Popularity… or not!

Apparently, our Government here in Ireland are hugely unpopular. As of now, only 10% of Joe Public support them.

I’m not going to comment on this, apart from saying that any political party that wants to take on the current financial debacle has their work cut out for them.

Here’s something interesting –

Our Government has been watching the Obama presidential campaign, and have decided to employ the services of the organisation who run the Obama website. Yes, Blue State Digital have proved themselves with Obama (we won’t mention their work on Ken Livingstone’s failed mayoral bid in London) but how many Irish web orgs could prove themselves if given this opportunity.

Blue Digital are upfront about recognising the total necessity for citizen relationships and getting people involved. As in the business world, interaction with the people whose support you want is paramount. This is particularly important in the current scenario where our government haven’t been exactly transparent in communications with the public.

Go have a look at www.fiannafail.ie and see for yourself. The main element appears to be an online Q&A. You can submit your questions directly and Brian will answer them via video (how is going to have time is a whole other query). However, there are no discussion boards, no blogs, no “Brian mobile” texting, no link to other web 2.0 tools such as the FF you tube channel, Facebook Pages, etc.

Perhaps, I’m asking too much. These things cost money. Blue Digital don’t work for free. And there is this recession going on.

Update 1 Mar 2009 – Karin Lillington was at the launch of this website. She has a podcast where you can hear the presentation by the main man behind the site. Interesting to see that Karin doesn’t hold a huge amount of hope for the same success as Obama achieved.

Dilbert

Organisational culture is a slippery thing. It consists of unwritten rules and norms that employees have to absorb sub-consciously by osmosis. So how then do you teach it to students? You point them in the direction of Dilbert.

 

I’ve been a Dilbert fan for many years. Scott Adams seems to have the knack of putting his finger on exactly those little nuggets of wisdom, often politically / socially (and a whole host of otherwise) incorrect, that are not to be found in any textbook.

 

Take this one on Project Mgt. How many real-world projects does it represent? Is there a better way to get across the fact that project management is all about people management. It gets the point across very fast in a way that both informs and brings a smile.

 

Dilbert is required reading.