Obama's Online Town Hall – Part 1

In reading today’s news, Obama is taking yet another leap of faith to use the internet for reaching millions at almost no cost to our tax payers, and it leaves me speechless. Check out whitehouse.gov for the details on Obama’s 1st Online Town Hall.

In the realm of online marketing, I can not think of any other activity that could be more effective in connecting with people on a mass scale, and giving us what we voted for.  The feeling of having a seat at the table at the white house.  I don’t agree with everything about Obama, but he’s really good at providing hope.  Something we could all use a little more of.

As I learned of what he was going to do today, a tear came to my eye. Why?  Because back in ’94 when I first spoke of the internet and mentioned ideas like this, people thought I was nuts.  No one could even imagine email (or the hell that email would cause us all! :).  So admitedly, I got a little nastalgic when I realized that after 15 years, the Internet I’ve always envisioned as possible is finally here thanks to a tenacious president with the audacity to try something new.

“Try” is a key word here.  In the intro video he recorded for the town hall, he calls it an experiment.  That’s because it’s never been done on this scale.  EVER!  If it works out well, I predict a whole new trend in marketers holding online town halls about their products and ideas. And why not?  You may not be able to address millions, but realistically you don’t have to.  You just have to use the idea of asking questions, letting people vote on what questions are important, and then answering in video response.

Cheers to you for trying Obama.  “A” for effort in my book!

In the realm of online marketing projects, you may think it’s complex to do this, but it’s actually quite easy if you focus on the concept and do it with an email form, a web cam and a blog.

Thoughts?  Did you know of this at all?  Did you vote on any questions?  Have you ever put up your own podcast or tried an online town hall to market your business?  Please chime in with comments below.