Barack Obama’s social media guru visits Sophos

Ben Self came to the high-tech SophosLabs offices in North Sydney, Australia, a few days ago while he was visiting the country as a guest of the Internet Industry Association.

Ben is a founding partner of Blue State Digital, and has been described as the man behind President Barack Obama’s online campaign – arguably the most successful digital engagement strategy in history.

Imagine convincing three million US voters to donate over US$500 million online, and developing a communication strategy that mobilised, two million social networking participants.

We couldn’t miss the opportunity to grab a camera and ask Ben some questions on a range of topics, such as the changing nature of the IT role in companies, how they ensured that the Obama campaign’s online presence was properly secured from hackers, and just how the internet is altering online marketing.

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Thanks to Rob Forsyth, managing director of Sophos Asia Pacific, for conducting the interview.