Message Over Medium Wins 08 Presidential Race

Fresh from a stint at the White House as the Internet and E-Communciations Director, David Almacy is now a VP of Digital Strategies at Waggener Edstrom.

Almacy presented to the Cincinnati Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America earlier this week. I asked him about the allure of social media in the 08 presidential campaigns and that same allure in public relations. His video response is below.

In a world of social media experts, Almacy’s pragmatic views are refreshing. He made several great points in his presentation, and shared stories from his White House tenure that show how fast media (old and new) is moving.

Almacy was getting stories on his Blackberry, pushed from the wire services, a little over two years ago. No news there except that these stories were about the very press conference he was in at that moment. Surreal.

And when numbers for the Bush administration’s annual Barney Cam event decreased at WhiteHouse.gov, Almacy realized that applying mainstream media metrics to online content didn’t make sense. Giving up control of the Barney Cam video and sharing it freely ensured more people saw the footage than ever – albeit tougher to track from one source.

For more of Almacy’s take on politics and social media, check out his CapitalGig blog and a recent interview on The Marketing Edge podcast.

tags | public relations | PRSA | social media | White House | David Almacy | Waggener Edstrom