Day 7: Politics and the Internet
It seems silly that I’m writing about Chipotle when there are, without question, more interesting things going on around me.
I attended a blog launch at the National Press Club yesterday (cool enough on its own!) and while the rest of the country is talking about Paulson’s proposed bailout plan (is there ANYONE out there that supports it?), I’m living it. The plan is, of course, subject of much discussion in the area and getting to the NPC yesterday was nightmarish due to the heightened security in the area. Annoying for the drivers, fantastically fascinating for me! It’s all being decided RIGHT HERE!
Speaking of politics and the internet: Twitter has created a feed for people to post their election feedback.
“We’re filtering hundreds of Twitter updates per minute to create a new source for gathering public opinion about the presidential election and a new way for you to share your thoughts.”
So many people are posting that it’s just a continuous scrolling page. It’s pretty cool to see everyone’s opinions. I don’t know how skewed it is based on the participants (Are people who are into Twitter more likely to vote for one candidate over the other?) , but I do see a consensus of opinions. Check it out here: http://election.twitter.com/.
Speaking of politics on the internet: Yesterday’s facebook blog post described the company’s new initiative to help register young voters. Those who are eligible to vote can now register to vote at facebook.com/Vote08. Using facebook for good ROCKS!
Day 5
Today is day five of my new life in here in The District.
A few notes on my experience so far:
- Cabs are super expensive here. In Boston, cab fares are determined by the distance traveled (as well as the time spent in the cab), regardless of how many people are in the car. In DC, the meter starts pretty high anyway ($4.00 compared to Boston’s $2.00-ish?), but there’s also a surcharge per additional rider. We took cabs into Georgetown Saturday night and it was $8 just to get in!
- First day on the job I’m told that I’ll be learning how to use WordPress, Drupal, Convio (and Get Active), and Kintera content management systems as well as Google Adwords and Facebook Business Solutions. For a web technology freak like me, there’s nothing better!
- Last night, I had my first “city food shopping” experience. We didn’t bring a cart and so I literally could only buy what I could carry back. Andrea was pretty surprised that the Diet Coke cans made the cut, but hey, they’re a necessity!
My-Work-Space?
An article in today’s Boston Globe, Social-network sites give businesses ideas for new collaboration, highlights the soon-to-be movement of using social networking sites, blogs and other connection tools within a corporate setting.
“The new technologies will help companies empower workers, pool expertise across departments and geographies, and attract young workers who grew up with blogs and social networks. But critics of social networking in business applications cited the dangers of relaxing control of in-house communities… However, companies cited competitive advantages they’d gained from new collaborative technologies.”
In my previous position, I created a screen name for my boss so that we could talk through instant messages rather than those annoying 1 line emails. And I’ve always said that there’s something missing from the workplace in terms of a tool for getting to know your employees. As a new employee at a big (or even small) company, all those new names are hard to memorize, especially for someone who a visual learner. (If I see a picture with a name below it, I’ll remember that person’s name forever. If I meet someone and their name is said out loud, I’ve gotten worse and worse at being able to recall what I was told.) I tried to organize an employee cookbook in the past. The premise was that everyone contributes a recipe, which is then included in the book along with a picture and some basic information. The cookbook is then given to new employees when they begin.
A social networking site like MySpace or Facebook for businesses would allow employees to get to know each other – better and faster.
