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If messages on DoWire have seemed light, it is directly related to a number of exciting initiatives coming down the pipe. The first is tremendously exciting. The UK Local E-democracy National Project is funding a couple Local Issues Forums organized in partnership with E-Democracy.Org. If you are in the UK or know folks in the UK, please help us out by forwarding this message or blogging this link: http://www.e-democracy.org/uk As far as we can tell, our low-cost, citizen-based model seems to work very well once fully implemented. It is actually sustainable. However, forum success is contingent on finding a local Forum Manager and a few citizens to help recruit a critical mass of citizen participants, including local public officials and journalists. Without a true local base of participants and facilitation, all you have is a digital ghost town. As part of the pilot, E-Democracy.Org will be developing a comprehensive Forum Development Guide and training. The "E-Democracy Experience" will bring a few stories from our forums to life - to replicate as best we can the experience many visitors to Minnesota have had when we tour them around to various forum participants (like the Mayor of Minneapolis) and volunteers. We are also investing in helping some new open source technology emerge that combine e-mail and web forums in an optimal and equitable manner. You cannot allow the broadband divide to determine who has a voice in local online forums. More on this exciting discovery from New Zealand later! Again, pass this on far and wide in the UK. And if you'd like to start a local E-Democracy.Org forum in your community, read this and let us know: http://e-democracy.org/center/if.html Celebrate With Us, Steven Clift Chair, http://E-Democracy.Org http://dowire.org Subject: Local Issues Forums in the UK - Search for Pilot Communities as part of UK Local E-democracy National Project Big news. E-Democracy.Org is looking for citizens and Local Authorities in the UK interested in starting an online local public Issues Forum for their community. This new pilot project is part of the UK Local E-democracy National Project. Our citizen-based model creates a facilitated online public space in the heart of real civic life. The pilots will leverage E- Democracy.Org's decade of experience in strategic and sustainable online forum development. We will provide training, assistance, and the essential forum facilitation framework through a local Forum Manager and citizen steering committee. The new open source GroupServer technology will help us bring together a critical mass of local citizens by combining the best features of e-mail lists with user-friendly web forums We need your help to quickly identify possible pilot communities. The following factors are important: 1. Citizens - We need at least three or four citizens to form a local steering committee. This steering committee will tailor the forum charter to the community, recruit participants, and provide forum oversight. Citizens is an inclusive term, all citizens as individuals regardless of position or profession. 2. Forum Manager - At least one of those citizens needs facilitation skills and an interest in serving as the lead community convener online. This role is vital and extremely rewarding. 3. Supportive Local Authority - Communities that establish a partnership and linking relationship with their Local Authority will take precedence. Additional local non-partisan community partners, including the media or civic organizations, are welcome. Interested Local Authorities are encouraged to help organize initial pilot development as long as a citizen steering committee is formed to provide forum oversight. Support Available Our Issues Forum model is extremely low cost and volunteer- based. New materials from E-Democracy.Org including a Forum Development Guide, multimedia case study, training program, and forum hosting are being developed. This will make starting up a forum even easier. Also, with these two or three UK pilots, funding is available to launch each forum - 1000 GBP. Initial recruitment online, but more importantly in-person outreach, will be assisted by these funds. Remember our volunteer model works because it is "of" the citizens, so this launch fund will go a long way toward promotional costs. Interested? We need to finalize our two or three pilot communities by November 10. Pilot forums, with extensive participant recruiting completed, must launch no later than the first week of January. The official pilot phase ends on March 1, 2005. Yes, this is a tight time- line. If you can find a Forum Manager, two or three other steering committee members, and a Local Authority interested in linking in as a partner, we can make it happen fast. Send an e-mail to Steven Clift <http://publicus.net>: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please include details on your local community. More Information Follow this page for project updates: http://e-democracy.org/uk Read this short Start an Issues Forum article for more advice: http://e-democracy.org/center/if.html Get Involved Also, an online group for those interested in supporting the development of Issues Forums will be opened. This will be a place for those in the UK and beyond to exchange announcements, notes, and experiences. Send your full contact information, a personal statement of interest, and indicate what you can do to help with this pilot project or other efforts in the future. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sincerely, Steven Clift [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lead, Issues Forum Project Board Chair, http://E-Democracy.Org ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - - - W: http://publicus.net Minneapolis - - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - MSN/Y!/AIM: netclift Join my Democracies Online Newswire: http://dowire.org EDem's Election 2004 Links: http://e-democracy.org/us *** Past Messages, to Subscribe: http://dowire.org *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To UNSUBSCRIBE instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** New RSS XML Feed Available: *** http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/maillist.xml
