Writing
Yes We Did: An Insider’s Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand (2008)
The Obama campaign is widely credited for its unprecedented use of New Media for everything from fundraising to volunteer coordination. After intensively researching the campaign, I had the opportunity to witness the innovation firsthand when I joined the New Media team in Chicago for three months.
This book takes a comprehensive look at the campaign’s use of technology leading up to election night and explores the strategic insights that organizations can apply to their own brand. Peppered with interviews, photos and anecdotes from key members of the New Media Team, this book reveals how the combination of an unwavering strategic vision and collaborative technologies including blogs, social networks, twitter and SMS messaging, empowered a formidable online community to elect the world’s first “digital” President.
The forward was written by my mentor, Don Tapscott. This book is based on my first hand experience and months of extensive research. I am very proud of the results. The cover was designed by the brilliant Scott Thomas, Obama’s Director of Design.
Reviews:
“This was one of the most interesting books I’ve enjoyed in some time. The “Campaign” that Rahaf chronicles is the most successful and proven use of social media in history. Although this is a rapidly changing domain, Rahaf’s experience helps us understand what really works and what brought about one of the most historic events in American history. An event which single handedly changed the global climate. Rahaf explores in detail the strategies and tactics used to bring about a revolution using social media. I guarantee you will both enjoy the book and will learn something from it. But, are you bold enough to do something with your new knowledge?
- Peter Aceto, CEO ING DIRECT CANADA
“The Obama 2008 campaign is not just the best political campaign or US campaign in recent memory. It is the best marketing campaign I have seen globally in over 25 years. It shows how a big ambition can be brought to life with a skillful blend of traditional and new media – -to produce outstanding results. Every marketer can learn from this experience. Rahaf Harfoush gives a fresh and informed insider’s view of what really made the Obama 2008 campaign such a spectacular success.”
- Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman & CEO OgilvyOne Worldwide
Rahaf Harfoush gives us a front row seat for a moment that changed both politics and branding forever. In the engaging spirit of sharing that defines the social web itself, Rahaf shows us how principled leadership must go to market in the years ahead: Transparently, authentically, and one community at a time.
-Bruce Philp, CEO of GWP Brand Engineering, co-author of “The Orange Code: How ING Direct Succeeded By Being A Rebel With A Cause.”
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Everything I Needed to Know About Business, I Learned from a Canadian (2008)
How does a business achieve prosperity in one of the most challenging market environments in history? Everything I Needed to Know About Business…I Learned From a Canadian offers first-hand insights, experience, and best practices from 15 business leaders…all of whom just happen to be Canadian. These 15 have all achieved excellence in a particular area of business, at home and on the world stage (e.g., Jim Pattison; Leonard Asper, CanWest Global; Terry McBride, Nettwerk Music; Leslie Dan, Founder of Novopharm; Rob McEwen, CEO of GoldCorp; Joel Cohen, Producer of The Simpsons). Each chapter is enhanced by profiles and stories of leaders and entrepreneurs who have been there and done it all, imparting business wisdom and management insights that will be entertaining as well as instructive.
Lead Writer and Researcher
As the lead writer on this book I worked with authors Leonard Brody and David Raffa on pulling together the background research, interviews and writing for eight profiles on Canadian entrepreneurs who shared their insights for success.
I profiled:
- Issy Sharp (CEO, Four Seasons)
- Graydon Carter (Editor in Chief Vanity Fair)
- Don Tapscott (Chairman, Ngenera), John Assaraf (CEO, One Coach)
- Stuart Butterfield (Founder, FlickR)
- Garrett Camp (Founder, Stumble Upon)
- Debbie Landa (Founder, DealMaker Media)
- Craig Kielburger (Founder, Free the Children.)
Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing the World (2008)
Poised to transform every social institution, the Net Generation is reshaping the form and functions of school, work, and even democracy. Simply put, the wave of youth, aged 12-30, the first truly global generation, is impacting all institutions. Particularly, employers, instructors, parents, marketers and political leaders are finding it necessary to adapt to the changing social fabric due to this generation’s unique characteristics. Within its comprehensive examination of the Net Generation, and based on a 4.5 million dollar study, Don Tapscott’s Grown Up Digital offers valuable insight and concrete takeaways for leaders across all social institutions.
Grown Up Digital explores:
- How the Net Generation can be the most innovative, collaborative, and productive cohort, if given the proper working environment. From company ethic to leadership style, Grown Up Digital examines, in-depth, what this new organization will look like.
- The benefits of a shift from a traditional, broadcast model of education to one that is customized, collaborative and interactive
- How the Net Generation’s ability to scrutinize and investigate is forcing a new model of democracy that will have to be transparent, collaborative and engaging
- How parents, teachers, and elder influencers can engage in open and informative discussions to ensure technology is properly used
- How marketers no longer control their brands and how to cope with this power shift that affords the advantage to the consumer.
Writing and Research Team
As a member of the research and writing team for Grown Up Digital I was responsible for drafting preliminary chapters including interviews, research and writing. I contributed to the following chapters directly:
- Chapter 1 – The Net Generation Comes of Age
- Chapter 2 – A Generation Bathed in Bits
- Chapter 8 – The Net Generation and the Family: No Place Like The New Home
- Chapter 9 – Obama, Social Networks, and Citizen Engagement
I was also a part of the team that was responsible for designing the marketing and promoting strategy, including the Net Generation Education Challenge.
You can buy your own copy here.
Reviews
“A decade ago Don Tapscott recognized that the kids growing up online were different,
and that speaking digital as a first language was the key competitive skill of
our age. Now that generation has grown up and Tapscott has followed them into
the workplace and the world, where those skills are playing out in surprising ways.
This is a rich and data-packed atlas of that generation.”
- Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief, Wired
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
In the last few years, traditional collaboration—in a meeting room, a conference call, even a convention center—has been superceded by collaborations on an astronomical scale.
Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics proves this fear is folly. Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success.
A brilliant primer on one of the most profound changes of our time, Wikinomics challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand the key forces driving competitiveness in the twenty-first century.
Based on a $9 million research project led by bestselling author Don Tapscott, Wikinomics shows how the masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, and even building motorcycles.
Research Coordinator
As the research coordinator for Don Tapscott’s best-selling book, I managed and facilitated the research process including aggregating industry best practices and case studies, identifying key interview targets, conducting interviews, and all logistical aspects of pulling together chapters. Additionally I was responsible for creating the Wikinomics.com online presence and managed the book jacket endorsement process.
Buy it now! Or click here for a sneak peek.
Wikinomics placed on the Washington Post’s and New York Time’s Best Seller Lists, and was selected as one of the top business books of 2007 by Amazon.
Reviews
“Wikinomics heralds the biggest change in collaboration to date. Thanks to the Internet, masses of people outside the boundaries of traditional hierarchies can innovate to produce content, goods and services. In order to understand the opportunities this presents for companies, read this book.
- Eric Schmidt, CEO Google
