Reflections on Technology from Davenport

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

This post comes via the Gov 2.0 Watch blog, which is a project the Davenport Institute (an NCDD organizational member). You can read the post below or find the original here. We think a lot about using technology to enhance democracy here at NCDD, and we wanted to share this post that reminds that technology can be used for good and for ill. It’s a tool, not a panacea.

Technology and Democracy

While technology offers many interesting possibilities for strengthening democracy, it is important not to get so caught up in the promise that we forget technology is a tool rather than a solution. Comparing and contrasting surveillance practices in China and the U.S., Kentaro Toyama argues in The Atlantic that technology only reinforces “underlying political forces” already present in a society, which may or may not be democratic:

What both Chinese censorship and American surveillance show is that there is nothing inherently democratizing about digital networks, at least not in the political sense. Far-reaching communication tools only make it easier to impose constraints on the freedom of expression or the right to privacy. Never before have Chinese censors had it so easy in identifying subversive voices, and never before has the NSA been able to eavesdrop on the private communications of so many people.

Toyama raises interesting questions about the relationship between communications technology, democracy, and political freedoms:

Many of us take advantage of online government services, and electronic voting machines can streamline elections. So, the digital can support democracy. But, the reason why the Internet seems “democratizing” in America is exactly because America is a democracy. We have free speech online because we have free speech offline, not the other way around…What does this mean for anyone working to spread or strengthen democracy? It means that focusing on new technological tools is far less important than focusing on the underlying politics.

You can read the full article here.

Two years ago, Toyama wrote about technology’s role in widespread social changes, with reference to uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen that sparked what came to be known as the Arab Spring. You can read this earlier article here.

Contributor: Benjamin Peterson, Pepperdine School of Public Policy, MPP Candidate ’15

Participate in “Real Dialogues” Hangout Today!

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

We’re excited to invite you to participate in the most exciting phase yet of the Real Dialogues project, their very first Google+ Hangout discussion! You may remember that the Real Dialogues D&D reality show was one of the winners of NCDD’s Catalyst Awards, and we are proud to see the project entering its production phase! Now you can participate in the project yourself by joining the conversation.

This first dialogue starts Tuesday, October 29th, at 5pm Central so make sure to email realdialogues@gmail.com immediately to sign up! They are specifically seeking participants from Illinois, so please also tell your IL friends about this great opportunity by having them check out the announcement below or pointing them to the original post on Real Dialogues’ website here.

Real Dialogues Fall Update: Entering Production Phase

After months of design work and preparation, our Catalyst Award project is finally entering its production phase!

We will be using Google+ Hangouts to host three rounds of facilitated small-group dialogues online on the issue of employment and the minimum wage in the greater Chicago, IL area:

The first Hangout is for our participants to get to know each other and to explain and hear about their employment situations.
The second Hangout will feature interviews with Conservative, Liberal and Alternative experts, who will also drop in to answer questions.
The third Hangout aims to tie it all together: what have people learned, have they changed their perspectives, and will this affect their lives?

This first Hangout takes place Tuesday, October 29 at 5pm Central Time (that’s 3pm Pacific, 6pm Eastern).

We are very pleased to welcome Susanna Haas Lyons as our facilitator. Susanna will be facilitating a group of people from the Chicago area to discuss work and the minimum wage. They include employees, employers, minimum wage workers, unemployed job seekers and other people interested in the issue.

Participants wanted

We have a couple of spaces left for Illinois-based people to participate! If you live in Illinois and want to join, email realdialogues@gmail.com immediately, so we can get you set up.

Audience welcome

Anyone can watch this Hangout and use the new Google+ Q&A feature to ask the participants questions (to ask a question or comment, you will be instructed to join or sign in to Google+).

Invitation to 3rd round of dialogue on Race, Poverty & Wealth in America

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Sandy Heierbacher

Here’s an invitation from Ben Roberts of The Conversation Collaborative to participate in the third (and final) round of the innovative online conversation he’s hosting as part of the National Dialogue Network initiative…

From now through October 31st, please join us on hackpad, on the phone and perhaps in person as well, as we continue to explore the topic of race as it relates to the National Dialogue Network’s topic of Poverty and Wealth in America.

The stories we tell ourselves concerning race, poverty and wealth will be the focus of our Round Three inquiry. You can be a “story teller” and/or a listener/respondent. Thank you to Helen Roberts and Safeer Hopton for agreeing to share their stories to get us started. You can listen to Helen’s recording and then post reflections on our here on the “Story 1” pad, and read or listen to Safeer’s interview here on the “Story 2” pad. You can also…

Go to one of our additional pads and share your own story there
Pair up with a friend (live or virtually) and interview one another
Email me and request that I interview you (this Sunday afternoon or in the morning Eastern during the week is good timing).
Join the conversation on our “spin off” pad on “Race and Culture” or “Changes to Voting Laws.”

See the main pad for Round Three to get started on all of the above.

We also have two interactive MaestroConference calls next week. These calls will feature a brief orientation for those who are new to the conversation, plenty of time for dialogue in small and large groups, and two special guest conversation starters. Stay tuned for more info. Note that if you’re receiving this email from me, you’re already registered. Here are the times for the calls:

Tuesday, Oct 29 from 3-5pm Pacific/6-8pm Eastern
Thursday, Oct 31 at 11am-1pm Pacific/2-4pm Eastern

Finally, as part of our collaboration with the National Dialogue Network, we request that you take their survey here. This is our way of connecting our thinking together with that of other groups having similar conversations as part of this initiative.

Hope to “see” you soon on the pads and on the phone, and thank you for your interest and participation to date!

Our field’s readiness to engage people online

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Sandy Heierbacher

As part of the Online Facilitation Unconference that’s going on right now in the midst of IAF’s International Facilitation Week, I’d like to engage people around a compelling report produced by our friends at AmericaSpeaks, an NCDD organizational member.

The report is nice and short (just 5 pages long!), and focuses on how we might use new forms of media, digital platforms, and citizen engagement principles to reengage the center and those who have turned out due to apathy and disgust. Download it here.

It’s a good read, but I wanted to encourage us to reflect on / respond to a few points made in the article that question our field’s readiness to move into the online realm. For those new to NCDD who might be coming in from the unconference, by “our field” I’m talking about the community of practitioners and innovators whose work centers on participatory practices like dialogue and deliberation.

The authors make a compelling and troubling statement about the readiness of dialogue and deliberation practitioners to move into the online realm:

Many resources exist within the field of “deliberative democracy” about ways to create effective and meaningful citizen engagement that is linked to policy making. However, this field is historically linked to in-person, face-to-face engagement and has been challenged to successfully translate to online and digital engagement….

Some efforts have been made from within the dialogue and deliberation community to create online dialogue forums, but they have not been able to attract participants and have not yet proven that they would be effective with large numbers of participants. Could some form of online tool that combines a reputation system, peer monitoring, language processing, sentiment analysis, and targeted interventions by human facilitators overcome this challenge? This is an area that requires considerable experimentation along with some research and development.

Practitioners of citizen engagement have been hampered by their inability to separate methodology from the principles discussed above. It is difficult for experienced practitioners to set aside their traditional methods. In order to find new ways of achieving these principles in online engagement, extensive collaboration with those experienced in digital engagement will be necessary.

Do these statements ring true to you? A lot of it certainly rings true to me, but I’m curious whether others will disagree.

And if our community needs to separate our allegiance to specific face-to-face engagement methodologies in order to be more successful engaging people online, how can we best do that? What principles and practices do we need to hold onto, and what can we let go? Do you agree with the principles the authors cited as needing to be upheld whether engagement happens face-to-face or online — linked to decision making, diverse representation, informed participation and facilitation? What else would you add?

Ideation Nation Contest

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

We wanted to share the post below from our partners at the Davenport Institute’s Gov 2.0 Watch blog about an exciting chance to win $5,000 in the Ideation Nation Contest. Find out more, and good luck in the contest!

MindMixer and Code for America are hosting a nationwide contest for ideas of how to improve the ways citizens and governments work together:

MindMixer and Code for America are teaming up for a month-long, nation-wide call for ideas. From September 24 through October 31, we’re asking Americans to share their informed ideas about how to improve the ways citizens and governments work together.

This is a chance for citizens to be a part of something bigger — an opportunity to share thoughtful community-building ideas that could be a catalyst for creating better communities. While most people are not experts in economics or policy, they are truly the firsthand experts about the communities they live in, with different perspectives from policy makers and government leaders.

You can read more about how to participate in the contest here, and follow ideas here.

Announcing the Online Facilitation Unconference: Oct. 23-25

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

NCDD is proud to be collaborating as a Media Partner in next week’s Online Facilitation Unconference! The Unconference is a free, fully digital convergence of folks from around the world interested in sharing and learning about virtual facilitation (i.e. facilitating and moderating online).

You can read the event description below or find out more and register for the Unconference at http://ofu13.eventbrite.com. You won’t want to miss this innovative event, so make sure to register ASAP! We’d love to see lots of NCDD members participating.

The Online Facilitation Unconference is part of the first-ever International Facilitation Week, which you can find out more about on the International Association of Facilitators website.

Facilitation Across Time and Space: How to Create Change Through Virtual Environments?

Online Facilitation Unconference 2013

A community-driven event as part of International Facilitation Week

When it comes to helping groups and communities achieve their desired outcomes, technology is playing an increasingly important role. But how can we really deliver the same value in virtual environments that we know how to deliver in person? How can we operate with the same integrity?

This informal, community-driven event will bring together experts and novices, professionals and volunteers, to share and learn together and to explore the challenges and opportunities we have before us.

As an unconference, the participants will be in charge of defining the topics and setting the agenda.

Come join us. Free to attend!

PS: More information will become available shortly. Watch this space for updates!

What?

An informal, community-driven event for people to share and learn about the exciting world of facilitating in virtual environments.

When?

This event will take place during and as part of International Facilitation Week, October 21-27, 2013.

Start: Wednesday, 10/23 in the morning (Pacific Time)
End: Friday, 10/25 in the evening (Pacific Time)

Cornerstone activities:

10/23 (morning PT): Kick-off for the Americas, Europe, Africa
10/23 (evening PT): Kick-off II for the Americas, Asia, Australasia (tentative)
10/24 (9-10am PT): Twitter chat “Facilitating a Diverse Group of People” (follow #facweekchat)
10/25 (evening PT): Closing

Why should I attend?

If you are already an online facilitation expert, this is a great opportunity to share your knowledge with others.

If you are new to online facilitation, this will be a great opportunity to make new connections with people who share your interest. Hopefully, we’ll all learn a few things!

This is an international event. Expect to meet fellow facilitators from these countries:

An “unconference”? How does that work?

An unconference is a conference where sessions are programmed and led by the attendees. They are hands-on, flexible, a little casual but very hard working. All the sessions are open for attendees to define, describe, and lead. You’ll find the format to be energizing and entertaining.

We will set up a website that will allow participants to suggest and schedule sessions on any topic they think is relevant. Participants can then sign up for any session they are interested in.

Session hosts are free to choose their preferred session format and delivery channel, e.g. webinar, conference call, Google hangout, chat… you name it!

Everyone is encouraged to help document the sessions they attend, share any lessons learned and provide feedback on what worked and what could be improved next time. We may provide volunteers to help with documentation and reporting.

We plan to offer some kind of kick-off and closing session as well as a “lounge” where participants can hang out in between sessions.

Potential session formats:

Small-group discussion
Classroom presentation
Tool demo
Panel disucssion

Potential session topics:

How-tos
Case studies
Academic research

Do I have to be there for the entire 60 hours?

Of course not! We’re still working on the details, obviously, so thank you for bearing with us.

At the beginning (Wednesday), we’ll spend some time on introductions, identifying a first round of topics, suggesting and scheduling sessions etc. We hope to offer some kind of (synchronous) kick-off activity where people can first connect with one another. And we’ll have a website where this coordination can take place throughout the day and maybe even into the second day (asynchronously).

Our guess is this process will take a while. Plus we want to build in a minimum of lead time. So once a sessions has been scheduled, we want to make sure we can announce it to all attendees.

In the end, the average participant may only spend 2-3 hours total to attend a couple of sessions they are interested in. You are welcome to spend a lot more time, of course, but we don’t expect anyone to be present the entire 60 hours.

How much does it cost to attend?

The event is free to attend. We ask for a small donation to help cover costs.

Are you looking for sponsors?

Yes! We are looking for sponsors to help us offset the cost of organizing, technology setup and documentation. Details soon! Contact us if you’d like to get involved.

How will you spend the money?

We want to make sure every session gets properly documented. To that end, we’d like to hire a few students with facilitation background to write session summaries and help us capture the key take-aways. So essentially, this is a scribe / harvester role.

Another area we’d like to staff is our lounge area where people find a friendly welcome and receive help with any technology issues. This is a greeter / tech support kind of role.

We also want to report session impressions and outcomes in a timely manner via our website and social media. Maybe follow up with session hosts or participants, do a few interviews etc. This is a reporter / community weaver role.

Provided the event goes well (i.e. lots of interesting sessions, all well documented), we’d like to produce a final report. This will likely require the help of a professional editor and graphic designer.

If we have leftover funds, we will reimburse the volunteer organizing team, albeit symbolically (probably a fixed-sum stipend for everyone).

Finally, if we can pull it off, we’d love to do t-shirts (hey, who said you can’t have give-aways at a virtual event, eh?). We’re asking for t-shirt size in the sign-up form, just in case. However, we realize this is absolutely a nice-to-have and would definitely require very strong sponsor support.

Donor list

Thank you to all of our donors for raising a total of $235 so far:

Up to $50:

Tim Bonnemann
Sandy Heierbacher

Up to $25:

Debra Bridgman
Raines Cohen
Laurie Dougherty
Kathryn Elliott
Betsy Morris
1 anonymous donor

If you’d like to donate, just choose “Participant + donation” in the sign-up form and enter the amount you’d like to give.

How can I get involved?

There are many ways people can support this project. Please contact us to be included in future communications. Our interactive website will be available shortly.

Let us know your ideas. What would you like this event to be like?
Join the planning team
Help setting up our web infrastructure (we’ll keep it lean, but a few things need doing)
Help get the word out in your community
Suggest a session
Host a session
Attend a session
Help with documentation
Help with coverage during the event (e.g. social media)
Become an event sponsor
Become a media partner
Write a blog post
Share resources

Who are the organizers?

Core team:

Tim Bonnemann, Founder and CEO, Intellitics, Inc.
Tricia Chirumbole, Facilitator & Scrum Master, Mojo Collaborative
Douglas Ambort
Helen Wythe
Fedor Ovchinnikov, Participatory Leadership Consultant and Facilitator

Supporting members:

John Kelly
Birgitta von Krosigk

Want to join the organizing team? Please contact us to be included in future communications.

Media partners

Thank you to our media partners:

National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD)

Please contact us if you’d like to become a media partner.

Have questions about Online Facilitation Unconference 2013? Contact The OFU13 Team

New NIF Issue Guide: Who Protects Our Privacy?

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

Our partners at the National Issues Forum Institute have developed a new issue guide, this time in partnership with American Library Association, that we encourage you to find out more about. The guide is called “Who Do I Trust to Protect My Privacy?”, and it is designed to help guide conversations about how our personal information should be protected and by whom. In our digitized and tech-integrated world, we have to find a way to strike the right balance between information accessibility and personal privacy – this guide can help you engage participants in quality discussions on how we actually get there.

This excerpt from the introduction gets to the heart of what this newest guide is about:

In an era of social networks, online databases, and cloud computing, more and more individuals’ personal information is available online and elsewhere. The ease of communicating information in the digital age has changed the way we live, learn, work, and govern. But such instant access to information also presents new challenges to our personal privacy. We depend more and more on evolving technologies and social norms that encourage the disclosure of personal information. What are our expectations for privacy in the digital realm? Is it reasonable to expect that information by and about us remain private? Who do I trust to protect my privacy?

As with other NIF guides, three options for moving forward are laid out for further deliberation. The guide challenges participants to deliberate and decide on which of the following entities should have the final responsibility for protecting our privacy:

Option 1: The Marketplace
Option 2: The Government
Option 3: Myself

For a deeper look at how we might weigh these options, check out the NIF’s full blog post about the guide by clicking here.

You can also find more issue materials, including moderator guides and questionnaires at this link.

Enjoy the guide, good luck as you move forward with deliberations on how to better protect our privacy!

Making Municipal Laws More Accessible

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

We were quite impressed with the updated version of an innovative tool that our friends at the OpenGov Foundation have been working on that is called BaltimoreCode.org. The website is designed to make the laws that govern Baltimore not only open and transparent, but open for comment, criticism, or input from everyday citizens.

Today, BaltimoreCode.org doesn’t just give you a Google-level law search engine. It doesn’t just give you a modern, user-friendly experience. Now, you can speak out and comment directly on the laws of Baltimore City.

That’s right. When you discover a law that isn’t working well for Baltimoreans, or that is a massive headache for you, you can quickly and easily identify it right there on the same page.

With municipal, state, and federal laws and their interactions being more complex than ever, this nifty tool could provide a great jumping off point for broader accountability, transparency, and participation in our laws.

You can read the original post about the new update on OpenGov Foundation’s blog here, or go straight to the www.BaltimoreCode.org to find out more.

Is Twitter Really the New Town Hall?

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Roshan Bliss

Our interest was piqued by two recent posts from the Gov 2.0 Watch blog (one of the blogs of the Davenport Institute, an NCDD org member). They have been posting recently about the ways social media can and is changing the way government interacts with the public, and we wanted to share two posts that provoke real considerations about how we should move forward with integrating social media into civic dialogue and deliberation.

First, Gov 2.0 Watch shared the post below on Lessons from Spain to be learned from the unprecedented use of Twitter in the Spanish city of Jun:

Mayor Jose Antonio Rodrigues, of the spanish town of Jun, has fully embraced twitter — and may have some lessons for other cities:

Because of this unprecedented Twitter integration into city governance, we have seen some great stories of what a “Twitter town square” can look like:

The mayor gathers city council agenda items via Twitter (@AyuntamientoJun) and displays a live, unfiltered Twitter feed during each public meeting.

Every town councilor has an individual Twitter handle; citizens have a direct line of communication with Jun’s leadership.

Residents can Tweet about issues of concern to the mayor, who replies publicly on Twitter about how these issues will be addressed, along with how and when the issue was resolved. For example, after exposed wires were reported, they were fitted with a proper cover in about 24 hours.

Jun encourages citizens of all ages to learn to use Twitter. Even older residents are active in civic life and engaged with others on Twitter.

You can read more here.

And that post was followed up by another that points to recent thought on the growth and evolution of social town halls from Harvard:

Stephen Goldsmith of the Ash Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School takes a look at how social media is evolving when it comes to public engagement with government:

Social media is the new town hall, where government leaders join residents in the constant digital conversation that occurs on Twitter and other sites. However, in addition to straightforward communication, social media offers much more in transforming how government works and listens. The use of social media is now evolving through four stages.

You can read about these stages here.

As we continue to see social media become a bigger part of our governance, dialogue, and deliberation, it will be crucial for our field to continue to explore, critique, and experiment with the ins and outs of its integration.

Do the above posts from Davenport raise questions for you or inspire reflections on social media and our work? Is Twitter the new town hall, or is it not? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section, or tweet them to our Twitter handle, @NCDD!

You can find the original Gov 2.0 Watch blog post on Spain here, and the original post on social town halls is here.

Join us Sept 16th for an online town hall on veterans’ mental health

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Sandy Heierbacher

I want to invite all members of the NCDD community to join us next Monday, September 16th, for a day-long online town hall (10am-7pm Eastern) on veterans mental health on the Civic Commons. This Creating Community Solutions event will be hosted by Congressman Ron Barber (AZ), and is part of the National Dialogue on Mental Health.

Join us on the 16th at www.theciviccommons.com/mentalhealth.

United States Army Veteran Matthew Randle will be joining Congressman Barber to help inform and inspire our online discussion, and NCDD supporting member Kim Crowley will be serving as our lead moderator for the town hall.

The Veterans Mental Health Online Town Hall will be a national conversation in which anyone can participate to discuss veterans’ mental health. Post questions, share your stories, and participate in this online dialogue with the Congressman.

This special event will be publicized heavily by our partners, and we hope it will draw in many more participants to the 6 discussion topics we’re already running at the Civic Commons on mental health, with a great group of volunteer moderators from NCDD.

Why a town hall on veterans’ mental health?

Because many of our veterans return home with battle scars that can’t be seen
Because families and loved ones sometimes don’t know what to say or how to help
Because an average of 22 veterans commit suicide every day
Because veterans might not know where to find help
Because we don’t often get the chance to talk about this important public issue civilly and openly online
Because there’s a lot we can learn from each other

For more information…

Visit the event page on the Creating Community Solutions site. Or just join us on the 16th anytime after 10am Eastern.

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