I recorded this short interview at the international secretary of Amnesty in London. Great case showing the present and future of public mobilization. Thanks John Egenaes !

Interview recorded with Flip Mino.

You tube is organizing for the first time a massive live big event . A new milestone in the web tv . Want see more , click here.

With the gap between the United States Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama closing fast, both sides have resorted to tight digital campaigns in order to get one-up on the competition.

This has really emphasised to me how much stiff competition and the necessity to stay ahead of the game leads even the money-richest to such amazing creativity. Because at the end of the day, the more individualized a campaign and the more you can reach out to a wide audience, the more success you are likely to have.

Clinton’s website, www.hillaryclinton.com, is the gateway to Hillary Clinton communities across the web with links to her profiles on Myspace, Youtube, Facebook and many more Hillary-related sights.

Followers are also kept up to date with a campaign blog, newsroom and video diary so that they can see exactly what their candidate of choice is getting up to.
The website also contains a “Help Make History” section, where members of “Team Hillary” can make their own personal contribution to the campaign, assisting with fundraising, event planning and even by joining a massive online call-centre to drum up support for Clinton over the phone.

As far as Barack Obama is concerned, while his personal website is only slightly less sophisticated than Hillary Clinton’s his “Yes We Can” music video, compiled by Bob Dylan’s son, Jesse, and featuring celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson and Aisha Tyler, is very much likely to strike a cord with young Americans. And his emphasis on “I’m asking you to believe” empowerment speeches certainly evoke sentiments of Martin Luther King and all that that implies. The mobile section of Obama’s site , is one of the stars of this campaign. Check out his ringtones, currently some of the most popular in the US. The mobile phone battle field was Twitter where Mr. Barack is beating Hillary 9 to 1 in numbers of mobile followers. Will the election go the same way?

This reversion to ultra-creativity in times of need is particularly typical of developing countries, where economic instability means that businesses and associations must resort to creativity for an edge on their North American and European counterparts.

In fact, it has been noted that most successful social sector campaigns initially arise from ideas presented by the residents of developing countries who are used to working creatively as a means of survival within the field.

The pressure to survive in a savage environment is once again shown to be a driver of innovation in the US democratic elections. Go Hillary and Obama! Time’s running out!!

The Chinese Government’s recent bizarre decision to block Youtube is further evidence of the site’s massive influence, an influence that social organizations should be tapping in to.

The ruling, which was made in order to prevent the international broadcast of protests in Tibet, will affect 210 million users in China. Yes, you read it, 210.000.000 internet users!

Youtube , created just three years ago, is already the second most visited website in the world.. It has also been found to be the site of choice for criminal bands in Mexico. Some even use their accounts to broadcast footage of kidnapped victims, which is exactly what happened in the case of Luis Fierro from Atoyac. A user from a rival gang uploaded video footage of Mr. Fierro with the intention of exhorting his family and friends to pay for his rescue. (This case confirms the rule that Innovation often starts with the illegal use of a tool )

But criminals and communist goverments are not the only ones aware of Youtube’s impact. Independent and non-traditional NGOs have quickly realised the value of this tool and are reaping the benefits of being able to reach such a wide audience, quickly, easily and completely free of charge! One of the most outstanding social sector campaign videos, Juan Mann’s “Free Hugs”, has received almost 25 million views, a figure yet to be beaten by any other non-profit.

It appears that it is the larger NGOs that are still lagging behind, unable to see the value of such an instant, massive audience and user generated content. But with Youtube.com receiving an average of 20% of all global internet visits per month , what on earth are they waiting for?

More in how to implement succesfull web TV strategies in future posts ! Stay tune..