How scr%$ed are we?
Mar 21, 2009 A Good Laugh, Internet General, Politics, Short and Sweet
While Obama is pushing net neutrality and reversing Bush’s stem cell research restrictions in Canada the CRTC is spending months analyzing the New Media and net neutrality issues and it turns out our Science Minister might not believe in evolution.
Are we soon going to want to move South?
Also check out what Strombo says in this video, around 2:50.
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Tags: canada, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Network neutrality, Politics, Science and Technology, Stem cell
Twitter Press Conference on Gaza Violence
Dec 30, 2008 Digital Marketing & Metrics, Microblogging, PR, Politics, Random Thoughts
I have just been following the @IsraelConsulate on Twitter. This reflects a whole new use of Twitter. Amazing discussion! The “press conference” using the #hashtag #AskIsrael allowed Twitterers to ask questions directly to the Israeli Consulate. As could be expected of course there were more questions than Consulate could answer! They will be posting answers within in 24 hours at http://www.israelpolitik.org/.
This, along with the past discussion about the Canadian Coalition, and of course previous discussions about the US election show us that Twitter goes beyond “I am eating cereal” and “Guess what I just wrote on my blog…”. I have talked about how brands can use Twitter for marketing and customer service purposes, and now Twitter shows that it has a role as providing breaking news in a way that even the big networks can’t do. Now the public can ask questions, communicate with politicians, representatives of news-makers, and contribute by “breaking news” themselves. This is fascinating! How will this change how we watch the news? How we get our information? How we EXPECT to be able to manipulate and contribute to the news machine? It could be fascinating to watch if Twitter gets used more for breaking news and emergency notification. Already, many of the news networks are Tweeting…but how else will they be used for further engagement with their followers?
I can imagine that in the future press conferences and interviewers could use Twitter to “crowdsource” questions, news channels could use Twitter for follow-up after a story, or to continue discussions online. Opportunities for polls, testimonials, and personal stories could be pulled from Twitter for news stories. What other uses can you see?
Check out Twitter Search for a full list of tweets from #AskIsrael. Here however are a few tweets I pulled from the discussion!
As @shelisrael mentions the most difficult part of this kind of conference or discussion is filtering those who have honest questions versus those that simply want to make a biased point. Sadly, there were a lot of people who obviously joined Twitter just to harass and push their agenda…you can of course see some of them a mile away as most never even uploaded an avatar (image) and use the default Twitter image (two circles on brown background) – and they follow no one and have zero followers.
I hope that the situation in Gaza and Israel becomes peaceful and is resolved soon. The civilians, the good people in Gaza and in Israel should not have to live like this because of extremists, and terrorists (on both sides!) who destroy the chance for peace.
For More Info:
This blogger pulled together a list of questions from the conference.
And of course tomorrow check out IsraelPolitik for the full list of Q&A
A wonderful site of videos of people in Sderot and Gaza: Life in Spite of Everything
FYI while writing this blog, and while following Twitter Press conference I watched the news. Surprisingly no mention of #AskIsrael Twitter Conference. Why not? Especially since one of the CNN news announcer had his Twitter address on the screen!
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“Provinces in Peril”
Dec 11, 2008 Politics
Apparently Canadian politics are so interesting right now they deserve 9 minutes on the Jon Stewart show!
Sadly can’t embed the video – here is the link to the video on Comedy Central.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Tags: canada, coalition, comedy, daily show, jon stewart, Politics, video
A Primer for Canadian Politics in 2008
Dec 11, 2008 Politics
Oh! the drama in Canadian politics. Did the Canadian politicians feel left out when most Canadian’s were paying more attention to US politicians? So much so, they decided to throw a little conflict onto the Hill?
Well, Canadians are taking the bait and running with it. It seems you are either for or against the coalition. But, I have to wonder how many people actually understand what is going on. There are e-mails and websites popping up that are rampant with misinformation – bound to confuse many Canadians. I took Canadian Politics in University, and recall learning about the Parliamentary system throughout High School, but like the Quadratic Formula and my French verbs I filed them away in the archives. My understanding of Canadian Politics – like most Canadians has been flavoured by watching too much American television (West Wing anyone?) So, before I judged, and before I wrote this post I did a little “Googling” to bring me up to speed. (I am not a political blogger, so feel free to correct me where needed and I will update the post).
Parliamentary Democracy 101
The important thing to note: If the party chooses a new leader when they are in power – we get a new Prime Minister. No election is necessary!
Canadian Politics Today: So what is going on now?
Our current government is a minority which means the Prime Minister has to function in a cooperative spirit with the Opposition or they won’t be able to accomplish much. If the government tries to pass something with a “confidence motion” attached to it, and they lose that motion then it is said to have “lost the confidence of the house”.
September
On September 7, 2008 the Prime Minister asked the Governor General to call a federal election, saying that there was no spirit of co-operation in the house, although there hadn’t as of yet been a loss of a confidence vote, and despite the act he passed in May 2007 amending the Elections Act providing for fixed four-year elections with the election scheduled October 2009.
October
The Conservatives won a second minority in October with an increased number of MPS from 127 to 143 seats.
November
At the end of November following the resumption of Parliament, Harper put forth an economic strategy, which included removing federal election subsidies to all parties. Canada’s five major political parties receive $1.95 per vote they receive (as long as they receive 2% of popular vote), the funds are then used to pay expenses. This move to eliminate the subsidies would save $30 million a year but could cripple the opposition.
Initially you may think this would hurt the Conservatives the most because they garnered the most votes. However, the Conservatives have a strong fundraising base compared to the Opposition. According to a CBC article the subsidy represents only 37 per cent of the Conservative party’s revenue. By comparison, the subsidy amounts to 63 per cent of the Liberals’ funding, 86 per cent of the Bloc’s, 57 per cent of the NDP’s and 65 per cent of the Greens’.
The Prime Minister made this economic updates a confidence motion, essentially putting Parliament into quite a predicament! Vote yes, or force an election only a few weeks after Canadians had already gone to the polls (and the government spent lots of money doing so to effectively change nothing…minority government to minority government!)
But, surprise! The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois said they would not support the update because it contained no stimulus package to spur Canada’s slumping economy and protect Canadian workers during the crisis. Harper’s aggressive bully approach failed as the Opposition decided to form a coalition – a combination party consisting of the Liberal party and the NDP and supported by unofficial members – the Bloc and the Green Party. This coalition with the majority of seats in the house could thus become the leading party (with Dion, for now in the role of PM) and push the Conservatives to the role of Opposition.
Poor Mr. Harper, was called foul by the Opposition, and he wasn’t happy about it. He tried some name calling in an attempt to keep his job:
He said it is undemocratic.
Many conservatives have called this a “coup” or “overthrowing the government” and have implied or claimed outright that it is illegal.
Uh…no. It isn’t undemocratic. It is perfectly legal, has precedent in this country, in fact, the current Prime Minister himself suggested the exact same thing to the Governor General in 2004, when he was the opposition. Proof. Remember we vote for Members of Parliament – NOT THE PRIME MINISTER!
He says that it is a “betrayal of the best interests of our country” because it includes the Bloc, a Quebec only party.
The Bloc as mentioned above is not technically part of the coalition; they simply support the coalition, as does the Green Party. Not only that – but take a close look at the letter Mr. Harper wrote in 2004….notice the signatures…. It looks like in 2004 even Mr. Harper signed a deal with “the devil”!
Note: These claims are some of the same claims made on Right-wing websites enticing Canadians to write to their MPs. These same sites make grandiose claims such as: our dollar will go down, will cause a West vs. East divide, and interest rates will go up!
So with the coalition at hand, and no confidence in the house the PM had a choice –go to the GG and quit, suspend parliament, dissolve parliament or wait until there is a vote at which time it will likely fail and an election will have to be called again. In this case, Harper has requested to prorogue (a funny word that means suspend) parliament until January.
The GG has allowed the suspension of Parliament until late in January. Giving the Conservatives time to come up with a new economic package, consult with and try to gain support of more MPs – or risk a loss of confidence vote upon the return to the hill. In the meantime looks like the Liberals will have a new leader.
There you have it a little Canadian Politics 101 for today. Perhaps some of you have found this post because you wanted to learn more (as I did) about what is happening – and good for you.
What do you think about what is going on?
Update: Thanks to a Twitter post from @shireenJ, who can be found blogging at Shireen Jeejeebhoy for this note:
@michellekostya Good post! Better to post than not at all!! One add’l point: prorogue in face of non-con is unusual, never done before.
Absolutely – I think a lot of people were surprised the GG agreed to prorogue parliament when a non-confidence vote hadn’t happened yet.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Tags: canada, canadians, coalition, conservatives, government, liberals, parliament, Politics, stephen harper
Canadian Coalition Causes Buzz on Twitter
Dec 3, 2008 Blogs, Microblogging, New, Politics, social networks
Twitter was all a-buzz with words like; Harper, Dion, Coalition, Politics, Canada, leaders, GG, lies, power, separatists, misleading, and Frenglais – for about 2 hours while we watched and dissected Harper and Dion’s speeches. It was almost as exciting as Twitter the night of the US election. For a few hours the top #hashtags included #coalition. Yeah, Canada!
Here are some of the things people were saying.
Just before the speeches I asked:
Here is a few of the responses I got:
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Tags: canada, coalition, dion, Politics, stephen harper, twitter
Welcome, to the first day of the rest of your lives
Nov 6, 2008 Microblogging, Politics, Social Media, social networks
Welcome, to all of the new people who:
- Heard the words Twitter, and Tweets, and blogging on CNN, ABC, and NBC in conjunction with the latest US election and have just signed up for “microblogging” or subscribed to their first blog.
Sent their first “viral” video – whether it was the personalized news video reminding people to vote, or Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, or McCain and Obama dancing it up on YouTube,
Joined a Facebook group or became a Fan of their favourite candidate.
Built a profile for the first time on a social network- on My.BarackObama.com or McCainSpace.
You won’t be disappointed. There is a lot to learn, and a lot of fun to be had.
Social media
“Definition from Wikipedia: Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.[1][2] The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences.”
Social media is an incredible equalizer, an amazing connector, and a wonderful resource for information and support.
For Starters try some of my beginner guides -
And, remember there are some ground rules:
- Be yourself
Remember we are all humans on the other end of the profile
Engage (Comment and Click)
Share (Everything! Photos, Videos, Thoughts!)
Have fun!
Popularity: 8% [?]
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What Can Marketers Learn from the US Election
Nov 5, 2008 Advertising, Branding, Marketing & Communication, Politics, Social Media, social networks
The US had successes and failures, just like any business and marketing campaign. What can we, as marketers, learn from the US Election. Here is my list! (Can you add anything?)
- Talk about the customers not yourself
- Don’t bash the competition
- Set up ways to listen to your customers and monitor what they are saying – ACT on it!
- Be yourself, show the world your personality!
- Make sure you pick the right promotional partners (If you are a premium brand, don’t choose to run a contest at the dollar store)
- Don’t promise things you can’t deliver, under promise, OVER Deliver is the name of the game
- On that same note, if you have made a mistake (recall? product problems) – own up to it, don’t make excuses
- Build your marketing campaign from the bottom up! Let the people send the messages, and develop the strategy from here
- Be flexible, be willing to change your strategy. But stand true to your vision and your core values.
- Use technology that is available to you
- Go to the people, don’t rely on them coming to you! Find them in their social networks.
- Look beyond your current playing field.
- Empower your customers, allow them to tell you what products to make, what colours they should come in, what changes need to be made, and what products should be dropped.
- It takes 21 months to truly brand a product (!)
Can you add anything?
Related Post:
Will Elections Ever Be the Same
I Can’t Help Myself: Sarah Palin Pranked by Canadians
Obama’s Loss Traced to [Insert Name Here]
Sarah Palin – Genius Flow Chart
Hey, Canada Where are our YouTube videos of National Leaders
Popularity: 10% [?]
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Obama’s Loss Traced to [ insert name here] – Personalized Video at its Best
Oct 28, 2008 Politics, word of mouth
This is great! This is a nice way to remind your friends to vote.
Personalized video at its best. Certainly more meaningful, and more likely to meet its objectives then “Elf Yourself“!
Related Posts:
Will Elections Ever be the Same?
I Can’t Help Myself: Sarah Palin Pranked By Canadians
Sarah Palin – Genius Flow Chart
Hey, Canada Where are our YouTube videos of National Leaders
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Sarah Palin – Genius Flow Chart
Oct 14, 2008 A Good Laugh, Politics
Forgive me, this is very late in posting. I saw this after the Vice Presidential debate and it is so amusing it is worth sharing.
Why didn’t it get posted before? Well you may recall I was trying to find a replacement for Live Writer (given that it doesn’t work on my new MacBook) – and I finally have a solution. This is the first post using MarsEdit.
Daily Kos (a great site if you are following the US election!) posted this fantastic flow chart.
Oh and apparently you can get T-shirts with this on it!
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Tags: , daily kos, flow chart, macbook, marsedit, Politics, sarah palin, US, vp debate
Hey, Canada! Where are our You Tube videos of national leaders?
Oct 4, 2008 Politics
Just watched this video: Hey Sarah Palin
And, I got to thinking…hey, Canada where are our You Tube videos? Are we not in an election too? While I know most of us preferred the Palin-Biden debate over our own national debate, we must have some funny videos to share of our national leaders? Perhaps Dion flustering over his words, or Harper plaigerizing his speeches? Who wouldn’t love to see the “new strong” – Jack Layton taking a Spinning class (if he is going to get strong, might as well be trendy!?). Can’t we write a song about the sad state of health care or broken promises and sing it off key and get some viral video love?
Then again, maybe we are better off letting our goofy political neighbours to the south continue treating us to their gaffs and scandals that we enjoy so very much, and let our politicians (ahem) do their work… The US has given us enough political plunders, scandals, and hilarious flubs over the last few years to keep us in You Tube videos for quite some time. And, it appears that it may continue for four more years should (g-d forbid) McCain and Palin take the House.
Since this is a blog about marketing and social media (not politics) isn’t it neat how the US election is playing out on the Internet, on Twitter (Obama on Twtter ), Facebook (Group: One Million Strong for Barack Obama 760,000 members, and One Million Strong for McCain/Palin 114,00 members) and of course You Tube.
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