Janahan Vivekanandan of SayNow told me about their startup. They're helping creatives (musicians, comics, bloggers) with thousands of fans to create a two-way conversation. A voice conversation. Sure it's been done for years with email, but their service supports phone calls, SMS, and web interfaces.

Broadcast to your subscribers by calling from a phone or uploading an mp3 to the web. Your fans get a phone call, text or email with your message, and options to do more, like surveys or buy stuff. They can leave you a personal message, an intimate communication. As the star in your world, you may also talk back to individuals if you like.

While they've been targeting creative talent, SayNow could be in for Meetup-style growth in the 2008 US election cycle.