President-elect Barack Obama reportedly will appoint his Chief Technology Officer within the next few days. Business Week writes that the choice is down to two Indian-born technology experts: Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Cisco Systems, and Vivek Kundra, CTO of the Government of Washington, D.C.
Whoever is chosen will have the exciting and daunting challenge of overseeing our government's policies and practices regarding technology of all sorts. Imagine you've been selected to serve on the new CTO's team. What advice would you give him or her in your role as a PR specialist?
Venturebeat.com describes the different mandate for President George W. Bush's CTO -- to "defend against cyberattacks" -- versus that for Obama's CTO -- to "ensure government officials hold open meetings, broadcast live webcasts of those meetings, and use blogging software, wikis and open comments to communicate policies with Americans."
This new approach reflects the "We Are One" theme of today's inaugural concert. It reflects Obama's message that we are "not a nation of red states and blue states but of the
We saw the Obama team's reliance on new media to raise money for the campaign, to distribute its message and counteract rumors, and to rally voters on Election Day. Plans call for using new media to inform the public of the government's goals and plans and to solicit feedback. Technology can help fulfill the "boundary role" of public relations -- to convey information TO and FROM the public and the client.
Transparency, another hallmark of public relations, is at the heart of Obama's plans for government.
So the new CTO has been appointed and you've been asked for your opinion on how to use technology in the Obama administration. What would you recommend? Obama supposedly uses Twitter, but I seriously doubt "he" writes those entries. They sound more like something a PR person would write (no offense). The president would not have time to Tweet. Or if he did, I'd recommend against it. So why pretend he's really Tweeting? Doesn't that detract from the "truth" we're looking for?
I would use technology the way the administration plans on using it...to "ensure government officials hold open meetings, broadcast live webcasts of those meetings, and use blogging software, wikis and open comments to communicate policies with Americans."
ReplyDeleteI think that's the best way technology can be used in public relations. To deliver content directly to your audience.
It's exciting to have a young, tech savvy president. The use of social media in a presidential administration is sure fire way to get younger generations more interested in what's going on in the country.
I left an "a" out in the second sentence of the third paragraph, between "is" and "sure."
ReplyDeleteI think it is a wonderful idea to use new media, especially when trying to reach the younger demographic. Obama gives me the impression that he wants to know everyone's opinion so that he will be able to make the best decision. I feel that by using new media he can accomplish this. But I don't recommend our president using Twitter because just like Dr. D said, I also highly doubt it would be him posting entries and it would be a waste of time. And I would be concerned that if people got the impression that it was him and actually found out that it wasn’t, they would be extremely disappointed. Any media, where it doesn’t seem like he would have the time to do it I don’t recommend.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do think is important is for us to have the opportunity to see live broadcasts of the meetings and let us have an opportunity to give feedback. As a PR practitioner, I would suggest that they should continue to use media such as live broadcasts where we can see where some of the decisions are discussed. It is very important for Americans to be able to express there opinions and actually be heard.
I too think it is a wonderful idea to use new media, especially when attempting to reach a younger demographic. Obama has stressed the importance of this particular group of people in his ascension to the presidency, so it is vital that he uses new and innovative communication tools to reach us. All in all I would recommend that, as Obama stated in his inaugural speech, he keeps everything in the light of day. So by utilizing effective means of communication, he can help keep his citizens "in the know".
ReplyDeleteI would recommend that he continue using Twitter (whether he himself comments or not is irrelevant, what is important to me is that he knows and approves what is being said). I would also recommend that he uses other forms of social media/blogging, because these are the places where many people can be reached. (I know that I check my MySpace and other accounts as frequently as I check my e-mail.)
I would also recommend that he designate someone to periodically view and review comments. Although this would be a daunting task, if someone consistently checks these sites, it would prove beneficial.
Using live feeds/broadcasts of important meetings will also be effective. In conjunction with these live broadcasts, creating some way to receive instant feedback from constituents would also facilitate constructive dialogue.
The main recommendation that I can make directed towards his interest is using new technology is to use it wisely for the purpose of engaging his citizens in open, honest dialogue about their country and their futures.
If I were selected to be serve on the new CTO team, as a PR professional, I would definately advice the team to use all social media that is available as much as possible (blogs, live streaming of meetings, wikis, etc) in order to get the specified information out to the public as well as to get feedback from the public.
ReplyDeleteI love how the new approach to politics and government by using new social media reflects the ways of the future and the representation of younger and more in touch people.
I would also recommend for the Obama administration to continue doing what they did throughout their almost perfect presidential campaign....make weekly/biweekly TV/radio/youtube commercials showing the progress of things going on in the Obama Administration that he talked about while campaigning and trying to recruit votes. Those commercials (and 30 minute mini movie) kept the citizens informed directly from the sourse and clear consistent communication between government and the people is the best way to improve our diminishing gov't. My final last main advice would be to use all technological tools that are available in order to keep the public as informed as possible as well as get their opinions and feedback.
Nicole Jackson
ReplyDeleteThe use of new media by the Obama administration is a great idea. I believe that not only will this strategy get young people involved but it will get many people of all ages involved.
As a member of the CTO team I would advise the team to use social media and to devise a plan that would make the public aware of these features. It's great to use new tools but the publics for which they are intended need to know about them. Making the public aware of the issues at hand as well as educating them on how to use it would be my main priority.
Wherever there is a prominent public figure there will always be a team of people behind him/her working just as hard in order to fulfill the goals set by that public figure. Many U.S. presidents have been, and still are, looked very highly upon by the citizens of the United States. The main reason is that the president properly executed the strategies needed to protect and lead the country and the citizens who live in it.
ReplyDeleteSince we live in a modern day and age, we need a fresh up to date person to lead us. Clearly Bush was not it. The only thing that came out of his mouth that satisfied some, if not most, Americans was that our soldiers would find and destroy terrorist after the terrible attack upon America on 9/11.
Obama knew that he needed people who could get the attention of millions quick, fast, and in a hurry. Of course his resume speaks for itself, but not all Americans knew about him before he appeared on the scene (people from Chicago should definitely know him, most Americans 1st saw him on Oprah). He also just so happened to believe in values and principles and even reaching the goals of the people, which so happened to be Change for this generation.
Some advice for Obama’s new CTO: No mater what the situation is stay truthful. Don’t abuse your power by trying to overly control/protect any technology that is seen as being of imperative use by the people. Make sure that everyone has a fair and free chance to be taught how to use technology that is of pertinent use by Americans. All schools, no matter public or private, well funded or not, should have well qualified technical use professionals with a sufficient amount of well working computers and other technologies needed in order to teach students. Have some type of link which viewers can go to, when watching lawmakers during their meetings, that explains procedures and what certain words or rulings mean.
As far as Obama using Twitter, I can believe it. Him actually setting up the account and typing ANYTHING I don’t believe, but the comments posted on the account are probably really from Obama’s mouth. Most of the comments posted on his page sounds like it come straight from his speeches. It would be a jaw-dropping moment if we were to find out that Obama allows his soon to be 11-year-old daughter Malia to post his comments on Twitter for him.
I think having social media part of the presidency is wonderful addition to the use of resources and an obvious point at how technology is advancing so quickly.
ReplyDeleteIf I were on the communications team, I would advise the CTO and the president that social media will be a way to keep the younger generations informed and involved about what is going on. I think the Obama campaign team understood this, and it worked to their advantage for the election. Now, they would have to make sure that they keep them involved and informed. Let's face it, this generation has so much coming at them so quickly that they become bored easily.
Just as FDR used the radio, I believe the president should use YouTube and other social media sites to communicate with the people. Unlike FDR, this president will be able to communicate instantly with the people instead of a one-way message of what he's trying to do. I would even suggest perhaps creating a social media Web site for the White House (ex. www.peopleshouse.com).
Another idea I would throw out is for the president AND cabinet members to host a video where they answer questions from the people. Yes, we have press conferences for reporters to ask questions, but they don't always ask the right questions. This may upset the traditional media outlets, but how much news does the media report without the help of social media.
They could creat a White House blog written by a liberal and a conservative. The social media scene is a way for the U.S. government to be more involved with the people, which they are working for, but somehow it seems the other way around. He wants to be more transparent, and I think this is a very viable way to do so.
Well, I answer the second question about twitter first, then double back to the first quesation. This idea of truth, though it may be rooting in President Obama's true feelings about discosure, is of course filtered through a well run P.R. campaign. Of course you don't want to lie, but you always want to filter the truth to get the desired message out, whether you are the teacher to the student or the president to the public. I beleive that fro him to write his own tweets and
ReplyDeleteoperate from a truth only prospoective would not have gotten him this far.
On to the second question. If i was the P.R. person for the CTO, or on his team, I would advise him to use technology as a way to get governmnet information out the right people in the right publics, so as to avoid unplanned leaks in government information. I would also advise him to use technology to keep his public opinion ratings high. With the internet, there are new and more creative ways to reach differnet sectors of the public than ever before. An example of this would be how Hamas and The Israeli defense forces had seperate youtube channels during their war. These type of things will have to be used to get the public and the greater world behind US policy here and abroad in the future.
MANDLA DESKINS
If I were a member on the CTO's team, I would first expand the number of social networks that Barack Obama is a member of. Even though on www.barackobama.com there are a list of the 16 social networks he uses, there are hundreds more than can be utilized.
ReplyDeleteYou can't speak to everyone face-to-face so when it comes to getting Americans involved, Twitter and text messaging can be used to send out alerts about community events and ways to get involved in the community. MySpace and Facebook can be utilized to create events and get people to sign up and also gain more information. By using social media, citizens now have the opportunity to participate in political conversations.