Best Other Interactive Application

In October of 2008, Obama for America created the Tax Calculator Widget. The Tax Calculator allowed you to select personal income level and tax filing status to determine the tax break you would receive if Obama became president. The widget offered easy, one-click sharing via email, social networking sites, blogs and more. The calculator was a vehicle to engage voters while demonstrating the ways this presidential candidate would affect their day to day lives. Obama’s campaign was the first in history to utilize the social media and other technical tools to encourage interaction in the political process, distinguish Obama from his opponents, engage new and influential audiences, and educate voters on policy. Objective accomplished: Barack Obama is now the President of the United States. The Tax Calculator Widget was considered a smash hit. Voters were instantly engaged, curious to learn of their potential financial savings, and there were millions of views in a matter of days. A short lived widget at the end of the campaign, the tax calculator was shared and posted to social networking sites and blogs again and again. The calculator was honored with modest media attention, and ultimately served its original purpose well, with the successful election of a new President. Please note that the metrics seen on the provided URL are not the final results. On election night, the widget content was changed, and the tax calculator provided was recreated to allow interaction for evaluation purposes only. Credit to Clearspring Technologies and Obama for America.

Contributors:

Designer:	Matthew Ipcar
Programmer:	Walker Hamilton
Programmer:	Kyle Crouse
Policy:	Brian Deese
Flash Programmer:	Jon Greene
Programmer:	Mike Foody
Tax Model Developer:	Alexander Gelber
Tax Model Developer:	Katherine Richards
Tax Model Developer:	Nirupama Rao
Tax Model Developer:	Sara Aronchick

A&R EDELMAN

Location: USA