About Political Gastronomica
Political Gastronomica is a discourse on technology and online activism - how the marketplace of governing and ideas is improving with the efficiencies of the Internet.
Author Sanford Dickert, former CTO of John Kerry for President Campaign, works with political campaigns, non-profits and private companies from the Fortune 500 to startups.
Dickert leverages online community engagement techniques and technical vision for brand and message management through effective application of social media and organizational processes.
Category Archives: Personal Thoughts
Save NPR funding!
So, keeping with the mission of the CPB and the overall effort to keep a free-and-fair programming, the “deficit hawks” are going after essentially $32M in that grant. The good that NPR and the CPB does for our country – especially across the rural parts of our country – is incredibly valuable. When are the Congressional “deficit hawks” going to go after the real portion of the pie that is gauging us? Continue reading
Speed of a Meme: Is all there is but twitter and Facebook?
But as long as the networks exist – and they may be for a little while longer – these issues will continue to grow. The utility of twitter with its API and ubiquity on all mobile phone platforms (both smart phones and normal) and the thrall of Facebook to our information-hungry communities combined with the social network graph and the APIs that allow for even further fine-tuning of our interests when we need them – this is a challenge that governments both here and abroad are going to need to address. Continue reading
Posted in Personal Thoughts
Tagged #Egypt, #realtimepub, #SWM11, @acarvin, @anncurry, @brianstelter, @davidclinchnews, Facebook, speed of memes, twitter
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Creating the incentives to accomplish long-term government goals
ith the advent of social games generating revenue and attention during the off-hours of our lives and encroaching on our working hours (tell me you have not been itching to play your Mafia Wars or Farmville on your iPhone today), can we take lessons from the techniques of these entertainments to create new incentives to bring about the change we seek? Continue reading
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Political Thoughts
Tagged incentives, linkedin, long-term governance, Supernova, Supernova 2010
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Scandalous! Obama’s speech to children is about the R word!
we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. Continue reading
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Political Thoughts
Tagged Education Speech, President Obama, Right Wing Hate
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Remembering Teddy Kennedy
I have been watching the coverage of the passing of “The Lion” and thought of the two times I met the man. Back in 2003, where I had joined the Kerry Campaign, we were in the DC office working away … Continue reading
Another thought on Obama and the vision of Hope
What has me thinking is – where is the direct impacting investments? Why did the Cash for Clunkers not actually be directed for better gas-mileage, lower polluting cars versus just any car? Why has the TARP investment now not focused … Continue reading
Can we get over the MSM’s preoccupation with attacking Craigslist?
Can the MSM get over the anger it has for Craigslist and focus on building its own business model? I know that Criagslist is encroaching on the tried and true model (Newspapers Brace for Ad Battle as Craigslist Grows, NPR) Focusing on what is essentially a very simple, community-managed web site that has grown from a simple email list to a trusted, community managed source of content is nothing to be attacking. The newspapers ALWAYS had a chance to be here – and could still be here as other magazines and newspapers are doing (like The Village Voice BackPage and the New York Times). Continue reading
Posted in Personal Thoughts
Tagged ABC News NIGHTLINE, Craig Newmark, Craigslist, Mainstream media
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Congrats on Obama’s CTO choice!
Reading the articles these past 12 hours and wanted to say, I have to agree with many of the people’s opinions extolling the selection of Aneesh Chopra as the new CTO of the Obama Administration including Tim O’Reilly and Alan … Continue reading
Mayor Bloomberg announces NYC friendly to Financial (and tech) Startups
This morning, I got down to New Work City (a coworking space I am a co-founder of) and met with the Mayor of New Work City, Tony Bacigalupo and headed to 160 Varick Street – home of a new incubator … Continue reading
Posted in Personal Thoughts
Tagged CoWorking, linkedin, New Work City, new york city
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World: We Apologize for the Inconvenience
From a mutual Democratic friend, David Rose: F R O M T H E D E S K O F T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S Dear World: The United States … Continue reading