Collaborative Politics Online: Principles, Pitfalls and Practical Advice

The panel Collaborative Politics Online: Principles, Pitfalls and Practical Advice will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, April 20th, in Hemisphere A.

Speakers

 * Kamy Akhavan - Kambiz “Kamy” Akhavan has served as Managing Editor of ProCon.org (www.procon.org) since December 2004. ProCon.org is a 501c3 non-profit that comprehensively researches and structures arguments and quotations on specific topics in a simple pro/con format. ProCon.org has in-house researchers who scour diverse sources online, in libraries, on broadcasts, via mail, and through email, phone, and in-person interviews to acquire the best pro and con statements.  The ProCon.org websites are 100% free and contain no advertising. Kamy has over 15 years of experience in making serious educational content entertaining, accessible, and affordable. His work has been published in textbooks, magazines, newspapers, and websites across the United States. He received a BA (magna cum laude) and MA (summa cum laude) in History from the University of California Los Angeles. Kamy was born in Iran, grew up in Southern Louisiana, and has lived in California for about 20 years. He loves music, politics, surfing, running, his wife, and ProCon.org. You can email him at kamy@procon.org.


 * John Broughton - John Broughton is an experienced Wikipedia contributor who has been involved in editing many controversial political articles. He is the author of "Wikipedia: The Missing Manual", published by O'Reilly Media in 2008.


 * Eric Odom - Eric Odom is an online politics consultant. Eric was one of the organizers behind the #dontgo, #teaparty and other conservative Twitter projects.


 * Michael Silberman - Michael Silberman is a founding Partner of EchoDitto, a leading strategic online communications and technology firm dedicated to building vibrant communities online and empowering people through the creative use of emerging technologies. EchoDitto works with its clients to leverage new media and participatory technologies as a vehicle for affecting positive social and environmental change. Recent work includes exciting projects with the William J. Clinton Foundation, Seventh Generation, Free Press, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Prior to co-founding EchoDitto, Silberman managed the grassroots field organizing and leadership development programs for Howard Dean's renowned presidential run in 2004. As National Meetup Director, he developed a team and technology strategy that mobilized 189,000 volunteers in over 1,200 cities worldwide. He is a frequent writer and speaker on the effective use of technology for converting online activity into real-world action. Silberman also gained valuable organizing and political experience at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and in the Clinton White House at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). He graduated on skis with a B.A. from Middlebury College.


 * Conor Kenny (Moderator) - Conor Kenny is the Senior Editor at OpenCongress.org, a project of the Sunlight Foundation and Participatory Politics Foundation. Conor was also the managing editor of Congresspedia.org and one of the organizers of the Superdelegate Transparency Project. He was previously an investigative researcher on money-in-politics issues.

From John
A couple of philosophical articles that are easy to read as well as intelligent and informative, about on-line collaboration:


 * Clay Shirky's "A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy"


 * Nicholson Baker's "Charms of Wikipedia"

An example of a somewhat unsuccessful online collaboration, useful because of the detailed subsequent analysis, is this Wired article from July 2007: [http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2007/07/assignment_zero_final Did Assignment Zero Fail? A Look Back, and Lessons Learned].

And a couple of places where collaboration on the web works well, with very minimal central oversight. The control mechanisms are very different; the first charges $5 for a new account, the second has a point system where participating members get powers to deal with community problems.


 * Metafilter


 * Joel on Software discussion groups, such as this.

From Kamy

 * Example link - This is an example link. Go ahead and delete/replace it. In the rich editor, create a link by highlighting text and then clicking the world icon above. Don't forget the "http:".

From Michael

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From Conor

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General/from discussion

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