Sorenson 360 Powers Video On New McCain Campaign Site
Political campaigns are no strangers to user-generated video, as recent articles here on StreamingMedia.com have pointed out. But the team behind the re-election bid of Arizona senator John McCain (R) is making it even easier for supporters to voice their opinions and add their commentary to his campaign with a "video supporter wall" that allows them to upload videos directly from their webcams or camcorders to the site.
Sorenson Media's Sorenson 360 online video platform is behind the scenes, allowing the campaign's internet staff to manage the uploaded videos and post them on the "wall". "Our involvement with Sorenson Media is a testament to the growing power of online video in major political initiatives," said Corey Vale, internet director for the McCain 2010 campaign, in a press release. "Video is one of the most impactful ways to connect directly with an audience, and we want to be on the leading edge of an accelerating trend toward robust, online experiences."
The new McCain site just launched today, and so as might be expected, the current video posts appear to be from "ringers"—mostly McCain campaign workers and volunteers, shot in the McCain headquarters. The messages are mostly short soundbites; it'll be interesting to see whether the "real" user-generated content consists of more substantive commentary.
From a technical standpoint, what's most compelling about the offering is the way it lets users who might have never uploaded a video to YouTube and don't even know what an online video platform is easily get their video comments to the McCain campaign without feeling like they need to learn a new technology. Smartly, the campaign recognizes that not all of the site's visitors will even have a webcam or know how to use it, and so the campaign offers to arrange a visit to the McCain offices to record the video commentary onsite.
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