Self explains that Obama knew he was never going to raise money for his campaign in the traditional way.

“What Obama did,” Self says “was to gather 10,000 people together at a rally and ask each and every one of them to use their mobile phones to sms a number and pledge five bucks”. Certainly not a big ask but there you have it – $50,000 in 50 seconds.

This sort of activity is a great example of how Obama focused on a grass roots campaign rather than doing the traditional fancy dinner party for maximum donations of $2300.

Self says that once voters consider pledging $5 it is easier for them to consider stepping it up to $10 and $20. By lowering the barrier to entry and asking voters to pledge an amount they could afford, they generated an enormous amount of good will into the campaign. Voters now had a greater vested interest in the candidate they had reached into their pocket to support. These voters were more likely to remain informed, speak about the campaign to friends, neighbors and colleagues.

The focus of any campaign is on money, message and mobilization. By valuing small contributions the Obama campaign knew that this would have an incredible impact on mobilizing their message. During the campaign US$770 million was raised, and 35% of that was online. 68 million Americans door knocked or made phone calls to encourage votes for Obama. The campaign generated 1800 videos online with over some 50 million views and 6 million email subscribers were acquired by promising those people they would be the first to know who Obama elected as Vice President.

Other media assets Blue State Digital were responsible for during the campaign were:
Personal fundraising pages:  http://my.barackobama.com/

Fight the Smear – a website dedicated to fighting rumors during the campaign (rather than rely on traditional media to fight the smears for you): http://www.fightthesmears.com/

Seven tips to building relationships online:

1. Don’t ask for too much at once
   Relationships aren’t that different online as offline, Self explains. You wouldn’t ask someone to marry you on the first date, so don’t go for the full hog off the bat online either.
2. Make the best use of timing
   During the campaign the most amount of money was donated the day after Sarah Palin’s first speech in which she flamed community organisations.
3. Be authentic
   For example, emails are personal. Make it real. A real person wrote it, so get them to sign their name.
4. Transparency
   For example, Blue State Digital created hundreds of video journals from Obama, to campaign managers chatting about how it was all going.
5. Lower your barrier to entry
   Give people multiple options for how they want to be involved so that they can elect an activity that is meaningful and accessible to them.
6. Raise your expectations
   Begin with asking users for something simple, like a sign up, then you might ask them to perform an action such as refer a friend. Later, ask them to write a blog post or by a product. You get the idea.
7. Measure everything
   Measurement is really important so that you can know what worked and what didn’t. Test and refine along the way.

And with that, Self ends by explaining how savvy audiences are. He encourages building relationships with your user base from a good, genuine and passionate place. Otherwise, it will not work.

There are many ways for users to consume content online, begins Pickard. They consume, react, curate and create. Unfortunately we spend most of our time and efforts engaging them to consume and not enough engaging users to react, curate or create.

UCG or user generated content is considered a pretty dry term by Meg, she’d prefer to think of it as users expressing themselves about stuff they are passionate about.

People also tend to get social media and social networking confused. To often the media tends to provide social media tools in a separate environment to the content, rather than having that engagement interacting with the content.

Meg  encourages that we consider social media as an activity that should be rapped around the content. Moving forward Meg would like us to think not of content as king but context instead.

Another common misconception says Meg, is that social media should be social. Sometimes, it is quite anti-social. For example, a path exists through the forest because many people have walked it over time. This doesn’t mean these people have forged the path together, but more so that they have tracked down it one at a time. However, it is the fact that the path exists that is important because previous interactions with it define the best way to go for future travelers. Having said that – the herd isn’t always right and even if they are you need to figure out where they are going and if that is right for you? Or – if forging your own direction is right for you.

Meg also encourages online media junkies to play where people are already playing. She gives the example of the Guardian’s Message for Obama project which they set up on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/groups/messageforobama/pool/ In this example, the Guardian observed no confusion as to whose project it actually was. They monitored the online chatter and were pleased with the amount of good will this project generated with their readership. Meg advises, “Do what you do well and go else where for what you don’t”

Also, sites need to think about how to encourage participation and reward their passionate users. Being a host isn’t just about being a bouncer and sending your users to the naughty step, says Meg. What we want to do is find a way to engage our more proactive users.

Guardian user cycle = casual > connected > committed > catalyst

…on, developments at the guardian.co.uk, how to receive user feedback and designing for your mum.

Life at the Guardian

Meg jokingly calls her self an ‘insultant’ for the Guardian (internal consultant), but in all seriousness highlights the value of having someone responsible for focusing on the user agenda, constantly asking ‘why are we doing this?’ and ‘why would people want that?’. If you don’t know what your really asking of your users, then they most certainly won’t get it either.

Meg describes her job as understanding cultures and spotting patterns of which her background in anthropology is proving useful.

Innovation

The web has changed and now there is a much greater desire to be “of the web and not just on it.”

Some of the things Meg and the Guardian team have been thinking a lot is new ways for streams of information to talk to one another.

For example, how can we combine content and data to provide new and interesting information (data journalism). Or, how can a news article not only reference the past, but also have points to referencing the future. How do we turn one click into two? So that we are thinking of content discovery in terms of how did I get here and where would I like to go next.

Meg emphasizes that publication is no longer the end of the authors relationship with their content as it was in the newspaper print days, but only the beginning.

One solution The Guardian is working on to address challenges in terms of resourcing online curation, is by looking at how keywords can be harnessed to direct traffic around your site. Meg discusses the need to go beyond individual keywords as an effective solution. A typical example we use at work is Paris Hilton, because Paris is a person and a place, however, it could also be that you not only want to know about Paris the place, but also cookery there. To try and assist users to find the very specific content that addresses their needs the Guardian have begun working on a project that looks at constellations of keywords.

Later in the year they will be launching rich keyword pages. These keyword URLs will look something like this: www.guardian.co.uk/keywords/paris+cookery+class allowing users to string keywords together and get tailored results and then grab an RSS feed for it.

Meg’s objectives are to reach the power users, not just the lowest common denominator as these users are the ones who pull the others forward. A User Experience design shouldn’t be about designing so that your mum can use it, but so that it is engaging and relevant for the future. Such thinking breads innovative ideas from the team at the Guardian, as they focus on the needs of niche communities – not just churning stuff out for the masses.

… Looking at how we consume, not just where.

Typically the majority of property listing sites or travel sights requires users to enter a location to begin their search for information. What Meg has found is that many users don’t think about their holidays or where they would like to live in this way. Rather, they think of it in terms of a set of requirements and much greater flexibility in the location. “I’d like to go somewhere sunny, for under a $2000, near the beach or with a pool.” Another good example of a property site offering something different in the market is http://www.propertysnake.co.uk a site that lists properties which are dropping in price. This concept acknowledges peoples flexibility in looking for something they can afford.

A Note on Accessibility…

Don’t just think of it as an issue for audiences with impermanent – but as accessibility in terms of everyone everywhere. So we are designing for ability and devices as well.

Managing User Feedback

We all know people don’t like change… Meg says that this hasn’t only been true in her own experience, but among her colleagues as well. A friend at Flickr noted that their users get really angry when new features are added, accusing the development team of polluting the product and within 2 months it is a feature they can’t live with out it.

So how do we manage which feedback is useful?

Ignore all user feedback for the first 48 hours.

Over the following 2 weeks, write down the complaints and then ignore it. If after that ikf users are still complaining about the same issue go back to your notes and look at the issues raised.

Tips for in House User Experience Teams

Meg recommends user experience teams developing their own labs and proof of concepts. Don’t wait for the boss to take notice! She also acknowledges the need to illustrate your business analysis skills by having an internal blog.

Meg also told us all to look at http://www.pluck.com for affordable widgets to encourage user involvement on our sites.

iPlayer moto: “Making the unmissable, unmissable”

iPhone users are using their iphone 25x more than smart phone users to access the internet.

Looking at the history of the web, in 1994 the goal was for companies to have an online presence, in 2007 they were offering support to their linear media and in 2009 and beyond we will see much more made for web content that is rich, dynamic and on demand.

2007 -2008 showed the tipping point for many online activities including the iPhone (mobile interaction), social media went mainstream (Barak Obama on twitter) and video on demand grew. BBCs own, iPlayer went from launch to 300 million views in just one year.

The BBC aims to make its video content available not only on the PC or mobile device, but TV sets, PSPs and all conceivable devices into the future and they are looking towards 2012 to be the leader in UK Olympics on demand content.

In the pipeline

• BBC are looking to provide a global service. This year they will move towards providing more of their content in various international languages.
• ‘Democracy Live’ will be launched providing online demand of video from parliaments all over Europe with relevant information and data.
• Continue to embrace the communities.
• Make content shareable. Allow for ‘tear off strips’ of your site to be embedded in others sites.

Keep it simple. A really important thing about sharing is to keep it really simple. Facebook, Youtube and Delicious do this really well by making it as easy as a click of a button.

In summary, Nic bets that we will see IP on TV before we can even imagine. Just as video on demand online was not conceivable only 2 years ago. He says that the future of the BBC is online and that online services will appear on your mobile, TV and personal computer.

Pesce is always an interesting listen – he cases topics at hand in real world examples which are really engaging.

All the Friends I’ve Never Met details how a group of bloggers took down the US Attorney General and how Twitter informed him of the recent earthquake in China before it hit the wire. Great inspiring examples of social media as hyper-connected and powerful information sources.

Excellent use of 15 minutes of your day.

I’ve made some quick from reading and thinking about speech writing this afternoon. These notes are good for reading through before you get started and assessing first drafts against. This is a first rough.

You Should:

1. Reflect your personality, passion & perspective
2. Establish a purpose – what would you like the audience to take away from this?
3. Keep it fairly simple – try not to confuse the audience ( clear sentences & clear arguments)

Audience analysis

1. Who are they? What does each member have in common?
2. Why would they want to listen?
3. What do they have to benefit?
4. What level of detail is useful to them?

Opening:

1. Thought provoking
2. Ask a question, show a stat, tell an anecdote
3. Establish context / motive – why is it important
4. Tell your audience your what you are proposing & how it will be supported
5. Tell the audience what you will cover

Middle:

1. Make few points and do it well than bombard with many
2. Reiterate throughout – remind audience of the main point & refer to how the information supports your argument

End:

1. Recap
2. Summary
3. Leave food for thought… pose a question, tell an anecdote
4. Call to action / where to from here / recommendation

Theme:

Choosing a theme throughout helps audience remember main points and retain the central message

Evidence:

What backs up your thoughts?

Illustrations:

Stories to convey a message in a more interesting way

Terminology / language:

Don’t use new terminology or add variety in that way, this dilutes the message. Ie, say “review” throughout rather than – “reflection”, etc.

Tone:

Be careful of content that may offend

Ensure you don’t condescend your audience or talk over their heads

Know who your talking to (see audience above)

Video Links:

http://www.scottberkun.com/services/speakingsamples/

http://markpesce.com/

I love casting.