Barack Obama just accepted my invitation to get connected on the LinkedIn website! Of course, I'm now just one of hundreds of his network connections, but the thrill of getting the email confirmation is undeniable. But now, whenever anyone views my profile on the site, they'll see that I'm "connected" to the next president of the United States. How cool is that?
This candidate and his campaign continue to amaze in the ways they not only understand modern reach-out techniques, but actually use them!
We're already familiar here on Daily Kos that Obama has reached out through this venue. Now he's out there in the professional networking world as well.
For those of you who may not be familiar, LinkedIn is a business networking site - sort of a professional's Facebook. The site itself describes it this way:
LinkedIn is an online network of more than 20 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.
When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.
Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.
One of the features of the site is a place to post questions and each day they select one to feature on their home page. When I went there this morning, lo and behold, the featured question of the day came from Senator Barack Obama, candidate for President.
What ideas do you have to keep America competitive in the years ahead?
In a recent speech, I proposed a new competiveness agenda centered around education and energy, innovation and infrastructure, fair trade and reform.
So far as of midday, he's received about 1,000 answers from all sorts of people using the site. What a fantastic way for him to reach out.
You can also check out Barack Obama's personal profile he's posted here.