That there is my first contribution to The Orange Room, the federal New Democratic Party’s remarkable new social media initiative.

Go check it out. You’ll find user-contributed and user-rated media as well as a kind of crowd-sourced rapid response network and more.

Nobody in Canadian politics has done anything quite like it. They’re inviting video, images and text submissions as well as Facebook applications. Participants gain points for their contributions, and are awarded titles (from “intern” to “chief of staff”) as they pass particular thresholds. There’s also a promise of prizes (to be announced).

The image I created is an entry in a caption contest. I also submitted this one, but pulled it back at the last minute – why give them the grief?

I’ve done a lot of work with the NDP over the years, and I’m hardly a dispassionate observer. But I don’t think I’m alone in thinking they’ve worked a minor marvel here – a sizable chink in the command-and-control armour that still covers so much of election campaigning in this country.