A wild week of press for Calder’s Catherine Geanuracos and Katrin Verclas

Given that we have launched barely a month ago, we have been getting, thanks to our various projects, some great press this week. The Canadian Boradcasting recently aired an hour-long documentary about the cell phone revolution that gives a nice global overview of mobile culture. Katrin Verclas from Calder Strategies and MobileActive.org is featured briefly.

In this week’s Economist, there is a special survey on ‘Mobility”. See the section on the “World of Witnesses” describes how mobiles are used in civic action. Katrin Verclas, Calder Strategies and MobileActive.org was interviewed for the piece and is quoted there.

Just for fun, David Pogue mentions on his blog Ringtones08.com, the “weird little site” Joe Lee from CitizenSpeak (hooray for Jo!) and I conceived for user-generated political ringtones.

And finally, for a press coup, Catherine Geanuracos of Calder Strategies and her campaign YrMomma4Obama was featured on the front page of the New York Times this week in a long article on how young voters influence their parents.

It is great to see that mainstream press is starting to get it. Will YOU in your next campaign?

YrMama4Obama in the New York Times - A Viral Youth Text Message Campaign

Twist Their Arms? The New York Times today features YrMama4Obama, a viral site that uses mobile marketing for young people to convince their parents to vote for Obama. The site was developed by Catherine Geanuracos, a principal at Calder Strategies. The site asks people, for example:

Is yr Mama 4 Obama? We need our parents to vote for him 2 win PA on Apr 22. Pass this on to everyone u know and tell your parents how u feel. Gobama!

The Times writes:

For some waffling primary voters, the relentless push by their children was good enough reason to capitulate. Eager to encourage their offspring’s latest enthusiasm, they have been willing to toss up their hands and vote for Mr. Obama, if only to impress their children….

Web sites like Kids for Obama and YrMomma4Obama urge youngsters to talk up the candidate to their parents.

We agree! If you want help with your mobile campaign, contact Catherine at catherine [at] calderstrategies [dot] com. The full text of the New York Times cover story is here.

Catherine is a Women Who Techs (and Rocks…)

My most excellent colleague and partner here at Calder Strategies, Catherine Geanuracos, is an amazing Woman Who Techs. And if you did not already know that, well, here is the testimonial:

Live Earth rallied millions of people across the world to take personal action to help reverse the global climate crisis using a 24-hour music festival on July 7, 2007 with concerts in several cities including New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Johannesburg and broadcasted on TV to inspire individuals to answer the call to action. Thanks to Catherine Geanuracos Live Earth will also go down in history as one of the most successful mobile activism campaigns in this decade. Geanuracos spearheaded a clever SMS (Short Messaging Service) campaign that spread across the globe and got millions of personal commitments to make a difference by learning how everyday choices have huge impacts on the environment. Commitments were made via the web and text messages in 178 countries and 35 territories. This past fall, Live Earth released a report stating that since the concerts they have already seen a reduction in CO2 emissions and waste.

Geanuracos’s latest project is YrMomma4Obama.com, a first of its kind multi-platform campaign launched on the ground in Texas two weeks ago with a diverse group of students, political activists, and entertainment professionals to support Barack Obama’s candidacy using the latest social networking, viral, and peer-to-peer marketing.

And of course, Calder Strategies! If you want amazing women who tech to help you with your interactive and mobile campaigns, be in touch with us: info [at] calderstrategies [dot] com.