The Gov2.0 Summit is going on right now in the Washington DC metropolitan area. We here at the Bivings Group were lucky enough to be able to attend the event and learn about the way new technology is impacting the future of Government.


Do you want in on the action?

Follow the SLURP140 we created just for the event at - http://www.slurp140.com/gov20summit/  On this page you'll be able to see the most active twitter users and learn along with the rest of the attendees about the effects that innovations and next generation technology will have on democracy. We're tracking hashtags such as  #g2s to bring you the most complete picture of the conferences and the topics covered during its panels.



Another way to stay on top of the conference proceedings is to watch the livestream of the summit at -http://www.gov2summit.com/gov2010/public/content/livestream (warning: you may have to create an account on the gov2summit website in order to watch the video).   The site is streaming live presentations as well as taped panel discussions from the previous days.  Once the conference is over, you can still access the entire video archive on the website at www.gov2summit.com .



The following is a list of the day's topics after the jump:




Live Stream Schedule for the rest of the conference is as follow (all times are EST)

• 1:05pm - 1:25pm  A Conversation with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen

• 1:25pm - 1:30pm  Why We Need Open Source Electronic Voting Systems

• 1:30pm – 1:50pm Making States Work Better

• 1:50pm – 2:00pm The Civic Commons: Code Sharing Between Cities

• 2:00pm – 2:15pm Creating Passionate Citizens

• 2:15pm – 2:20pm The Need for Enterprise 2.0 in the Military

• 2:20pm – 2:25pm The Learning Registry – How to Find and Use More Resources for Learning

• 2:25pm – 2:30pm Brightscope: Data Fuels the Innovation Economy

• 2:30pm – 2:40pm Gov 2.0, Federal Use of Social Media and the Law

• 2:40pm – 2:45pm One Step, Many Feet: How Technology is Changing the Relationship Between Citizen and Government

• 2:50pm – 3:00pm Empowerment and Innovation – A New Generation of Government

Guardian Blogs Editor Kevin Anderson dropped by our office a few weeks before the election to interview me about the role played by the Internet in the 2008 Presidential campaign for the Guardian’s Tech Weekly podcast . You can listen to the podcast here.  Andy Carvin from NPR and Garrett Graff from Washingtonian Magazine also share their thoughts.

During my bit I compared the social networking strategies of the Obama and McCain campaigns, with a focus on the internal social networks both sides built (My.BarackObama.com and McCainSpace).  My basic point is one I’ve made before on this blog:

The secret of the success of Barack Obama’s social network is that at its heart it is really a social action center.  When you login to My.BarackObama, you are pushed to make phone calls to undecided voters, knock on doors and raise money for the campaign, not to produce content.  Sure, that functionality exists on the Barack Obama website but it isn’t the main point.  The main point of My.BarackObama is to help Obama get elected.  The same cannot be said for the much more nebulous McCainSpace.

It was great talking to Kevin and I’d encourage you to give the podcast a listen.

If you've got a computer, you know what YouTube is.  In fact, most people, including myself, have uploaded videos to YouTube at one point or another until our accounts have inevitably been suspended.  It's the circle of life on the Internet, and I am very pleased with it.  Without YouTube after all, I would be unable to watch my guilty pleasure, America's Next Top Model.

What's the bad news about YouTube?  Well, the videos that are uploaded are typically of lesser quality.  In fact, the most common complaint that you will see on the video comment sections is about the quality.  In reply, most users will explain that "something" happened to their video during the upload process.  There is a hack to be able to view high quality version of videos, but soon, that hack will hopefully be rendered useless.

YouTube has finally announced all users have the option of watching some videos in higher quality. A blog post on their site claims they're slowly integrating this new feature, and videos uploaded in the proper format will be the first to be available in high quality. The rest of the library will soon follow, with any luck.

Simply go into your user account and select the option: "always show me higher quality when available." High speed Internet is going to work best, because otherwise the videos may suffer from lag time.  Nobody likes lag time.

I have been waiting for this feature for a long time.  Finally, my prayers have been answered, and I will soon be able to watch YouTubeHD.  There are enough capital letters in that word to make anyone excited.

Combining aspects of things that people already enjoy is one of the best ways to make an impression on a market without having to be completely original or creative.  For the past couple of months, there has been a surge of such activity in the form of ‘angry' video game reviews.  These reviews combine aspects of life that many males (and some females) enjoy, including ranting, nostalgia, cheap Photo shopping, and dirty humor.  Taken together, these form a "review" of a classic video game.  The reviews have the taste level of an episode of Family Guy, but also have the marketability, as well.

The trend started with the Angry Video Game Nerd, a reviewer whose language would make your grandfather blush, but whose insights and rants are laughably hilarious.  After gaining some popularity in the Youtube community, the reviewer was offered to host his videos on the popular Screw Attack website, furthering his visibility and credo.  Soon, t-shirts and advertisements followed, and the Angry Video Game Nerd's part-time job became a full-time career.

With that sort of viral marketing success, copycats were destined to follow.  Two of these homagers have risen above the ranks to full blown success in their own rights.  The Irate Gamer, for example, knew that he wanted to achieve fame.  Lacking a college education, but possessing fine editing and writing skills, he gained popularity even quicker than the Angry Video Game Nerd and soon released DVDs of his videos, as well as other merchandising.  Like his successor, he became attached to a popular video game website (the fledging, but growing, Gott Game) and the advertising and salary started to roll in.

Another success story is Noah Antwiler, or "Spoony" as he is better known to his website readers.  Writing both movie and video game reviews, this snarky bard does so for the sake of his own amusement as well as furthering his writing credentials and popularity started in his column in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine.  Had I heard of this magazine beforehand? No, but thanks to Antwiler and video game rants, I am now very aware.  I can only imagine how many other products and publications have been brought into the light thanks to angry video game reviews.

In this sort of viral genre, there are far more mediocre mimics of the original formula than success stories, but that does not stop more users on Youtube from pitching their coal into the fire of reviewing.   Type "NES game review" in the search engine, and you will be surprised at what you will find.  A year ago, this search would have only garnered a few hits, but now, the number is gigantic.

Advertisers are finding more and more of these popular video bloggers to whom to attach their wares.  Reminiscent of the classic "American Dream," these bloggers and reviewers are nothing more than creative and witty video editors, but they have amassed Internet popularity, and in some cases, money. 

I wonder if anyone has reviewed Bucky O'Hare yet…I hated that game.  To Youtube!

Democrat John Edwards has gotten a lot of attention in the blogosphere for announcing his candidacy for President on YouTube. A little more quietly, another candidate, Democrat Tom Vilsack, has launched a video blog over on blip.tv (via WP Post IT blog).

Here’s one of his recent posts where he talks about “the power of the Internet to enable conversation between voters and candidates.”

Click To Play

Sounds like he’s been reading Doc Searls, Scoble, etc, huh?

During the 2006 cycle, lots of campaigns had staffers blogging but very few candidates wrote blog entries themselves. I think it is difficult for candidates to find the time to blog. And even if they do find the time, rarely can a candidate pull off the right tone. Blogging well requires a serious time investment. It’s just not a good fit for candidates. Better to have a staffer or consultant do it.

Video blogging, on the other hand, plays to candidate’s strengths. They meet and connect with voters every day. Video blogging is a natural extension of that skill. Bill Clinton would have made a great video blogger.

I’d look for just about every 2008 Presidential hopeful to do some form of video blogging.

For the tens of people that are interested, we put together a podcast about the findings of our recent campaign study. In the podcast, Ajit Verghese interviews myself and Erin Teeling (who actually wrote the thing) about how 2006 Senate campaigns are using the Internet. We talk about which sites are good/bad, how candidates are using blogs and podcasts and what we expect to see from political campaigns in the future, among other things. Give it a listen if you’re interested or just a glutton for punishment.