About OnlinePolitics
A blog about communication –which now means the Web – and especially political & social communication: new media, Web2.0, social networks, virtual worlds, mashups, visualizations etc, and their uses and impact on social communication, politics, Gov2.0, e-democracy, non-profits etc.
I have long been a strong believer in the fact that political communication and business communication have a lot to learn from each other. However, the most novel applications of new technologies currently come from the social and political communication field (broadly speaking). This is mainly linked to the fact that many innovations in platforms, tools and services are kick-started within an “open culture” and are subsequently diffused and used by all people with no other apparent motive than to communicate openly and freely and leverage personal productivity. The non-profit world for example is an early adopter of new technologies, due to lack of resources and a wider mandate mainly linked to “impact”. The more introverted business world is still frustrated and trying to grasp the enormous culture shifts that apparently threaten long-standing mentalities, practices and business models – although there are signs that this is slowly changing for the better.
I intend to write either in Greek or English according to my whims. All constructive, creative, good spirited and well-intentioned comments are welcome. All the rest will be forever condemned to the dark abyss of the recycle bin.
About me
If I had to have a single tag, then this would be “Communication” and I consistently serve this discipline for almost 20 years.
Firstly, through an eye-opening executive experience in the communications & marketing industry, in charge of Strategic Planning for major private and public sector organizations.
Secondly, and as communication is now dominated by the web, through my experience as the General Manager of “Access2democracy”, a novel non-profit institution which had a head-start in promoting the principles and practices of e-democracy worldwide, in simpler words, to exploit cutting-edge technologies for the common good.
Such an example is the innovative “e-dialogos” project currently being implemented at the City of Trikala (the “first digital city of Greece”), which facilitates public deliberation between citizens and the city council. I am proud to have been the project manager (concept, political methodology, communication) of this original and “best practice” project, which was nominated by the European Commission as a finalist project for the European eGovernment Awards 2009, announced on 19th November ‘09 in Malmö, Sweden.
Other eye-opening experiences include my 2005 tenure as a Senior International Fellow at the Center of Philanthropy and Civil Society (City University of New York) where I learned a lot about non-profits, foundations and the way they use new media effectively to advance their causes – not to mention new innovative “business models”.
In the past couple of years, I have had a very fruitful cooperation with VENTRIS, a reputable “boutique” strategic research planning agency with a great tracking record in political research and communication strategy.
Which brings us to today and a new start-up called Scicada, a strategic new media consulting agency which Nikos Anagnostou and I have launched to place our combined experience to the service of organizations that need it (even if they don’t know it yet!).
[And in case you were wondering - which you don't - I hold a B.A. in Economics from the University of Sussex and a M.Sc. in International Economics from Cardiff University]
If you wish to download any of my writings, please visit: http://goulandris.wordpress.com
Contact: vgoulandris+op @ gmail . com [delete spaces to use]
