During the third round of the Mahalo Vlog Idol competition today, Sarah Atwood and I got to talking about the skills necessary for a good host, most notably the importance of geek cred.  We both agreed that it’s easier to take someone technical with good presence and polish them up to become a better host than it is to take a professional host and teach her to "get it," and I expect the fans of Mahalo Daily would agree.

But almost as soon as I got in my car after today’s shooting was over, I realized that we’re all forgetting to mention a critical component here.  The perfect host balances not two skills but three - podcasting, geekiness, and the ability to make the Internet take notice of the Mahalo brand.

That being said, I would like to hereby announce the official launch of my campaign for Mahalo Vlog Idol.  However, I am but one girl and can’t conquer alone, so I need your help to change the future of the Internet forever.

I need a Lisa Nation.

As one person yourself, you may be wondering what you can do to help.  Troops, this is your rally point.  Leave a comment on this Flickr image telling Jason Calacanis and the world that I’m the only logical choice to fill Veronica’s shoes.  But don’t stop there…keep the whole web buzzing with discussion regarding the search for a new host.  Use whatever social networks you have at your disposal with an extreme lack of prejudice.  Follow me on Twitter.  Start a Facebook group.  Write haikus and recite them on YouTube.  Tell the world how the search makes you feel on Get Satisfaction.

But what about IRL?  It should go without saying that I think schwag is a fabulous promotional technique, so I’m having 1000 of these stickers printed up:

Put one on your laptop, your moleskine, your car, your cat, whatever.  Just do something with them and make sure they go on Flickr with a lisanation tag (and mahalo and vlogidol).  I’ll be sending these out in a special package for all Startup Schwag subscribers ASAP, and I’ll send a free sticker to anyone who sends a SASE to the address listed below.  Is this cheating?  Maybe, but it’s a tool I have at my disposal and I’m damn sure going to take advantage of it.

I’m bringing my A-game, and I’m going to have the whole Internet with me.

For the stickers (and maybe some other random schwag I’ve got lying around if I get randy about it), just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to this address:

Since SASE is a two-way communication, feel free to send me stuff and I’ll post it on my own flickr stream.  And yes, this is my real home address.  If you come stalk me, I can and will say ugly things about you on the Internet.

Venture forth, my countrymen.  I did my best to win your hearts over the weekend…the power lies in your hands now.