Without a Yard

If shameless self-promotion is alright by my crisis-comms-senseii , then hopefully I can get away with posting the first official premiere clip of the Digital U series, “The Power of the Citizen:  Politics 2.0,” which is being presented by Get Involved & TVO online & over-the-airwaves.

Big thanks to everyone involved in the filming, production & promotion process (the lovely ladies of Q Media Solutions!), I’m learning so much from these speakers who are ridiculously better prepared, experienced & articulate than I could ever wish to be

A very special thank you goes out to Zenia at Canada Helps, without whom my appearance (& the thought-provoking interview with Ryan Taylor of Fair Trade Jewellery Co.)  would not have been at all possible.  The day of filming James from WarChild, Ryan, & I delivered a presentation on real advocacy-related social media case studies & best practices for the Canada Helps‘ ‘My Charity Connects‘ conference.  Seems like only yesterday…

Since there’s plenty of time to browbeat, spam & harangue y’all into voting for our South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) panel about passionate people (please do vote early’n'often here, seriously), I wanted to riff on the theme of a spot-on proposal, discovered thanks to Rad Campaign’s founder Allyson Kapin twitterstream (@womenwhotech).

Sarah Granger of WomenCount has an awesome lineup of women speakers on board to discuss ‘The Silent Majority: Women in Politics Online.’ Regardless of whether or not you plan to attend SXSWi, could you please click that link, create an account & vote for this panel as a favour to me? Please?

Timing’s spot-on, with scorching-hot political discussions about proposed healthcare overhauls & infinitely blog-able nutbars attending local townhall sessions.  Countering the divisive & anger-fueled ‘discussions’ occurring on this subject is an online space launched today, built by BlogHer & the Sunlight Foundation for women to share their thoughts on the healthcare debate. Users are encouraged to employ Sunlight Foundation’s roster of online tools, such as OpenCongress, to efficiently search & read the healthcare bill’s contents.  It’s telling that the first space online for public policy conversations by/for women is on the subject of healthcare, a public policy and private sector subject area that is in dire need of more estrogen after hundreds of years of male-only pharma trials & medical studies.

Hopefully by March this space‘ll serve as a case study for the ‘Silent Majority’ panelists to demonstrate that a large female audience will eagerly contribute to serious policy discussions when offered a space & encouragement; & this space‘ll also contrast sharply with mainstream media coverage of screaming match soundbites, insult-slinging & fear-mongering.

While it might seem ‘kumbya’ to state that these policy discussions would be more civil had they been shepherded by women, having worked for two whip-smart, balanced, strong & self-effacing female politicos, I truly believe that this is true & look optimistically to Kathleen Sebelius‘ ‘tenacious d’ throughout her career to deliver real reforms from the Health & Human Services Department in the months to come.

The clearest authoritative communicator on the touchy subject of lower participation rates of women in politics is Dee Dee Myers.  In her 2008 ‘Why Women Should Rule the World’, Myers devotes an entire chapter to ‘Closing the Confidence Gap,’ where she specifically lists verbal tics (starting phrases with ‘I think..’) & self-discouraging mental patterns that eroded her confidence while working in the West Wing. (More recently a Canadian expert scholar on this subject, Sylvia Bashevkin, published ‘Women, Power & Politics,’ which I’d highly recommend if you want a maple-glazed variety).

As Myers recounts her personal experience in one of the most coveted staffer roles interacting directly with news media, she supports her heartening &/or cringe-inducing anecdotes with research & interview quotes from biologists, sociologists & politicos (including Sebelius :).  What made me think of this chapter within the context of BlogHer/Sunlight/SilentMajority was this quote from Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, which merges gendered discussion participation, voices online & confidence perfectly:

“There is no talent difference that I can see.  There is sometimes a difference between the men and women in the willingness to claim airtime in class.  The men seem to feel that they can start talking and eventually they’ll have a point to make.  The women are more likely to feel that they ought to have something valuable to say before they say it.”

We’re definitely lucky to have wry commentary coming frequently from bloggers such as Kadi O’Malley, as well as the many sharp female print jounalists from Canadian dailies extending conversations from their columns online, but we are unfortunately still at a loss when it comes to quantity & choice for viewing the political landscape through a women writer’s lens, professional or amateur.

Blogging about this at all means entering a loaded & delicate subject matter (landmines include ‘tokenism,’ ‘quotas,’ ‘man-bashing,’ etc.), but I feel the same as I did when I blogged in the winter to mark The Churchill Society’s support of women in politics.  What’s changed is that with more collaboration between female writers online & the tools to synthesise information to suit a searcher’s specific policy interests, in the months ahead we’ll hopefully see more safe spaces built for informed female users to discuss specific policy issues, flesh out their views, disagree honestly & openly - without descending into name-calling.

A coworker was far too kind deeming me a ‘truant blogger’ this week.  It’s like working out, the longer you wait…the harder it is to get back into the swing of things… & there’s a reason, I swear….too many amazing events, projects & people…

To say that this year’s SXSW was anything less than fantabrillamazesomeriffic would not do it justice.  So lucky to hang out with Sloane, Colin, Erica, Hugh, Rayanne, Martin, Alison, Mike D, Frank, Alissa’n'Ron, Peg, Lucia, Stef & Nikki‘n’Chris & a gaggle of other ridiculously talented gifted peeps.  Tweeted & Twitpic‘ed every run.  Snagged Dirty Projectors setlist for Amanda, Weezer tour poster for Justobyn, office supplies for Sharon & lil’Mimobot nerdery for yours truly.  So that’s 10 days summed up right there.  Easy peasey.  Let’s look to the future, shall we?

Julie Germany & her amazing crew at George Washington University’s IPDI have been so kind in extending an invitation to attend their annual Politics Online conference, which begins tomorrow.   Very honoured to have been asked, especially excited to reconnect with those fine minds who shared their 2008 election stories with me in November & extremely psyched to check out Sameer’s new DC digs & hear all about the World Bank.  Will Tweet the sessions I attend & post links to shared presos, sites, etc. to the blahg, with a better upload lag than SXSW.

One of the many conference highlights will be (I’m amazing at predictions, trust me;) Silona’s sharing of League of Technical Voters’ latest undertaking - Citability.org.  The site went live today.  Check out this demo:

Closer to home, ChangeCamp is growing! May 16th - Son Of Change Camp: This Time It’s Federal - Ottawa City Hall.  Register here & please remember to bring a donation for the Ottawa foodbank.

Closer to MY home, The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy is proudly hosting the book launch for ‘Parliamentary Democracy In Crisis’, a collection of essays about this winter’s meltdown on the Hill at Massey College on May 11th. Register here & please sign in soon (it’s a tiny tiny venue & we can only accomodate 60 or so…)

I’m plugged out.  More substantive eAdvocacy, digital campaign commentary  After Ms. Meegs Goes to Washington.

Wintertime & the living is slushy.  Despite the brutal barren wilderness & chill Canuckistan climate, hearts are warm in the centre of the universe for all things governmental/transparent/politicin’…

First things first - Event Plugs:

Wednesday, January 21st - The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy is hosting a free Citizen Forum called “Parliament 2009:  What Kind of Country Will We Have?” at the University of Toronto Munk Centre.  Event details can be found here (on Facebook, natch) & here (on our org’s website).  The panel is stellar, the conversation will be oh-so-timely & a grand time will be had by all.  I’m encouraged to see many, many newbies already RSVPing - many from TO’s lively tech scene.  Cross-pollenation of these communities is vital & shows a genuine enthusiasm brewing to discuss our parliamentary processes, public  policies & - most importantly - developing solutions to increase citizen engagement.

The timing of the CSAPD event couldn’t be better, serving as the bass-heavy-rumbling thunder before the eye-catching-crackly lightening of ChangeCamp.  Originally assembled via Twitter, word-of-mouth & email blasts, we’ve now settled nicely into a GoogleGroup nest & would love to have you on board as a volunteer, donor or participant. 

Saturday, January 24th - ChangeCamp will be rockin’ the MaRS Centre across from Queen’s Park in crunchy unconference style.  Please do join us for a full day of positive, creative & thoughtful chats about Government & Governance in the age of Participation.

Tomorrow I hope to have a more content-y piece on the trends & activities behind the creation & popularity of these events…hopefully…darn it all to heck it’s been a lil’busy up in here.

So here’s the Facebook‘ed cut’n'paste from the cut’n'thrust from the demo-discussion (name removed to protect the innocent).  Some interesting ideas incubating this week, probably as a result of last week’s blowout.  Thinking more about the public consultation process, using digital tools to drive grassroots participation, citizen engagement & how to build better public consultation forums.  But I digress - this is pure politics below.  Comments welcome

Subject: Twitter
Between You and JohnD’Oh

JohnD’Oh
December 5 at 5:31pm

I tried d replying on Twitter, but you’re not following me!

My $0.02:
- I disagree with the coalition. When I cast my ballot for the NDP, it was precisely because I didn’t want to vote for Stephan Dion. Their “62% majority” is counting me as though I support the coalition.

- I disagree with the GG’s decision to suspend parliament. Her role is to let parliament fight it out, and not interfere.

- I think it’s irresponsible and somewhat childish to be doing this at a time when we all need parliament to actually do some real work.

- I’m a little sick of the endless chatter on the news and radio. More talk isn’t going to get things moving

… and if an election were to be called right now, I’d switch from the NDP to the Conservatives.

So whats this event you’re organizing? Sounds interesting.

JohnD’Oh
—-
Meghan Warby
December 7 at 11:16am

Hey! I just clicked follow yesterday - sorry about that! Can I blog about this? May I use your email with or without attribution - it’s a great jumping off point….

I see your point of view on how the coalition was not an ideal governance path for many Canadians, however I respectfully point out that if you disagree with the GG choosing prorogation over a vote (’fight it out’), which would inevitably lead to a coalition-led non confidence motion/dissolution, that you are now entering cake having & eating mode. We elected a parliament, not a president & that parliament, if left to ‘fight it out’ was prepared to execute a plan they negotiated among three parties to govern.

As for ‘childish’ actions - that’s an at-times-fair but trite & over-used accusation dismissing politicians’ motivations. It is childish (or naive) to believe that you can affect change aligning yourself with an organization anchored in a set of values, policies & actions - these politicos should be duke-ing it out mano-a-mano on Bay Street, right? Or putting aside their differences & working to solve a stalemate through a coalition, oh, wait, that’s what was proposed. I’ve never joined a political party, but I was a card-carrying member of innumerable crunchy-granola-eating-hackey-sack-playing organizations when I was a teenager - I mailed hundreds of dollars to NGOs in mini-increments to contribute to causes in which I believed, wrote letters, organized events - pretty childish to think that I could make a difference, huh?

However, I feel that childish is a fair description of two policy pronouncements - taunting political parties by threatening to remove public funding ($30M per year= a lot of rubber chicken) & an additional jab with a threat to remove the right to strike from public sector workers (why should someone’s employer determine their labour rights so long as they are not providing emergency services or other classifications that have already been laid out provincially?). Outside of the blissfully ignorant economic statement, with conveniently oblivious assertions that we will not run a deficit, these two policies were too much to stomach & assaulted the core beliefs of left-leaning parties, and also a natural (some say crass…) self-preservation instinct for the parties’ administration.

& THIS is what really, really bothers me about blase political critics - feigned exhaustion.

I’m NOT sick of the chatter because it serves to refresh, remind & re-educate Canadians of the machinery - the basics - of our political system. People toss off phrases like ‘plead the fifth’ mindlessly without knowing that in OUR COUNTRY this means that Parliament sets out the MPs’ powers & immunities & it in no way relates to keeping mum after an arrest! Rallies, web campaigns, blogs - this is not just ’static’ - people have woken from a paralyzing coma that engulfed them during an (admittedly) tepid political campaign & (thanks to ‘chatter’) recognize the power of Parliament. This is empowering, should be encouraged & fuels more ‘chatter’ - it is incumbent upon citizen journalists & mass media outlets to air divergent opinions on the future of our government, because it directly impacts our quality of life & reputation abroad.

I will not even TOUCH the logic(?) behind your threat to ‘punish’ the NDP by voting Tory in the next election.

I will, however, buy you a beverage of your choice (maybe this deserves 2) at an upcoming event, since I’ve unloaded my nerdy enthusiasm for all things political on your unsuspecting inbox.

Your fan,
Meegs