At POLC, one of the panels I attended that I want to discuss in this space was titled "Developing Mobile Social Software Applications." One of my clients wants to push in to the mobile/SMS space so I figured it'd be a valuable use of my time. I was right.

The panelists included:

* Justin Oberman (moderator) – Communications Consultant, Digitism
* Katrin Verclas – Co-Founder and Editor, MobileActive.org
* James Eberhard – CEO and Chairman, Motellus
* Doug Busk – Vice President of Industry Relations, SinglePoint

The top 6 take-away points that I'll be working in to my next presentation:
1. Keep in mind: All mobile is opt-in. You can't "buy a list."
2. Must have a contest or excitement to get people to sign-up for text messages.
3. Messages are limited to 160 characters – be precise.
4. How often do you communicate? When you have something important to say.
5. Always include an “ask” in every message.
6. With regard to embracing mobile: Focus first on SMS/text, then build a mobile website, and then downloads (wallpaper/ring tones).

I'll save you from re-hashing all of my notes, but I do want to focus on two quick points:
1. Doug’s company works for Barack Obama and said that his job is provide the “tools” to help Barack's campaign get their message out through mobile. In other words, they're not consulting with message but are providing another way for Barack to get that message out. Doug noted that your Text-campaign must have a holistic approach to be successful -- the message through your text must be consistent with the direct mail, phones, candidate message, etc. This is common sense to me as a communicator but still important to think about since you're adding another element to the pie.

2. Case-Study: Oprah/Barack appearances. The Barack advance team made a very serious effort to ensure that the audience and event organizers understood how to teach folks to send short-codes/opt-in to receive SMS alerts. 30 minutes prior to an event– the advance team would take the stage, taught folks how to send a short-code from their cell phone, and then offered a prize to come to the front-row to meet Oprah (the winner was selected from folks that signed up for SMS alerts).

To conclude, I'll end with noting that I was left asking myself why no campaign had started thinking of using SMS/text as a utility rather than simply a way to communicate a message. In other words, personally I use Google's SMS feature all the time because it's just as helpful as its website. In other words, because it's helpful, I use it all the time.

What I'd like to see as a campaign operative is giving a tool for 72-hour efforts so that organizers could ping the campaign via SMS for things like issue talking points, polling locations for those canvased and other useful items. That way the communications team could ensure that their message is getting out through field organizers/door-to-door efforts.

Today, each of the Republican Presidential candidates participating in the Ames Straw Poll will speak before 12,000 Iowa Republican activists at the Hilton Coliseum. Though I have my doubts about overall attendance, the Iowa Republican Party claims that more than 40,000 could be in attendance. Whatever the number [will it even break 1999? -ed.], these are certain to be the XX,XXX most committed Iowa Republicans, at least those who are supporting Ames players.

Is it just me, or isn't this the perfect place to roll out an SMS program? An intrepid candidate could stand at the podium, and say, "And to join my campaign, please text AMES to MITT08 (PAUL08, HUCK08, BRNBK, etc. etc.) [here, he holds up his cell phone]. Then please join us by our tent, show us the confirmation message on your phone, to receive your special Ames collectible ______."

This can work because you have a large number of activists who are driven by incentives and looking for swag. Romney has the "best BBQ in Iowa." Hunter has an Elvis impersonator handing out ice cream cones. The candidates could easily wall off one of these incentives for people who gave them their email address or cell phone number. And then have a list of 10-15K Iowa names, many of whom are supporters, but others who are potentially open to supporting you. And SMS is probably the best way to collect mass supporter info off a single speech.

Barack Obama's campaign has an interesting example of the online-offline integration I talked about a few weeks ago. Having signed up for their text messaging list, I texted in my addresses to get a free Obama bumper sticker. It came yesterday and looks like this:

Aside from feeling some mild disappointment in not receiving the standard Obama'08 sticker to add to my collection, I got to thinking, and this is an interesting viral strategy. If I had to guess, the last thing they want is for this to actually be placed on cars -- you can barely see the call to action. Rather, the point is for it to be stuck on the outside of dorm room doors, where it can spread virally offline among college students. The amount of thought that went into this campaign (I got an SMS telling me my bumper sticker was being packaged up in Chicago with some TLC) shows you the premium they are placing on text messaging versus other forms of online communication.

How do you bridge the divide between reaching the energized core on the Internet and the masses through traditional voter contact? Don't expect Web 2.0 to do it on its own. You've got to build hooks between the new and the old, and a number of tools are emerging for doing that effectively. I call these technology hybrids.

What are some examples of technology hybrids? Something I did earlier today, sending my first TwitterGram, certainly qualifies. I recorded a voicemail previewing this post that was then instantaneously sent to my Twitter account. How useful is this? It probably isn't for me. Who wants to hear my voice? But if you're a candidate, it can be tons more authentic than "texting" in your message. Zack Exley has famously urged candidates to write their own emails, but even if they did, would people believe it was them? That's why candidates shouldn't Twitter; they should TwitterGram. They shouldn't blog; they should videoblog. That solves the authenticity dilemma of campaign websites -- we'll know for sure it's them, in video or voice, delivering a message many times more compelling than plain text.

This got me connecting the experience to some ongoing thoughts about the most effective uses of technology in campaigns. Twitter's API may have saved the product from laughingstock status, but it's nowhere close to mainstream yet. But the idea of connecting to supporters via voice rather than SMS and email is as old as the auto-dialer in politics. Imagine if a candidate could send a phone message to its entire supporter list through a simple Web-based interface, a sort of opt-in robocall. Then imagine it was free. That's exactly what SayNow is doing in the entertainment community; artists can sign up to send messages to their fan community. Fans can send voicemails to them. Fans can also be alerted via SMS when a new message comes in.

How would such an integrated campaign have worked in the fundraising quarter that just ended? Say the campaign sends an email appeal out to supporters. A few hours later, the campaign auto-dials its online supporter list with a personalized message from the candidate reminding them of the email (he or she will have recorded the 500 most common first names on the email list, to add that personal touch). At the end, it's Press 1 to be connected to an operator to donate, Press 2 to volunteer, and Press 3 to enter your cell number for SMS alerts. That's similar to what John Edwards did by connecting supporters to donate over the phone, except instead of SMS the initial delivery vehicle was email reinforced by a phone call -- mainstream technology that nearly all voters are comfortable with.

What are some other examples of cool technology retrofits candidates are trying in 2008 -- or should be?

• Mitt Romney's tele-townhalls in Iowa and South Carolina -- an effective way to reach your entire universe cheaply and get the candidate in front of thousands of voters at once.
• Obama's low-dollar donor "kickoffs" in major cities, and his requiring email to attend rallies. Some say this is the special sauce behind his fundraising numbers. At the end of the day this is not high-tech at all, just 10,000 pieces of paper -- turned into 10,000 email addresses. Simple -- and smart.

• Embeddable click-to-call (Jajah is an interesting product) -- good for online phone banks, potentially conducted via mobile.
• Along these lines, ONE did something very cool a few weeks back. Instead of facing the typical response rate dropoff of asking people to call into a conference, they called anyone who RSVP'd.
• Edwards sending 70,000 DVDs to Iowa voters. Imagine if these contained a slimmed down version of his site, with the ability to donate or volunteer. That could connect you with some older, less avid Web users.