Personal Democracy Forum 2008
Note by Salim Ismailsalim:
Brian: referencing the thin nerdy line:
- there are two other thin nerdy lines that i'm reminded of...
1. Original Apache project was about sharing tips of building websites (from scratch)
- take advantage of easy leverage (e.g. easy to download s/w for free)
- except for 20%, the group had never met
- now more of a guild structure
2. grew into Mozilla, supported by Netscape
- Firefox came out of that via Blake Ross
- disruptive change is part of the open source culture
Scott Heiferman
- reading bits of the Walt Whitman poem "Yes, we can"
- amazing what self-organizing groups can do
- we're building the next-gen of that - what do groups of groups look like?
- what does the 5000-group climate change super-org look like?
- 5% of americans were presidents of their local orgs in 1955 (via Zephyr Teachout)
- leadership is about a basis for self-organization
Gina Cooper
(missed a few mins)
- no one is going to tell you to go be a leader
- leadership is all about the next challenge
- people are getting used to having a voice and and are going to demand one
- what does people-powered government look like?" Expertise vs crowdsourcing. These are not opposites
Craig Newmark
- 20 yrs ago I was at IBM and felt a tingling (later I figured out it was inspiration)
- a boss tells you what to do, a leader enrolls you into what you want to do
- today, the people running campaigns... their job is to get their guy elected. After election, they have to figure out what to do next
What i've learned over 13 years of CL
1. Millenials 'get' that through the network they can do things - they're getting things done
2. Participatory gov't - give people responsibility and they'll respond in a similar fashion
3. CL operates via self-governance, and we listen a lot
4. Any power/leadership we exert, we give away
- transparency is totally key
Q&A
- how are established old-world structures reacting?
A: they're resisting (of course)
Q: can you talk about what happened with CL during Katrina?
A: people started using CL for announcements, housing and jobs
Q: What is the role of crises in moving forward participatory democracy
A: there's actually being established a national tech corps who can help during emergencies
Andrew: broadband is a big issue. It won't work if only half the population has broadband.
Micah - internet is as important as having a dialtone - it's a civil right
Last question: Micah's father: what role does education play in getting them involved?
A: new savvy generation will self-manage and self educate...
- there are two other thin nerdy lines that i'm reminded of...
1. Original Apache project was about sharing tips of building websites (from scratch)
- take advantage of easy leverage (e.g. easy to download s/w for free)
- except for 20%, the group had never met
- now more of a guild structure
2. grew into Mozilla, supported by Netscape
- Firefox came out of that via Blake Ross
- disruptive change is part of the open source culture
Scott Heiferman
- reading bits of the Walt Whitman poem "Yes, we can"
- amazing what self-organizing groups can do
- we're building the next-gen of that - what do groups of groups look like?
- what does the 5000-group climate change super-org look like?
- 5% of americans were presidents of their local orgs in 1955 (via Zephyr Teachout)
- leadership is about a basis for self-organization
Gina Cooper
(missed a few mins)
- no one is going to tell you to go be a leader
- leadership is all about the next challenge
- people are getting used to having a voice and and are going to demand one
- what does people-powered government look like?" Expertise vs crowdsourcing. These are not opposites
Craig Newmark
- 20 yrs ago I was at IBM and felt a tingling (later I figured out it was inspiration)
- a boss tells you what to do, a leader enrolls you into what you want to do
- today, the people running campaigns... their job is to get their guy elected. After election, they have to figure out what to do next
What i've learned over 13 years of CL
1. Millenials 'get' that through the network they can do things - they're getting things done
2. Participatory gov't - give people responsibility and they'll respond in a similar fashion
3. CL operates via self-governance, and we listen a lot
4. Any power/leadership we exert, we give away
- transparency is totally key
Q&A
- how are established old-world structures reacting?
A: they're resisting (of course)
Q: can you talk about what happened with CL during Katrina?
A: people started using CL for announcements, housing and jobs
Q: What is the role of crises in moving forward participatory democracy
A: there's actually being established a national tech corps who can help during emergencies
Andrew: broadband is a big issue. It won't work if only half the population has broadband.
Micah - internet is as important as having a dialtone - it's a civil right
Last question: Micah's father: what role does education play in getting them involved?
A: new savvy generation will self-manage and self educate...
