Well, apparently, last week was prime for politics-on-the-brain! After we’d settled on “politics online” as the topic for our Feb. 22 meet-up, it turned out that the New York group focused on that same topic at their meeting just two days earlier. There’s been plenty happening in that realm, so it’s really no surprise that it was a hot item of discussion.

I had the pleasure of hosting the group at Edelman this time, so thanks to everyone who came and made it worthwhile and interesting. Folks were already mixing and chatting well before the meet-up officially got started, so I’m sure much valuable conversation was had then. And once we did officially kick off the full-room discussion, we spent several minutes chatting about and tossing around thoughts on recent news and happenings in social media. From there, we gradually progressed into the more politically oriented conversation and analysis, but always jetted off on tangents to chew on the issues and inspect tools more closely.

A quick-and-dirty overview of what we discussed:

Steve Jobs - open letter on music

• Some see as a PR move to put the blame on the recording industry
• Whether or not it was a blog wasn’t really seen as important - Steve Jobs’ personality makes it important

Jet Blue’s recent situation

• Most feel Jet Blue handled the situation well
• Discussed authenticity of the CEO
• Jet Blue already has credibility which helped its message
• Utilized video (YouTube) well

Videos on YouTube

• Will YouTube stay #1? Is there a better site?

We discussed/checked out Joost

News & Politics

• Is social media democratizing?
• The role of social media sites in presidential campaigns - authenticity, messaging, conversation
• Importance of news sites, changing roles, localization and specialization
• Has social media helped or hindered candidates? Some say “helped,” because it allows candidates to build, identify and connect with communities; communicate directly with real people.

Presidential Hopefuls Websites

• John McCain: Military feel, no one liked the black and white, you can’t blog, donate page was awkward and not designed well
• John Edwards: Better colors, instant message capability, open blogs
• Mitt Romney: Everyone liked Team Mitt button

(Thanks to Jenna Kozel for taking the above notes during the conversation … and still managing to chime in with interesting points and questions throughout!)

And a little housekeeping …

First up, if you’d like to keep up with and interact more with the DC chapter of SMC, visit our local wiki. (Thanks to Tiffany Bridge for the mentioning that during the meeting.) We’re still finalizing details for the next meet-up — which will be Thursday, March 29 — and have a few options for a discussion leader, venue, etc. So to make sure you’re “in the know” and receive all the details for the next gathering, sign up using the official Social Media Club membership form. And while you’re at it, put yourself on the group’s other email list to stay in the loop with other participants.