As someone who has just tweeted his 5,000th tweet, I have to say that I’m getting a little sick of all the buzz about social media. It’s not that I don’t think tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are valuable—if that was the case I wouldn’t be writing this right now—it’s just that too many people are forgetting that results, not tools, are most important. That’s why it’s cool to see a company like WeTheCitizens that is putting social media to work in a results-driven way. They’ve developed a platform to help “you recruit, mobilize, and track the effectiveness of your supporters.” Ok, YOU may not need something like that, but politicians, non-profit founders, and movie producers do. WeTheCitizens is an Atlanta based startup (with an office in DC) , and they’re going through a bit of an identity crisis right now (it’s not all that uncommon for startups). They’re very confident in their product—Wildfire Platform—but they’re apparently in the process of changing their name from WeTheCitizens to Mobilization Labs. To make it more confusing, a lot of the branding that they’re doing is for Wildfire Platform. If you can look past all of that, you’ll see a really cool company in its formative stages.
I could try to explain to you what Wildfire Platform does, but luckily I don’t have to. WeTheCitizens has a YouTube video on their home page that does just that, and I’ve embedded it below for you (e-mail and RSS readers should click through to view):
Apparently Wildfire Platform “has been tested and proven across non-profits, movies, and political campaigns, including gubernatorial, senatorial, and even U.S. Presidential.” I’d love to see a full-blown case study of a success story, but it doesn’t look like WeTheCitizens/Mobilization Labs has one up yet. For now, that video will have to sate your appetite for information on Wildfire Platform—at least until you reach out to the team at WeTheCitizens. Although they don’t have a Jobs or Internships page yet, they recently posted on their blog about Paid Post-College Internships.
I usually try to focus on internships for current college students here (and don’t be afraid to apply if you haven’t already graduated), but these internships look too cool not to share with you. WeTheCitizens is looking for people to help in areas like Sales, Social Media, Social Networking, Marketing, but they’re not tied down to any specific positions. They just want “smart, web-savvy college graduates looking to jump in and start making a difference in a small, fast-growing internet startup.” If that’s you, then e-mail your cover letter, résumé, and references to Esther Weathers at esther@wethecitizens.com by January 20th. You should also note that their blog post says: “We have multiple full-time positions we’re looking to fill that will open up at the end of the internship period. We’re pretty confident that the interns will get first dibs on those opportunities.” I basically see it as a temp or intern to hire arrangement—assuming you’d like a full-time job after 3 to 6 months.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
Which name do you like better WeTheCitizens, Wildfire, or Mobilization Labs?
Do I Know Anyone at WeTheCitizens? - Check LinkedIn | Check Facebook
Tags: development, Georgia, Internships, marketing, paid, sales, social media, social networking, Washington DC
Hey Willy, thanks very much for posting this!
Robert
Hey Willy!
First, thanks for writing this awesome article about us! You absolutely hit the nail on the head that when it comes to social media, it’s tracking the results/ROI that really closes the loop. A lot of organizations are diving in and throwing money at plenty of solutions because it’s hot technology right now but very few of them (that I’ve seen) are able to show measurable ROI.
You’re right about the case study – we’re working on that! Look for one ASAP after our new re-branding launches, but the brand of our SaaS product – Wildfire Platform – is here to stay. We’re shifting company names to better position ourselves as we expand our sales verticals. The unanimous feeling was WeTheCitizens was too tightly tied to the political realm and we also noticed people had trouble remembering it (never a good sign!).
But enough bizspeak :) We’re really excited about bringing on some interns to hit the ground running and make a difference here. We believe that given our size, everyone has a huge opportunity to make an impact in the direction and culture of our company.
I would encourage anyone interested in more information about our internships or the platform to get in touch with Esther Weathers (esther@mobilizationlabs.com) or Joe Hamm (jhamm@mobilizationlabs.com).
Best,
Zach Bailey
znbailey@mobilizationlabs.com
@znbailey on twitter
Thanks for the post, Willy. You’re providing a great service for college interns. We’re hoping to reduce the naming confusion with our rebranding to Mobilization Labs later this month. We’ll get to work on creating those case studies for you too:) Good point! We’ve been head down coding great product and need to spend more time on that stuff. Perhaps a good intern project, heh? Ooooh, pretty pictures….ha!