Former eBay CEO and three former Skype presidents are campaigning for California governor

Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO, is running for California governor. Here's MegWhitman.com. 

"Meg 2010 - A New California" is the site tagline. Yet the language that follows is Reaganesquely nostalgic. "A New California, simply put, is returning California to the time when it ranked first among the nation in prosperity, education, and quality of life. Meg Whitman believes that, together we can rebuild our Golden State."

Henry Gomez, former eBay marketing SVP and a Skype president, is one of the people behind Meg's online presence.

The design elements are clever. The blue-green coloring taps into democrat and lefty color palettes; you cannot win statewide in California without getting some of the left and center. Meg standing by a redwood tree for the environmentalists. The masthead typefaces are very Californian, going back to our Arts & Crafts movement.

I particularly like the use of "The Power Of Many." "The Power Of Three" was Whitman's/Gomez's campaign slogan for buying Skype. The "three" were eBay, PayPal and Skype, each helping the others speed growth and profitability; it convinced shareholders to spend billions buying Skype.

The Power Of Many is a bandwagon appeal to tell personal stories; we'll see if that works. Personal storytelling is at the heart of political activation. It was a core grassroots cadre-forming technique used in the record breaking political campaigns of Dean, Kerry, and Obama. Encouraging those interested in Meg's campaign to share stories of pain and loss, of hope and inspiration, those stories bond both teller and listener to each other and to the campaign that fosters those stories. The story sharing service runs on Tokoni, of which Gomez is a director.

Tokoni, a startup funded in part by eBay, is full of eBay alumni. Alex Kazim, another former Skype president; Mary Lou Song, eBay's third full-time employee; Brian Sweeney, an eBay technology executive; Annette Goodwine, an alum of eBay's corporate communications team; and Rajiv Dutta, another Skype president. According to MegWhitman.com,

Tokoni, Inc. – Website and Online Media
Tokoni, Inc. is a company dedicated to shaping the next generation of social media by creating communities that allow anyone, anywhere, to have a voice. Founded in August 2007, Tokoni breaks down social content and connection barriers and leverages the Web’s natural ability to enable a shared understanding around issues, individuals and brands.  Tokoni is developing Meg’s Internet presence for the campaign.

The campaign site is paid for by the "Meg Whitman for Governor Exploratory Committee." In the US, exploratory committees are how political candidates raise early money before officially launching their run for office.

While Tokoni is supporting Meg Whitman's exploratory committee, that doesn't necessarily mean all its employees endorse Ms. Whitman's candidacy.

tags: skype, ebay, politics, california, gop, republican, campaigning, campaigns, campaign, story, stories, storytelling, tokoni

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