Intellectual Property Law

Are you a scientist who's miffed at the Bush administration for its treatment of the scientific community? Or a teacher who's steamed about the state of the education system? Are you worried about the future of health care?

Whatever your concerns, there's never been a better time than now for you to explain your view of current affairs and the world through online video.

As Phil de Vellis' "Vote Different" video and activist documentary film-maker Robert Greenwald's online videos demonstrate so vividly, visual metaphors are powerful story-telling tools that can convey ideas more effectively and efficiently than any online verbal rant possibly could.

"If you can have a strong visual metaphor, then you've done a good job," says Julian Mulvey, a Democratic media consultant and co-founder of Devine Mulvey in Washington, DC.

The politicos whom I consulted for an article last year about de Vellis' "Vote Different" video (before he revealed himself through The Huffington Post) were all pretty  confident that it had been created by a professional. But as laypeople get more comfortable with the medium and the messaging, perhaps it won't be so easy to distinguish between what's professional and what's amateur anymore. That's the theory, anyway.

To that end, Wired.com has written up a bare-bones "How to Start a Viral Political Campaign," item on its newly-revamped How-To Wiki.

Check it out, and please start contributing your own thoughts and tips based on your experience!