/elections to reserve your spot.. HOPE 2 C U THERE!

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The Atlantic recently published a great piece examining technology titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Using a historical perspective, the author critiques how technological inventions have fundamentally shaped our lives, and ponders if their impact transcends mere lifestyle changes to actual biological adaptations in the ways that we think and learn.

Do we shape technology, or does it shape us?

And, are we even aware of the impact as the technology itself becomes embedded into our culture?

For instance, few people critically examine that the minutia of daily life is mapped out by a clock. Before the mathematical concept of time emerged in the 1300’s, people organized their meals and sleep around their own internal schedules. Today it is maddening and almost unthinkable to envision a world without clocks. As we become dependent on new technologies, which other ones have fused with our modern culture?

The mobile device is a modern day invention that, much like invention of the clock, is shaping every facet of our lives.

Our mobile devices are integrating into our lives at an astonishing pace. The future will be shaped by our increasing dependence on mobile. Today’s mobile devices are affordable and highly sophisticated. They are hubs of communication and allow access to the web. Unbeknownst to some, our future lies in mobile – not the PC.

This fact was impressed upon me at CTIA, as I sat through a great presentation by Weather Channel Mobile’s Louis Gump at the Crisp Wireless hosted event. Continue Reading »

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I thought I had seen it all in Washington…

What would be YOUR caption for this photo?

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This morning I attended 2 great keynote speeches here in San Francisco at CTIA. The first one was Jim Balsillie (Co-CEO, Research in Motion), followed by Shantanu Narayen (President and CEO, Adobe).

With regard to RIM’s presentation, BlackBerry is putting its money on real-time use of social technologies. As we know, in the diner, these technologies flourish through wireless. Mr. Balsillie demonstrated this by showing the utility of the new BlackBerry devices and how they can fuse all of your entertainment, music and social networks.

BlackBerry already integrates Flickr and Facebook. In addition to those social spaces, Mr. Balsillie also announced a recent deal with MySpace. This offers a tremendous opportunity for the MySpace community (currently 122 million users) and I expect the results to replicate Facebook’s mobile app success (already 2.5 million downloads in 1 year). On a related note, Mr. Balsillie sited the projected growth of mobile social networking as a staggering 1000%, leaping from 80 to 800 million users.

It will be interesting to see how users implement the constant access to social networks via wireless and how the social networks themselves adapt to their usage.

Disclosure – Blackberry is a client…

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With the U.S. Open Men’s Final all set for tonight, I’m feeling a little nostalgic.

I’m remembering Andre Agassi and those Canon commercials — “Image is Everything” he would proclaim… Andre was so right!

In the district of communications, your image has a lot to do with how successful you are with your policy initiatives. One industry that has suffered from bad perception in the marketplace is the cable industry. However, the cable folks are not following the traditional playbook and trying to hire more lobbyists. They are looking to improve their image engaging bloggers and the citizenry.

In a Communications Daily story today (subscription only), Rob Stoddard (NCTA, Senior VP of communications and public affairs) stated:

“the cable industry needs to do a better job of improving its image with bloggers and customers alike. As we chip away at that image issue, I really believe that all this money we spend on messaging will go further.”

Policy and politics are all about marketing. Accordingly, in times like these, making sure you are a step ahead of the competition is critical. Companies that blend an interactive strategy with their traditional communications will be rewarded in the market and in DC.

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing noted author Nate Wilcox in a video for Mobile Future.  Nate is the co-author of Netroots Rising: How a Citizen Army of Bloggers and Online Activists is Changing American Politics.

With the convention season in full swing, Nate’s interview is timely – as he discusses the impact of mobile integration (particularly texting) that has uniquely characterized this 2008 election process.

Nate is currently a senior strategist at the Alexandria, VA based WebStrong Group.  Some highlights of his extensive political career include work with the campaigns of John Kerry and Ann Richards,
and a role as the Online Communications Director for Governor Mark Warner’s Forward Together PAC.

Update – We wanted to give you some additional info on Nate’s Background, for a full bio please click here.

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Tonight Chris has the great opportunity of participating in an American Marketing Association panel discussion at NPR on “Mobile Marketing: Effective Strategies, How-to Implementation.”

The panel, organized by the AMA-DC, will be moderated by mobile marketing veteran Limor Schafman (KeystoneTech).  There, in front of a full house, Chris will address the ways that Non-profits, Associations, and Campaigns are utilizing text messaging and video to augment their marketing.

We wish Chris and the rest of the panel a great event tonight!

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