Please pass this announcement on to those you know in the Boston area. If you are from outside the Harvard community, come on along and cc: clift@publicus.net with your RSVP as noted below. If you are outside the area, consider joining my 2500 person blog/e-newsletter on "e-democracy" topics from e-participation in government to citizen media: http://groups.dowire.org/groups/newswire Steven Clift http://e-democracy.org http://dowire.org EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT The Leadership for a Networked World Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government invites to join Steven Clift, an international expert on "e-democracy" in government and community and new Ashoka Fellow, for a two-part seminar: What: "Global E-Democracy Trends" and "Better than Blogging? Building Local Online Dialogue." When: 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., Thursday, February 22nd, 2006 Where: Taubman B, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/main/directions.htm RSVP: Space is limited. Please RSVP to: Bridget_Black@harvard.edu or 617-496-6446 Each session will last 45 minutes with a 15 minute break between. Attend one or both sessions. Open to the public. Details: Part 1 - Global E-Democracy Trends - 1:30 p.m. Many governments are dramatically ahead of the United States when it comes to using the Internet for "e-participation." Steven Clift, informed by visits to 26 countries, will share examples and trends on the use of the Internet in governance and citizen participation. To prompt discussion, Steven will share select slides from the large collection available here: http://publicus.net/speaker.html Short Break Part 2 - Better than Blogging? Building Local Online Dialogue - 2:30 p.m. Blogging is democratizing national political punditry, but with rare exceptions (to be noted) it is doing little to build two-way discourse in local communities. Recently imported by the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from Minnesota, E-Democracy.Org's "Issues Forum" model brings together people from across the political spectrum for civil online discourse on local public issues. Discover ways to build bridging social capital via local online communities and explore "what's next" with Web 2.0 technologies for local democracy. Political and local bloggers welcome. Details, including a 60 page guidebook, video, audio, and slides, are available from: http://e-democracy.org/if About Steven Clift Steven Clift, an energetic presenter, is focused on the use of the Internet in democracy, governance, and community. As a new Ashoka Fellow, he is now dedicated full-time to E-Democracy.Org. E-Democracy.Org created the world's first election-oriented website in 1994 and today builds sustainable local online citizen participation efforts around the world. Through his Democracies Online blog/e-newsletter and online communities of practice he has connected over 2500 "e-democracy" leaders across 100 countries via DoWire.Org since 1998. Based in Minneapolis, his public speaking on "e-democracy" takes him to places as diverse as Iceland, Lebanon, and Mongolia - 26 countries thus far. Listed twice among the "25 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics" he has consulted to the United Nations, the OECD, IFES, the Pew Internet and American Life Project, and many others. Additional background, articles, and speeches are available from: http://publicus.net Join his Democracies Online Newswire/Blog from: http://dowire.org Tune into E-Democracy.Org: http://e-democracy.org/blog For information on the Leadership for the Networked World program, see: http://ksgexecprogram.harvard.edu/program/lnw2/overview.aspx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven Clift - clift@publicus.net Web: http://publicus.net Blog: http://dowire.org/notes NGO: http://e-democracy.org Replies to slc@ may be missed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven Clift - clift@publicus.net Web: http://publicus.net Blog: http://dowire.org/notes NGO: http://e-democracy.org Replies to slc@ may be missed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .