How Much Fun I Had Helping Make the Obama iPhone App: Tons
October 2, 2008
It is with great joy that I am finally able to share with you the project that I (and a ridiculously talented small group of people) have had the good fortune to be a part of: Obama ‘08, the official iPhone application for the Obama/Biden presidential campaign.
Neat, huh? The amount of energy that went into this was fun to be around. Raven Zachary and Jason Grigsby’s strategy genius, Jonathan Wight’s very powerful development fu, Mike Lee and Tristan O’Tierney’s hacking support, Louie Manta’s visual-zing-wow aesthetics, Aileen Jeffries and John Keith’s many-faceted support, and Dom Sagolla’s tireless testing work. Phew. That’s the lot of us.
Two things were great about this experience. One, it gives me–someone uncomfortable with calling or bothering strangers and not particularly skilled in the art of persuasion–a real way to make an impact for a cause I am very fond of. Two, I got to wear all sorts of professional costumes; the project involved me being involved with all of the following: JavaScript, PHP, mysql, CSS, graphics, HTML, XCode, bits and bots of Objective C, copywriting, templating, clicking and dragging. It was fun.
Go learn more and download at http://www.barackobama.com/iphone
Early News Coverage
- BarackObama.com: “External Online Organizing: Introducing the Obama ‘08 iPhone App“
- CNet: “Obama releases iPhone recruiting, campaign tool“
- ZDNet: “Obama release iPhone campagin tool“
- Los Angeles Times: “Barack Obama iPhone software is a political tool“
- Gizmodo: “Obama ‘08 iPhone App is Grassroots Gadgetry Perfection”
- MacWorld: “Obama camp offers iPhone app”
- Wired: “Obama Invades the iTunes Store”
Teammate Blog Coverage
- Raven Zachary
- Dom Sagolla (On iPhoneDevCamp)
- Jonathan Wight (toxicsoftware)
- Jason Grigsby (User First Web)
- Aileen Jeffries
- Louie Mantia
- Mike Lee
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Aileen said There is nothing good about that list, except possibly “served with butter.” (
[...] are more details about the project at Lyza’s blog and my own post on the [...]
my hearty congratulations to all of you! nothing like working on something really exciting to help stretch yourself thereby.
Lyza, you are so fun to work with! Hope we can continue making great stuff in the future.
[...] Lyza Danger Gardner [...]
Yup, it was good to work with everyone. Had a great time. Very intense – but very worth it.
Obama 08 is very cool app. But if you spend 2 or more hours in front of your computer(may be for campaigning), you should try Clip2Mobile for iPhone. more info http://www.clip2mobile.net
Clip2mobile will transfer notes, make calls, add contacts, launch map, launch urls..etc all from your computer. No more typing on your iPhone.. perfect To Go application. Try it today. BTW its free
[...] effort. An effort that featured five Portland folks on the team: Raven Zachary, Jason Grigsby, Lyza Danger Gardner, John Keith, and Aileen [...]
[...] app was put together not by a company hired by the Obama campaign, but by a handful of passionate supporters who put their own time and resources into doing it. The campaign was then smart enough to recognize [...]
Cool. Where’s the source code? Surely Barack wouldn’t support closed source application development!
As a former political field director turned journalist, I can say on several levels this is an amazing piece of work. Congrats! Very int. in seeing source code as well or possibly licensing it…
[...] Lyza Danger Gardner [...]
When will the McCain ‘08 iTouch application be available for download?
[...] effort. An effort that featured five Portland folks on the team: Raven Zachary, Jason Grigsby, Lyza Danger Gardner, John Keith, and Aileen [...]
Kudos Lyza on being a part of the most historic piece of social networking, that has probably changed the face of political campaigns for years to come.
[...] learn more about the application from the Obama campaign’s website, or read various developer blogs about the [...]
[...] for iPhone by Raven Zachary, Jason Grigsby, Lyza Danger Gardner, John Keith, and Aileen Jeffries, et al., Portland (No longer available but notable) The [...]