Public Engagement – The Obama Way

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Those of us in the public information business, particularly the non-profit public information business, should rip a page out of the Barack Obama public engagement manual. The lessons are many.

A case in point – the new whitehouse.gov website, a clean, well-organized, interactive place that makes the previous White House website look like your grandmother’s kitchen cabinets. Old, outdated and hard to open.

The new site invites you in. After all, you are the owner. With videos of Obama’s Inauguration address and the whistlestop tour, a White House 101 Fun and Facts page, a frequently updated blog, and the Briefing Room, a way to keep tabs on the President, whitehouse.gov has been overhauled for the 21^st century.

Prominently displayed on the home page is a link to the Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs (OPL-IGA), “the front door to the White House through which everyone can participate and inform the work of the President.” When you reach the Public Liaison page, you’re invited to email your thoughts and ideas to the White House. When was the last time 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue asked you for anything? Other than taxes?

It’s a new day indeed. Check out whitehouse.gov.

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