Mobile campaigns surround Obama’s swearing-in bash

While Barack Obama may be giving up his BlackBerry, citizens around him will be embracing theirs at this week’s Presidential Inauguration. The president-elect told his supporters via e-mail that citizens can opt in for updates via text messaging about traffic and events in the nation’s capital on the day of the ceremony.

To prepare for all of this action, Qorvis Communications, in partnership with Pat­ton Boggs, a Washington, DC-based lobby­ing and law firm, has launched a software application at www.navigatingwashington.com, which lets event attendees navigate Washington on smartphones.

The new tool, available for iPhone, Black­Berrys and Google Android phones, is a GPS system that gives information about location and inaugural events in DC in real time.

“This… application will help the nation’s first high-tech president usher in a new era of government that embraces technology and advanced communications,” said Stuart Pape, managing partner of Patton Boggs, in a statement.

Social networks also are taking advantage of the event, as inaugurations are known for the parties that take place across the nation’s capital and the country. Twitter created an Obama Inauguration page, on which it calls users to “Text HISTORY to 56333 for SMS inauguration updates.”

“Barack Obama’s campaign broke new ground with its extensive use of social media and new technology, so his inauguration is a great time to continue this tradition,” said David Chang, co-founder of SnapMyLife.

And SnapMyLife, a new mobile photo-sharing site, is calling on its users in the US and around the world to take photos from their inauguration night point of view and upload them to SnapMyLife’s mobile networking site.

“During election night, we were surprised at how many people were following around the world and posting photos to our site,” Chang said. “We thought that this campaign would be a good fit since they were already doing this without being prompted.”

SnapMyLife has more than 600,000 registered total users and attracts more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month.