Japi's Blog

Barack Obama Wins - thoughts on the campaign and election

Senator Barack Obama is now President-Elect Barack Obama... first in many ways!

1. First son of a Kenyan to be President of the United States
2. First President to be born in Hawaii
3. First African-American President
4. and I'm sure many others...

Most importantly is that he accomplished it using an absolutely brilliant strategy... starting with his prowess for fund-raising that was obviously out of the great book "The Long Tail" (a few bucks here and there from millions and millions of people).  Obama put together a near perfect campaign using some of the basic skills he learned as a community organizer (I doubt the Republicans are making fun of his volunteer work any longer).

Democrats had more money than Republicans?  I could not believe all the whining... Republicans have been the party with a financial HUGE edge for many, MANY years.  The shoe was on the other foot this time.

Between David Plouffe (Campaign Manager) and David Axelrod (Chief Strategist), the campaign was brilliantly run from start (about 22 months ago), through an unbelievably difficult primary season and an insane presidential battle.  The campaign strategy and results will most certainly be placed in every political science textbook from this point forward.

One of the many discussions on FoxNews yesterday which major mistakes each candidate made... the list for McCain included choosing Palin, his many slips of the tongue (my fellow prisoners, I couldn't agree with Obama more, bomb bomb Iran, 100 years in Iraq, fundamentals of the economy, etc...) and several others... they could only come up with one mistake by Obama in 22 months - when Obama talked about "clinging to guns and religion".  AMAZING!  How many people go 1 week without making a mistake?

And now for the speeches... John McCain's speech was wonderful and full of class... see for yourself:

President-Elect Obama's speech was one of his best... he asked for bi-partisan help, was gracious and (as expected) inspirational:

I expect Obama's administration to be run from the center (and not the left as many of my friends fear).  The one issue which I expect to be more left than center is universal health care... and I DO like Obama's proposal. I'm just not sure if the current financial crisis will allow this to be a priority early on.

I am extremely pleased that Obama won by such a large electoral vote margin... it gives him a mandate which should help him lead the country with broad support.

One final thought...

I really believe that John McCain's upbeat attitude the last week of the campaign, saying things like "we got them where we want them" and "we will surprise everyone when we win" made Obama supporters very nervous and I AM CERTAIN that it helped to get them to show up to vote... so I want to thank McCain for this... I'm not being facetious... I'm absolutely serious!

Michelle Obama at the Convention

The first day of the Democratic National Convention had a little of everything...

• DNC Chairman Howard Dean opening the convention to a very small crowd (I guess attendees were still flying in)
• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaking
• Caroline Kennedy introducing her uncle, Ted Kennedy
• Ted Kennedy's inspirational speech
• a touching video voiced-over by Michelle Obama's Mother
• Michelle Obama introduced by her brother
• and a great speech by Michelle Obama

She was eloquent and had a real strong presence on the stage.  At the end of her speech, her daughters came out - then a beautiful exchange between them and Barack (via Satellite from Kanasa City).... just wonderful!

I can't wait to see the rest of the convention!

Obama Volunteer Corps at Habitat for Humanity

Obama Volunteer Corps worked this weekend to assemble walls for a future Habitat for Humanity home building project.

Here's a video of the work we did.

Obama Volunteer Corps

Brad Pritchett of HopeActionChange.org has created a new group in Houston called Obama Volunteer Corps.  Its goal is to enhance the communities in and around Houston through work with Habitat for Humanity, The United Way and others.

Schipul sponsored and launched the Web site: http://www.obamavolunteercorps.org/

We have our first event this Saturday at the Habitat for Humanity Warehouse.  We will be building walls.... pretty cool!

Don't Push The River, It Flows By Itself

Ruby Sinreich was the facilitator for a session called "Don't Push the River, It Flows by Itself".  With an interesting name... the idea behind it is to allow social networks to flow and naturally evolve.

Use and organize networks by the power of the individual which can grow to a large wave of support for a particular cause or goal.

What makes a network effective:

1. Strong social ties -personal relationships, trust, awareness.
2. Common story - shared values, collective narrative, language and words that resonate (tagcouds).
3. Dense communication grid - online and offline: blogs, e-mail, IM, phone & SMS, face-to-face, twitter.
4. Sharing culture - Opensourcy: data, information, skills & expertise, money, space (meeting rooms).
5. Network awareness - feeling like a member, knowing what the network is for.

Some of the takeaways include:

1. A better understanding of the different social networking sites and how to use them
2. How social networking can impact the nonprofit world
3. Strategies on how to use this medium for outreach and advocacy

Ruby is a wonderful and confident speaker - she is very active in the social media universe which is obvious in the delivery of this content.

Changing Your CEO from Barrier to Partner

Marnie Webb, David Geilhufe, Michelle Murrain and Steve Heye were part of a great breakout session.  It was fantastic in that Marnie had the CEO's point of view and David had some excellent examples of situations where he presented to his CEO.

The audience was not huge which allowed for great interaction with real-situation questions and comments.

I filmed Marnie for a few minutes where she explained situations where she has eithe shot something down or chose to move forward with a particular project.  She also explained that there are some piece of information that she DOES NOT want to know... for example:

If you need to purchase a new firewall and you present Marnie with all the details of the research you've done and given your recommendation.  If you give her details such as the brand of firewall, she may delve deeper into why you chose that one and not the one that he buddy CEO purchased or the one she saw on the magazine in the plane, etc... there are some things that she prefers not to know... but if she's put in the situation that she has to decide on something, she will use her best judgement based on the information she has gathered.

Some of the other take-aways from this session include many concepts I've heard our CEO, Ed Schipul, mention many times:

1. Bad news must travel fast - if an approved project is going badly, inform the CEO immediately!  This helps them make a decision on where to go from here.
2. Research and SoundBytes - be sure to do the appropriate research and be able to present it in a quick manner so it makes sense to your CEO (ROI, bottom line, etc)
3. Think risks/security first - Be sure to verify the risk factors of this project and how it can affect the current and future situation of your organization.  Even if it's a very risky project, present an objective view of it... your CEO may be willing to move forward in spite of those risks.
4. Succinct Communication - CEO's typically have many different things going on so it's important to make sure you present/talk to your CEO in THEIR language and in the least amount of words necessary.

This panel was very informative - the team of individuals were well-informed and had wonderfully natural presentation skills.

David Pogue at 2008 NTC

David Pogue, New York Times columnist and CBS news correspondent, delivered the keynote speech this morning to officially begin the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference - He was both entertaining and educational.  He even played the piano and sang a couple of humorous songs at the end of his presentation.

David presented some interesting concepts about voice over ip (voip) and how the cellular carriers are trying not to offer this service.  Their primary reason for not offering this service is that the cellular firms will lose a lot of revenue from the "free voip minutes".  I was able to capture most of the speech on video and tonight I will upload it to my YouTube Channel.  I was able upload the short video of David playing the piano and singing, watch it below.

NTC 2008 1st Day

Wednesday at the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans was primarily about networking, meeting new folks, running into old friends, learning about the new technology offered by the organizations marketing themselves at the NTC Science Fair. 

However, one of the events I most enjoyed happened to me by accident.

During the member appreciation luncheon, I ran into several people I've met the last couple of NTC's... including: Corey Pudhorodsky, James Jones, Beth Kanter, Katrin Verclas and Britt Bravo.  When I was talking to Britt, she mentioned that they were having a Netsquared Meetup at a local bar that night.

Just the day before, I had discussed Netsquare with Jessica Rohloff of the Louisiana Technology Council and she expressed interest in setting up a chapter here in New Orleans. 

So I asked Jessica to come out and here's the magic moment captured for eternity <grin>  Britt Bravo and Jessica Rohloff talking about what Netsquared is and the details she needs to set it up in New Orleans - pretty exciting stuff!

Let's hope it DOES lead to the formation of a New Orleans Netsquared group!

Lionly Love - just amazing

My daughter, Melissa, sent me this and I thought it was just too beautiful not to include it in my blog... as I make another detour from my political posts. 

This lady in Colombia rescued a malnourished lion and when she comes back to visit, the lion shows it's gratitude.  It's truly amazing!

Larry David - On The Red Phone

Larry David, one of the creators of the sitcom Seinfeld, wrote in The Huffington Post last week about his choice for presidential candidate and it's pretty hilarious! 

There's a audio version of it and I've pasted the transcript below.  I hope you enjoy it.

'Here's an idea for an Obama ad: a montage of Clinton's Sybillish personalities that have surfaced during the campaign with a solemn voiceover at the end saying, "Does anyone want this nut answering the phone?"

How is it that she became the one who's perceived as more equipped to answer that 3 a.m. call than the unflappable Obama? He, with the ice in his veins, who doesn't panic when he's losing or get too giddy when he's winning, who's as comfortable in his own skin as she's uncomfortable in hers. There have been times in this campaign when she seemed so unhinged that I worried she'd actually kill herself if she lost. Every day, she reminds me more and more of Adele H., who also had an obsession that drove her insane.

A few weeks ago, I started to feel sorry for her. Oh Christ, let her win already...Who cares...It's not worth it. There's not that much difference between them. She can have it. Anything to avoid watching her descend into madness. So I switched. I started rooting for her. It wasn't that hard. Compromise comes easy to me. I was on board.

And then I saw the ad.

I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call...and I was afraid...very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don't care if it's 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. or any other time. I don't want her talking to Putin, I don't want her talking to Kim Jong Il, I don't want her talking to my nephew. She needs a long rest. She needs to put on a sarong and some sun block and get away from things for a while, a nice beach somewhere -- somewhere far away, where there are...no phones.'

I haven't watched much of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" but his work as a writer, and sometimes actor, on Seinfed was great. I'm glad he's chosen Obama. What he says about him being calm in tough times is so true and I believe that's exactly what we need and want in a leader.