July 2005 Archive

One lesson from the 2004 campaign that seemed to resonate was the concept that text messaging - those little 160 character messages people get on their cell phones - was not a very effective mechanism for the campaigns. At ETCon in 2004, Trippi mentioned his frustration in using mobile communications during the campaign - and I can personally can discuss the frustrations with it on our own mobile site (mobile.johnkerry.com).

But interestingly enough, I do not believe this is a problem of technology - I believe it was a problem of being ahead of the curve. And from information I have been getting from other sources, the Republican Party is beginning to build TXTing into their process of managing their field organizers for the upcoming elections.

Read the rest of this entry »

At 6:30am EST, I woke up and performed my morning ritual - usual act of stretching and going through my morning email. This morning, I found an unusual email from a friend in London - Loren Gerlach - telling his list of friends that “I am all right”. That was the first news I got to learn of the bombing in London.

To explain how this affected me - I moved to London in July 2000 and took a Contiki tour around Europe for 19 days. While this is a rite of passage for many college students, it was particularly new to me - since I had just finished with graduate school. The Contiki office is located underneath the Royal National Hotel - right off of Russell Square.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well - the boom dropped - and now I find my worst fears becoming real…

One of the reasons why I took the leap from London to Washington, DC was because of this fact - the next President would have the responsibility of selecting one, two or even three judges on the Supreme Court. And, with Judge O’Connor being the most influential justice resigning - and Bush speaking about casting the next Supreme in the mold of Scalia and Thomas - I am concerned. (Look here for the potential candidates - Slate: Supreme Court Shortlist).

While I am a strong proponent of technology and community - I have always been a strong supporter of freedom and the rights of the individuals within society. And, to the fact that our country has been cast into the “left” and the “right”, it always frustrates me that there are a number of people who live within the “moderate” realm are much larger, much more nuanced. Who will speak on the rights of the majority? Or will the extremes determine the balance of our society?

Read the rest of this entry »