Regardless of what you think of this weekend's Live 8 concerts (i generally agree with Sanneh's sentiments from Sunday's NYT), Live 8 organizers and partners were smart about how they used technology to engage the majority of us who couldn't attend one of the 10 concerts.
Here's what impressed me most about this global online effort:
(1) Taking advantage of the traffic :: On the official Live8 site, you can "sign the Live8 list" for G8 leaders via SMS or online or upload your photo to be added to a wall of faces at the G8 -- no gallery yet?!. (Reminds me of the almost 2,500 photos submitted online at FightHunger.org!). Nice clear asks taking advantage of all available technology, coupled with some solid video and exclusive content.
(2) Technorati Tagging the Blog Buzz :: Technorati sponsored what may be the first global online tagging event, encouraging bloggers to tag their posts with "live8" so that they could be counted in the global online discussion, accompanied by a syndicated image. It's a clever corporate marketing effort for Technorati, the blog tracking service, and also an excellent great way to put a mirror on the buzz being generated. As of right now, there are 12,073 blog posts tagged with Live 8, and 50 bloggers were invited to go backstage.
(3) [secret?] Party Planning Guide from ONE :: Despite the lack of online promotion for these viewing parties, someone at ONE knows what they're doing when it comes to online organizing... Check out their excellent house party guide (PDF) -- includes feedback form, signup sheet, and good background material for hosts. It's impressive—bordering on dense—and happens to follow a general template that we developed for grassroots meetup organizers on the Dean campaign. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell from the One Blog if any of these Live 8 parties even took place... Here's to hoping!
(4) 2.9 million TV viewers -vs- 5 million web watchers :: AOL has a more global reach than ABC, but it's still an impressive statistic. Reuters reports, "ABC's two-hour highlights special from the Live 8 concerts drew just 2.9 million viewers Saturday, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research, far fewer than the 5 million users who logged on for AOL's free live video streaming coverage." Full story here. Associated Press television writer David Bauder was impressed by the difference in content: "AOL's coverage was so superior, it may one day serve as a historical marker in drawing people to computers instead of TV screens for big events."
