ABOUT UNFINISHED BUSINESS

The Unfinished Lecture is a monthly event hosted by the Strategic Innovation Lab at OCAD and sponsored by Torch Partnership. Part of the Unfinished Business initiative, the lectures are intended to generate an open conversation about strategic innovation in the business and design of commercial enterprises and public organizations.

THE LECTURE: INNOVATION WITHIN THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN

Scott Thomas and Rahaf Harfoush will lead an interactive discussion on how Design and New Media played an instrumental role in the Barack Obama campaign. Thomas and Harfoush will explore the innovation of both campaign tactics and political strategy. In conversation, we will explore the impact of many forms of openness on participation in the 2008 presidential campaign. Are the progressive tendencies evidenced in the campaign flash-in-the-pan phenomena or a kind of sea change in technologies of engagement.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Scott Thomas (a.k.a SimpleScott) is constantly seeking the simplest answer to complex problems. Scott began his design pursuits studying architecture before bouncing to graphic design and web development. In 2006, he and 5 others began a design collective, lovingly titled, The Post Family. The group is devoted to supporting each others design habits, from silk screen to letterpress, from illustration to blogging, in an effort to "get back to the hand". In 2007, Scott's career took a dramatic leap when he was invited to join the New Media team at Obama for America. The chance encounter led Scott to becoming the Design Director of the historic Obama Presidential campaign. Scott plans to continue designing for social causes that might just someday change the world.

Rahaf Harfoush is an Innovation and New Media Strategist who specializes in creating authentic conversations in  the social media landscape. Her clients include British Telecom, Unilever, InnoSpa, and Duke University.  She is also an avid blogger, writer, information junkie, web evangelist and social network ninja. She was the Research Coordinator on Don Tapscott's "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" and contributed to "Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World."  Her articles have been published in The Toronto Star, CIO Magazine, NCEW Masthead, ShinyShiny.tv and Suite 101. Rahaf graduated in 2006 with an Honours in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business from the University of Western Ontario. Currently, Rahaf is working on a variety of projects including collaborating with Now Public founder Leonard Brody on his latest book "Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned From a Canadian." She recently completed a three-month assignment as part of Barack Obama's New Media Team at his headquarters in Chicago. Rahaf blogs at TheFoush.com