To say that I’m not a Barack Obama fan would be an understatement. I don’t have to be a fan of him though to be a fan of the things he’s doing. As Senator Obama was being sworn in yesterday, January 21, 2009 a new website for the White House was launched. The new WhiteHouse.gov is a remarkable improvement over the previous site.  This image on Flickr captures the before and the after really well.

This a screen grab of the web site just after Senator Obama became President Obama.

The new site is simple, clean, and very easy to use.  The main feature area is large, dynamic, and sets itself apart from the rest of the content.  The footer isn’t wasted space.  It serves as a site map and jump off point into key areas of the site.  I could go on and on about how much the new site improved upon the old site, but I’ll save that for a future post.

What I want to focus on today is what we can learn from President Obama’s approach to the web site.  On many levels we can draw a parallel between President Obama, the United States, and WhiteHouse.gov, with corporate america.  President Obama’s counterpart would be the CEO of the company, the United States the company, and WhiteHouse.gov the primary website for the company.  Assuming we can all agree with that, let’s look at what companies can learn from the new WhiteHouse.gov.

1. Communicate Why The Site Exists: The new web site says “Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities: Communication, Transparency, Participation.”  This is great; it’s clear to visitors, why the site exists, its mission, and provides a filter for future content and initiatives.
2. Have a Point of View: There’s an entire section dedicated to the President’s “Agenda.” The agenda outlines not just all the issues they are tackling, but their specific point of view. The site states, “each President is confronted with new and unique challenges. Learn more about the Obama-Biden Administration’s positions on everything from health care and the economy to alternative energy and foreign policy.” Great move. Don’t let the media influence and mess with the context of your words. Instead clearly articulate what issues are important to you and what you’re doing to address them. Perhaps the challenge many companies have in doing this, is they simply don’t know what they are tackling.
3. Set Expectations: President Obama will be delivering a weekly video address online.  The site states, “President Barack Obama plans to publish a weekly video address every Saturday morning of his presidency. Visit this page every week to watch the President’s most recent video.” Fantastic, not only are you going to actually communicate with me, you’re going to do it on a regular basis.
4. Humanize: From the weekly video to identifying Macon Phillips as the director of new media for the White House and positioning him as a White House blog contributor, there is a name and a face. I now genuinely believe that when I see a blog post from Macon, President Obama, or someone else from the White House – it’s really their thoughts and opinions, not someone from “PR.” That’s progress.
5. Involvement: This is perhaps the most transformational change.  Non-Emergency legislation will be posted to the site for 5 days, so that the public can review and comment, before the president signs/doesn’t sign it. Could you imagine a company like 3M making decisions they are considering available for comment by employees, share holders, the Minnesota community, etc.? I don’t see it happening anytime soon, but we can hope.