Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

It's no secret that Barack Obama has been expediting the transition of power from the Bush regime administration for some time now. Whether mundane--the national shelter search for the perfect Labradoodle comes to mind--or as serious as Gaza, Obama is making his will felt in much the same way that he did throughout the campaign. That is, he is delivering carefully crafted public statements, then reinforcing them with specific actionable items via the great-big e-mail list of record.

To wit, some days ago Barack and Michelle Obama called on Americans to make Martin Luther King Day a day of national service. Today, the e-mail blast went out to supporters with with Google-mapped service locations, a sortable index of projects big and small, and of course a call to action that is hard to ignore. Needless to say, in my Obama-friendly corner of the world, numerous options for pitching in popped up rather quickly. In other parts of the country, sometimes the sledding has been a little tougher. But inspiring stories are starting to hit the media radar, as Americans of all stripes start to buy into the whole "we're in this together" Obama thematic. Here's one from the heart of Bush country, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News.

Bryan French and some other regulars at the Sunshine Club, an Arlington bar, decided to answer the call of President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, to perform public service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

But when they went to a national Web site listing Martin Luther King Jr. Day service opportunities, they found none in Arlington.

So they thought up their own. They decided they would help a needy family with food, clothes, house repairs - whatever was most pressing. French listed their event on the Web site (usaservice.org), asking for volunteers.

"We figured we'd have the five of us, and maybe a couple of more," he said.

But as of late this week, more than 70 people had signed up. Mission Arlington, a local charity, has agreed to identify at least one and possibly two families for the swelling group to help Monday.

And this, from the former battleground state of Ohio, courtesy of BlogCleveland.

For years, Maureen McEnery made time to attend a celebratory concert on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, and she thought that was a fitting enough way to spend the day.

But that was before she viewed a "Change is Coming" video issued in late November by Barack Obama's transition team and found herself wiping away tears. The video urged Obama supporters to stay organized and find something to do to have an impact on their community on Jan. 19, the King holiday.

"It was just an amazing call to action," said McEnery, 52, of Shaker Heights.

When she and fellow ex-volunteers from Obama's Shaker Square campaign office met to discuss the idea, someone suggested collecting food donations, and another came up with a title, "Food for Change."

"Nothing I've ever worked on with groups has come together so easily," McEnery said of the food drive for Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland, set for 1 to 4 p.m. Monday at Shaker Square.

The next few months promise to be very interesting as the Obama presidency takes flight. What will we be asked to do? And what role will technology play in the asking? Welcome to the "New New Deal" folks, with fireside chats on YouTube, e-mail blasts with hyperlinks galore and some foresight applied to where they lead you. But most of all, it seems that a truly gifted organizer of people is at the tiller.