Social media helps to win

Barack Obama won presidential elections partially due his presence in Internet. He has used social media to facilitate dialog with the voters. His main blog is http://www.barackobama.com/ but he used also many popular social portals. They are free to use and connect to big social network. Pictures for example can be delivered using http://www.flickr.com, information about events with http://eventful.com, blogs by http://www.blogger.com/, micro-blogs with http://twitter.com and movies with http://www.youtube.com). This way presidential campaign was extended to Internet and therefore has accelerated communication.

I can't imagine how many people had to be involved to  organize such campaign. This has become new standard and there is no choice if the politician want to win. I observe that some politicians after campaign stop to use it and I think they decided not to be politicians any more.

What this means to us? If we want we can have the same benefits as social media is open for everyone. We can reach everyone if we know how to, try and spend time to do this. We will be learning how to us it. Access to the world that requires high investments is over. New ideas can be delivered quickly but revised also quickly.

Let's see how Barack's Obama is active in this area:

• http://www.barackobama.com/
• facebook 
• mysapce
• youtube
• flicr
• eventful
• linkedin
• blackplanet
• eons
• MiGente
• mybatanga
• Personal Home
• itunes

North America

http://www.acwiklinski.com/

I have some observations from traveling through USA and Canada from this Summer to share.
Work
People work hard and long hours they have not much time for relax. Short vacation is another problem. In Canada companies tend to follow American rules especially when ownership changes to American.
Money
If you have credit card you can feel almost like a resident.  When you give tips you can also feel rich especially when you hear: “Thank you sir, I really appreciate that”. All you need is money. I brought new book:  Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez - "Your money of your life" it goes deeper into this subject and also  "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" of Davids Meerman Scott.
Cars
Most of the cars are big, road lanes are wide, junctions are big and parking places are big. My friend says that everything in America is big. Renting cars with "dollar" was easy but insurance was expensive, I think. I like the way people drive cars. The traffic is fluent. There are not many traffic jams, but close to bigger cities there is more traffic. I have seen roads with seven lanes in one direction. If you travel with one or more person you can use (in Toronto) dedicated line. In Montreal there are a lot of exits and entries on the highway. Even with GPS it is difficult to find right one. GPS does not work well in cities due to pure signal resulting from high buildings.
Gas and highways tickets
In USA the gas is chip but in Canada you do not pay for highway. I do not like the payments for the highway in the Delaware state – too much for the short distance. You need a cash (no create cards served) or you can pay with ezpass.
Police
People accept fines without discussion. I heard it is easier to get speed limit fine during the last day of month, guess why. Speed limit violation is the reason to be stopped. Double fines when road works. There is square and park police – it does not look like very hard work.
Language
In Quebec you can hear French and feel like in France and I think even more than in real France.
Places
From the places I have seen I like the most:

• I like Ottawa for the downtown
• Boston for Financial District and the harbor
• New York for city and the atmosphere
• National parks for nature and quiet
• Niagara Falls for a lot of water its power and the view

Toilet
It does work different from what I have seen before. Here is a link to the movie to explain. I am not sure it is better from European solution as I had problems with this system in two places.
Other
I have not seen many bikes and dogs but many airports.

Poem from "Think and grow rich"

I attach poem, taken from the book: "Think and grow rich" of Napoleon Hill. I was not able to find original author but I found it helping to strengthen the believe that we are really controlling our life.

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.