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Throughout the conference there was a lot of talk about how well Barack Obama used online channels and social media (most specifically Facebook) to get people energized and engaged. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) noted the tremendous success of "Facebook Causes" in particular during the election - growing by "hundreds of thousands of people a day."

"Were it not for the Internet, Obama would not have been elected President," - Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post

"Clearly a sea-change has washed upon the country. Just as in the 60's a new medium became the dominant medium in this election. Whereas TV was the new one-way broadcast medium when JFK used it so adeptly during his debate with Nixon, in 2008 the Internet brings interactivity, dialog, and conversation to the mix." -Gavin Newsom, Mayor, San Francisco (12,179 supporters on Facebook) Facebook page HERE.

For us marketers, understanding and harnessing web 2.0 and social media...and turning it into effective marketing, not just more marketing, will continue to be important. We should look no further than our recent presidential election for our case studies.

-jamie

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