Information, Communities, Democracy... New Knight Commission

Greetings all. I had the pleasure of address the kick off meeting of a new blue ribbon commission in Washington, DC this week with a similar charge as this blog is covering...

Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy

“The charge of the Commission is straightforward,” says Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “Articulate the information needs of communities in this democracy; determine where we are today; and propose public policy that will encourage market solutions.”

The Commission was keen to learn about our experiences operating Front Porch Forum in Chittenden County. The full Commission is listed here. And…

The Commission will be led by co-chairs Ted Olson, former Solicitor General of the United States, and Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google. Peter Shane, a distinguished law professor at Ohio State University Law School, is the executive director.

The Knight Commission is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and organized by the Aspen Institute.

Great article on technology and civic life

Check out this article by Matt Leighninger, author of "The Next Form of Democracy."
http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Article.780.aspx
He talks about the potential that bloggers have to reshape the relationship between citizens and government and to have a real impact on local communities. How do we connect online talk and information to real action and change? Matt has some good ideas about this, and his four principles really speak to what the e-state symposium was all about. I hope we can continue to move the e-state work forward in a way that combines the best of face to face dialogue with online tools. I can't wait to see how this continues to unfold.

VPT feature in the works

Vermont Public Television is creating an hour-long show on the e-State Symposium! It will air on July 24 at 8PM. I can't wait to watch it.

Meanwhile, take a look at CCTV's e-State video if you haven't already: http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/snelling-center-fulfilling-our-e-state-potential

e-State kick-off

Blogosphere, here we come!

The Snelling Center e-State initiative needs a blog. It won't really be very exciting until I find a good picture to go at the top.