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: Political Tech
Will Social Networks Impact the 2008 Election? I think NOT.
Social networks (in version 1.0) have been about exposing data and allowing for a simple search query to allow you to discover other like people in your interest sphere. Web 2.0 suggests that social networks are about a fundamentally different, albeit enabled premise – being social – not simply by having a profile presence, but seeing what is happening in your network and becoming part of the life within that network. Living the pulse of the network and either being part of it – or wanting to be part of it. Do candidates offer a glimpse of that life within the network that is something supporters want to be part of? Does the campaign truly offer a chance to engage in simple, human contact? Continue reading
Keeping Personal Democracy personal
The challenge is to maintain a close relational contact with your supporters while keeping in mind that there is only 24 hours in a day, and you can only occupy one physical space at one time. Technology is meant to help enhance the ability of a person to communicate with a group of people, and allowing for some personalization of the communication to the supporters in the best way possible. Note, I did not suggest “converse” with all of the supporters, since people are limited with one mouth and two ears (or you could include two hands). But, by using technology to enhance the chance of communicating (e.g. John Edwards on twitter, every candidate on email and/or blogs, Chris Dodd and Tom Vilsack on video sites), the candidate (and/or his staff/surrogates) tries to keep the connection with the supporters to ensure the energy continues to flow. Continue reading
Posted in eCampaigning, Personal Democracy Forum, Political Tech, Political Thoughts
Tagged Aldon Hynes, Greater Democracy, PDF2007, Personal Democracy
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Announcing PoliticalWarez.com
The goal of PoliticalWarez is to discuss the technology and impact on campaigns – including some of the consultants who offer servicess – to help the consumers of these services get a leg up on understanding what options are out there. After three years of political campaigns and dealing with the technical infrastructure and the business processes that need to be addressed, I hope to convey basic English to a maze of technical jargon and help to overcome the complexity in making the important buying decisions for campaigns. Continue reading
Posted in Political Tech
Tagged campaign technology, political tech, political technology, politicalwarez
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Net Neutrality – John Stewart style
Just could not keep this one from being discussed – when working on the last campaign, I had to get details on what “net neutrality” was. I had discussed it with Congressman Anthony Weiner and needed to help my candidate understand it. Where was John Stewart then? Continue reading
Personal Democracy Forum ’06
This past Monday, while in the midst of a campaign, I had a prior commitment to a friend to help the Personal Democracy Forum to do their podcasting and speak on the panel, “Free, Easy and/or Cheap Tools That Anyone Can Use”. After a terrific conference with various speakers which included NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Markos from Daily Kos, Jerome Armstrong (formerly of myDD), Congressman Anthony Weiner, Joe Trippi and a host of other luminaries in the political and technology world – it was said that this conference was a resounding success. Continue reading
Posted in Personal Democracy Forum, Political Tech
Tagged Personal Democracy Forum
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