Phillip Smith - Bringing the bits together

Tomorrow: Open City Workshop. In Edmonton, and online.

2010-03-05T23:00:00Z

Great looking workshop for #opencities enthusiasts across Canada:

If you are in Edmonton check it out otherwise you can join by webcast!

Open City Workshop: Building Community through Open Information

Date: Saturday March 6, 2010
Time: 9:30am to 4pm
Location: Art Gallery of Alberta

Join community leaders, academics, students, technology enthusiasts, public servants and elected officials to consider the possibilities and advance the role of open information in Edmonton and the surrounding region.

This workshop will build on the good work done at the City's Open Data Workshop in November 2009. The consultation and feedback received at that event led to the City's introduction of an Open Data Catalogue in January 2010.

Now, we want to hear how you and others think available data can be used in our city, province and country. The workshop will explore how technology might facilitate the principles of open government, increased transparency, collaboration between public sector bodies and residents, and participatory democracy.

Whether you have a great idea for an application, want to request a specific data set, or just want to learn what Gov 2.0 is, this workshop is for you.

For more information about this event, please visit the Open Data section on edmonton.ca. To register, go to the Open City Workshop's Eventbrite page or call 780-423-3443.

Via Tracey P. Lauriault.

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Gig with purpose: Brave New Films needs a Web Developer

2010-03-05T17:30:28Z

Another great opportunity. This time with Brave New Films, a pioneer in socially progressive documentaries and viral videos that was founded by filmmaker Robert Greenwald. Quick summary of the position is:

Wanted: a full-time Web Developer for Brave New Films (location: Anywhere, USA) to guide and implement our online tech efforts. Build HTML websites with light PHP code. Be on top of developments in social media and technologies to guide and inform our distribution strategy. We care less about writing perfect code and more about executing the clever idea that'll wreak havoc on the establishment. More info and apply at: http://bit.ly/djya2Y

Politics moves fast. We have some pretty intense deadlines, so we're pragmatic. Think startup meets non-profit political rabble rousers. We also get along well with people that have an excellent work ethic, juggle multiple tasks under tight deadlines, and realize this is not a 9-5 job.

Looks like a great opportunity to work with an innovative organization working for social change. Apply here.

Job with purpose: Awesomely Rad Web Developer. Washington, DC.

2010-03-05T17:07:54Z

Another great opportunity for the socially conscious geek...

Allyson Kapin from Rad Campaign -- a Web design, development, online Marketing and strategy firm that helps "organizations that want to change the world" -- writes that Rad Campaign is seeking an "Awesomely Rad Web Developer" for their DC-based office:

We're hiring a web developer. Know any good ones? Send them my way. Job description below.

Rad Campaign, one of the coolest online communications firms you will ever tech out with, is hiring an Awesomely Rad Web Developer based in Washington, DC. Rad Campaign is deeply committed to organizations that want to change the world and socially responsible businesses that want to claim their corner of it. We fight to conserve America's national forests and wildlife. We educate the public about becoming conscious consumers and why purchasing green, socially responsible products are better for the planet and our health. We fight for human rights throughout the world. We mobilize people across the US to fight for labor reform and real health care reform.

The full post is online here. This is a half-time position.

Canadian Democracy Geeks: Free MP Postal Code Lookup service now available

2010-03-04T20:30:28Z

Cross-posted from COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH - For clients, For colleagues, For Canada, Announcements, Miscellaneous, Daily churn

Exciting to (finally) see a freely available Web service for looking up Member of Parliament in Canada based on a postal code.

Historically, the various licensing costs and restrictions on the data required to support this service made it hard to provide as a "free as in free beer" service to organizations that wanted to make use of the data in advocacy applications and so on.

It seems those barriers have been lowered, as Cory Horner from the How'd They Vote team announces the service and speaks to the licensing questions:

I am pleased to present, at long last, a Postal Code to Member of Parliament web service:

http://howdtheyvote.ca/news.php?i=free-postal-code-lookup-service

Sadly the raw data cannot be shared, but fortunately the terms of the licence dictate that its use in a web service is permitted.

Russell McOrmond, a pioneer in this area, pressed Cory about lookups based on geolocation, i.e., enabling an end-user to click on a map and receive information on their Member of Parliament (made difficult by the nature of riding boundaries). And it appears that Cory has added that functionality to the API also, so that latitude and longitude can be used instead of postal code in the API query.

The geeky among you might want to also know that the service using PostGIS as the spatial database.

Exciting times in Canada, as geeks start to put the Web services in place to enable more democracy-enabling technology.

(Thanks to Civic Access for the info.)

Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Weekend reading: How publishers are charging for online content

2010-03-04T17:36:42Z

Cross-posted from COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH - For clients, For colleagues, For Canada, Announcements, Miscellaneous, Daily churn

Many of the publishers I work with are (still) grappling with questions about charging for content: if, why, how, and so on. These questions can become almost paralyzing when taken to their extreme, and in this situation I've often advocated to "give it away or don’t: pick one," i.e., choose a direction, stick with it for a while, and then re-assess. Nonetheless, there will be those that want to fret over the decision endlessly and to carefully consider every angle -- and those folks will want to have a look at Alastair Bruce's recent presentation about "Charging for content."

Bruce's presentation is a thorough examination of the current state of affairs in the online publishing world. He offers a comparison chart the explores the different models used by major newspapers, local news, and specialist publications. He delves into the specifics of many of the models -- micro-payments, metering, freemiums, etc. -- and leaves us with a nice snapshot of the landscape that's current to February 2010.

It will be a great addition to your weekend reading list, I promise. I particularly liked the exploration of how publishers are pulling social media, search advertising, and other models (membership, etc.) into their revenue mix. Great stuff and hope to see more like this from Mr. Bruce.

(Thanks to Mark Coddington's weekly roundup at Neiman Journalism Lab for the pointer)

Feel free to comment here or on the original post

March 6: Free video workshop for Toronto social change orgs.

2010-03-02T20:34:38Z

This just in from Celina Agaton of Films that Move via the Social Tech Training network:

Films That Move presents a free video workshop with TV Reporter, Kris Reyes for non-profit and social enterprise employees and volunteers.

When: Saturday, March 6, 2010 10am to Noon
Where: University of Toronto, Room TBD

What makes for a good story? How can you use the tools of today to help you create your own media? How do we make sure human interest stories don't get lost in the mix?

In this workshop, CityTV reporter Kris Reyes will try to help you answer those questions. She will also talk about the elements of a good story, how to shoot your own interviews, and share some ideas for creating and distributing your own media.

No agenda for the morning, but looks like an interesting opportunity for organizations that have an interest in exploring video and a Saturday morning to invest. Go register, it's free!

Canada: 10 years of policy neglect reflected in digital rankings

2010-03-01T21:07:00Z

The usual sharp analysis from Michael Geist in today's Star article:

Canada's sliding global ranking reflects 10 years of policy neglect. Other countries gave priority to digital issues while leaders from all parties here have been content to rest on the laurels of the late 1990s, only to wake up to a new, less-competitive reality in 2010.

Geist goes on to suggest an open data approach similar to those seen in the US and UK:

Beyond new legislation, government can use the next 100 days to lead by example. A new data.gc.ca website, with open government data sets like those found in the U.S. and U.K. should be easy to achieve. The government also could follow the Australian approach to solve the crown copyright problem that restricts use of government documents by adopting open licences that grant permission to use documents without formal approval (or the need for a new law).

Thanks to Tracey P. Lauriault / Civic Access for the tip.

Weekend reading: Illustrated Guide to Nonprofit GIS and Online Mapping.

2010-02-26T21:00:16Z

Cross-posted from COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH - For clients, For colleagues, For Canada, Announcements, Miscellaneous, Daily churn

This just in from Web of Change alumni Jim Craner:

"MapTogether (a project I work on) just released our first public version of our free "Illustrated Guide to Nonprofit GIS and Online Mapping" this week. It's 46 pages chock full of cartography for a cause!"

Had time to cozy up with the guide last night and am impressed with the content. Take a moment to check it out.

Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Request for proposal: Democracy Now! seeks CiviCRM expert.

2010-02-26T20:06:54Z

Image via Wikipedia

Democracy Now!, a long-time open-source software focused organization (and my personal favourite daily news show), is seeking technical assistance with a large CiviCRM project. You can read the full RFP on their Web site. Quick summary is:

Democracy Now! seeks to implement a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) system using CiviCRM to manage constituent relationships with donors and prospects, activists, stations, webstore customers, volunteers, and other constituents.

The overarching objective of the project is to increase the effectiveness of Democracy Now!'s global website and e-communications for both internal users (i.e. Democracy Now! Development and Outreach staff) as well as external users (i.e independent media consumers).

It appears that short expressions of interest are due by March 3rd. Great endorsement of CiviCRM by an award-winning news program that is now broadcast on over 800 radio and television stations worldwide.

Vancouver event: Digital Innovation: New Tools for Engagement. March 5.

2010-02-26T20:00:20Z

Cross-posted from COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH - For clients, For colleagues, For Canada, Announcements, Miscellaneous, Daily churn

This just in from online strategy sage Jason Mogus of Communicopia:

Digital Innovation: New Tools for Engagement

Social Media is dramatically changing the way we build relationships, lead our organizations, and inspire social change. Coupled with new technologies is an increased demand from consumers and clients for accountability, access to information and transparent institutional conduct. This course will focus on how your organization can make the cultural shift required to capitalize on technology’s capacity for creating meaningful public participation and social change. You’ll leave this course with fresh perspectives and concrete ideas about how your organization can embrace technology to further your social mission.

You will learn:

how to use emerging digital tools to engage the individuals or groups that influence your organization
how digital tools can aid collaboration across your organization best practices from other organizations who have succeeded in using digital innovation to collaborate across silos, create authentic dialogue with the public, harvest new ideas, and better respond to a changing world

how to overcome barriers in order to foster a culture of openness and collaboration in your organization with regard to digital innovation

what human resource models are needed to support effective use of social media

Who should attend: This course is of interest to managers and leaders in the public and non profit sectors who want to better use social media to engage their constituents and further their social mission. Seating is limited to 40 participants.

Great opportunity for this in Vancouver to learn from an experienced leader in the field of social media and online campaigning.

The event is on March 5, 2010 and the cost to attend is $195. The registration site is here.

Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Two great tastes that taste great together: Bricolage and Drupal

2010-02-26T18:00:30Z

Cross-posted from COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH - For clients, For colleagues, For Canada, Announcements, Miscellaneous, Daily churn

Long-time "Bricoleur" Chris Schults reports that every Seattleite's favourite co-op, PCC Natural Markets (the largest consumer-owned natural food retail co-operative in the United States), has just re-launched their Web property using BricolageCMS and Drupal:

Last week PCC launched its redesigned website, which is a blend of Bricolage, Drupal and custom PHP.

So far, the response has been very positive, and I invite you to give the new site a whirl:

http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris, if ever so briefly, while we were both working on a re-launch of online daily environmental news site Grist.org in 2004, which was re-built using BricolageCMS (now running Expression Engine, I believe). Five years later and Chris is the Bricolage expert -- I love it.

Interestingly, online daily news site TheTyee.ca made a similar decision to use BricolageCMS and Drupal when they upgraded their Web operation recently, and they've contributed a model to help folks make similar integrations.

Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Weekend reading: Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice.

2010-02-16T22:47:28Z

As someone who's on the road a fair bit, I'm an avid Safari Books Online user (you can access some of the Safari Books Online library for free, if you have a Toronto Public Library membership). This week, I got one of those regular marketing e-mails with new books that I might be interested in, and stumbled on Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice (Amazon link) by Daniel Lathrop and Laurel Ruma.

The Amazon overview is as follows:

In a world where web services can make real-time data accessible to anyone, how can the government leverage this openness to improve its operations and increase citizen participation and awareness? Through a collection of essays and case studies, leading visionaries and practitioners both inside and outside of government share their ideas on how to achieve and direct this emerging world of online collaboration, transparency, and participation.

And the authors' bios:

Open Government editors: Daniel Lathrop is a former investigative projects reporter with the Seattle Post Intelligencer who's covered politics in Washington state, Iowa, Florida, and Washington D.C. He's a specialist in campaign finance and "computer-assisted reporting" -- the practice of using data analysis to report the news. Laurel Ruma is the Gov 2.0 Evangelist at O'Reilly Media. She is also co-chair for the Gov 2.0 Expo.

I've thrown this onto my "bookshelf" for a leisurely weekend read. Looks like a substantial collection and a number of knowledgeable people have contributed to this (rather large) tome on the ever-exciting topic of Open Government. Reading group, anyone?

Super Seattle job: Now Hiring - Groundwire Labs Manager

2010-02-16T18:53:35Z

Another great job opportunity for those passionate about social-change and technology:

Groundwire Labs Manager

We are looking for someone to run Groundwire Labs. As the Groundwire Labs Manager, you'll lead Groundwire's R&D investments and define the cutting edge of how we use technology to help organizations do a better job of engaging their communities. It's all with an eye to our mission of building a sustainable society.

Download the full job description here.

This is a new position at Groundwire - a bet on our ability to use innovation as a powerful catalyst of social change. This is an unprecedented opportunity for the candidate with the right mix of tech-savvy, entrepreneurialism and passion for social change and a sustainable world.

Our ideal candidate will have a mix of technology, business and mission-related experience. She or he will feel equally at ease leading our technical and consulting staff and working with individual donors and foundation officers to fund this important work. We are looking for someone with passion, who leads by example and inspires a commitment to innovation grounded in pragmatism and insistence on real-world impact.

Read more at http://groundwire.org/about/jobs/groundwire-labs-manager

Groundwire (formerly ONE/Northwest) are one of the most innovative non-profit-to-non-profit technology assistance providers that I've ever come across. They're all about innovation and community, and have a super-sweet Seattle-based office to boot.

Tomorrow in DC: The Future of News w/ Free Press, The Nation, UNITY and Firedoglake

2010-02-15T22:51:34Z

This one slid off my desk last Friday, hoping that some of you in DC still have time to slip into this FreePress-sponsored event in DC tomorrow:

I hope those of you in the D.C. area can join us next Tuesday night at the National Press Club for an event and discussion about the future of news. Free Press co-founders Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols will be talking about journalism in America today -- and how we can save it. They'll be joined by Jane Hamsher, founder and publisher of Firedoglake.com; Chris Hayes, Washington editor of The Nation; and Ivan Roman, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

It's free and open to the public. Here are the details:

What: A conversation about the future of journalism When: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m. Where: The National Press Club - Holeman Lounge 529 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20045

RSVP: Go to the Facebook event page.

Co-sponsors: Free Press, The Nation, UNITY: Journalists of Color, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Firedoglake.com.

Everyone's invited, so please help us spread the word.

NYC event for advocacy orgs: Ten Tactics film and toolkit. Wed, Feb 17th.

2010-02-15T22:26:23Z

If you're working with advocacy organizations and you're located close to NYC, this looks like a great event:

The Tactical Tech Collective is working with Organizing 2.0 to promote their new film, Ten Tactics for Turning Information into Action. The New York premiere is this coming Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7pm. Get your advance tickets here.

In addition, they sent us copies of their associated droolworthy toolkits. You can have one of 'em too. Just tell us why you or your organization should get one, and how you might put it to good use. Then, show up at the event, and you stand a good chance of winning! We have twenty of these suckers, so your chances are not bad. Tell us on our blog or over at the GrassrootsCamp Meetup site.

The film, included in half the toolkits, covers 35 examples of grassroots activists doing something nifty online. One of my favorite examples is the story of the pink chaddis in India. (Chaddis = women's underwear in Hindi.) Feminist activists protesting a violent, right wing group's efforts to punish women for visiting bars called on supporters to send pink chaddis to the group's leader. On Valentine's Day, of course. This Facebook based campaign worked and received international attention.

Other examples cover bloggers in Egypt, text messaging in Kenya, crowdsourcing in Mumbai, fighting corruption in Morocco, capturing human rights abuses on video in Burma and Iran.

Ten Tactics does a great job of laying out precisely how and why activists chose particular tools, what obstacles they faced and overcame, and what the results where on the issue in question. There's a bias at work - the Tactical Tech Collective wants to make online tools accessible to as many people and organizations as possible. So they chose many examples that rely far more on creativity and courage than on technical skill and equipment. Most of the examples are from developing countries, highlighting the fact that online activism is not some kind of elite strategy only relevant for well resourced groups like MoveOn or the Obama campaign.

Apologies for the late notice on this one. The Tactical Tech Collective has always done impressive work, and no doubt this will be equally amazing. Look forward to some report backs. (Via Charles Lenchner at Organizing 2.0)