Top Five: Uses of Social Media in the Election

The 2008 election will forever be recognized as the election that restored the people’s belief in democracy and propelled millions to volunteer for a campaign. The overwhelming movement of civic engagement in national politics can be credited to the use of social media as central elements of the campaign strategies. Some of our favorites are listed below ...

#1 YouTube Viral Campaigns:

Wil.i.am "Yes We Can"



"WARNING: Don't Vote"
www.declareyourself.com

#2 Internet Increases Views of Traditional Cable TV Shows:

SNL's Weekend Update: Palin Rap

#3 Use of Mobile Technology:
Text Messages from Barack, especially the 3am text announcing Biden as his running mate and Obama Campaign iPhone application kept the campaign in constant contact with its fans.

#4 Use of YouTube in the Democratic Primary Debates
YouTube allowed people from all over the nation to submit their own questions for the candidates and get directly engaged with the debates.

#5 Social Networking is the New Grassroots
Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter enable candidates to keep in touch with their followers on a casual and frequent basis, use those channels to spread news and effectively and easily organize individuals for volunteer campaign efforts.

Financial Education & Bruce in the News

Bruce Nofsinger, Leader of Topics’s Financial Education practice area, has had quite a busy few weeks. He flew to Boston for a convergence of like-minded, financial education stakeholders and projected his voice and image across the airwaves in the Charlotte region in an effort to move forward the discussion and emphasis around the importance of personal financial literacy. I guess that’s not too surprising considering the context of the times. Some of the highlights include …

At the end of October Bruce traveled to Boston to facilitate the first annual New England Youth Financial Education Conference, which brought together financial education stakeholders from each New England state.

On November 2nd, Bruce was interviewed on the locally produced, primetime cable show, Charlotte Now with Mike Collins. He talked about the need for our nation to treat financial education with the same emphasis as driver’s education and personal health. Watch the interview or listen to the podcast.

On November 4th, Bruce recorded a commentary on financial education for the NPR affiliate, WFAE. Read the text and listen to the podcast.

Teachable Moment: Once Upon A School

The TED Prize is given annually to three exceptional individuals who receive $100,000 and the granting of "one wish to change the world." Dave Eggers, author and founder of the tutoring center 826 Valencia in San Francisco and winner of TED Prize 2008, unveiled his wish to have every individual "directly engage with a public school" and tell their story to encourage "innovative public-private partnerships." As part of the granting of his TED Prize wish, he has created OnceUponASchool.org as a place for people to come together and share their ideas and stories about how to get involved with youth in public schools.

Why We Like It: Eggers’s wish helps to improve education for youth and calls on adults to share their wealth of experience and knowledge in settings that give students support and attention. The social media platform of OnceUponASchool.org allows his wish to reach more people and travel faster. It is a grassroots attempt that can create a movement of civic service in America’s education system and change the lives of our nation’s youth. Visit the site to donate your time and share ideas. Watch his moving four-minute TED Prize speech below.

A Groundswell for The Green Collar Economy

Here at Topics we were pretty amazed to see The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones debut at #12 on the New York Times Bestseller list for the week of October 20th. Our surprise was not only because Jones is a first time author, but because it landed on the most coveted list with a nearly non-existent marketing budget. That’s some serious magic, and we wanted to be in the know. So, we researched the components of the book’s publication launch to learn how they used social media, word of mouth marketing, and viral campaigns to achieve such high sales during the book’s first week out. It is a true testament to the power of grassroots social media marketing. A network of environmentally minded people was tapped, and word spread about his book through millions of forwarded emails, buzzing in the blogoshere, and activists in social media networks. Yet it wasn’t until we understood the content of the book that we truly understood what lay at the root of this groundswell.

In The Green Collar Economy, Jones calls for a surge of green industry to create new jobs and save our economy and as no small consolation, we’d in turn rescue our environment and cut our dependence on foreign oil. It’s a common-sense win-win for all. With the way this book has proven high demand without a traditional book publishing marketing campaign, we like to think it signifies that people are eager to explore this new industry in America for reasons as much about the environment and society as economics. It’s a timely issue as White House administrations transition and a new power lays out a plan to rescue our economy. We think it’s important and are happy to join the grassroots movement and do our part to keep this book on the bestseller list.

The Best Political Team Period

What an amazing accomplishment ...


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Voices from The Financial Crisis #7

Profile: Female, 20 years old
Profession: Student

I’m studying abroad in France and I have no money. Wine is cheaper than water, and my last dinner was an avocado and some rice. My best friend brought me some peanut butter from the States when she visited and it made my week. The euro is killing the dollar, and I think the only people who dislike Bush more than me are the French. I ate a tomato for breakfast, and I’m currently washing my clothes in the sink because I’m trying to save money for a trip to Italy and I can’t afford tokens for the Laundromat. I may be smelly and hungry, but I’m young, I’m studying in a different country and I’ve accidentally and unwillingly come across the best weight-loss plan yet.