ChangeCamp Edmonton
What is ChangeCamp?
As the Chair of Edmonton’s ChangeCamp, I can attest to the fact that the above question continues to be contemplated by the steering committee to some degree each time we meet. As this innovative and smart group continues to wrap its collective group of heads around what ChangeCamp means to us as individuals and as a pseudo organization, new things are discovered each time.
For those of you in Edmonton and the surrounding area who are wondering about this event and if, why and how you might either volunteer or be a direct citizen participant, here is a short explanation of not only what ChangeCamp is but also how you can contribute.
The centralized question constructed by the original ChangeCamp group in Toronto is as follows:
“How do we re-imagine government and citizenship in the age of participation?”
Below is a PowerPoint deck generated by Mark Kuzniki, a ChangeCamp steward on the subject and provides great insight into the general philosophy behind ChangeCamp.
Picture courtesy Rakerman (via Flickr). Some rights reserved.
One of the primary messages I’m taking away from efforts thus far is that the social web enables conversations between citizens as everyone knows. A group that arguably has been the least likely to engage openly in those conversations is government. ChangeCamp events across Canada have certainly produced results, solutions and concepts outside of social media and for all levels of government which is a testament to the richness of the process. I suppose given the fact that my company derives its revenue solely and directly from engaging in social media every single day, it’s safe to say that I’m a bit biased and yet I recognize there are all sorts of issues that we should and will tackle together.
What happens on ChangeCamp day?
ChangeCamp is a day-long event designed to provide the average citizen with an opportunity to communicate with others face-to-face for lively and meaningful discussion surrounding key issues. Most, if not all, of those issues will be supplied the day of the event, on the fly, by the citizen participants and by all three tiers of government. Have a pet-peeve, idea or solution that government should know about? Come out the ChangeCamp. Want to increase transparency, accountability and have a technological answer to offer on how to accomplish that? Come out to ChangeCamp and let your voice be heard. This is where we plan to take the conversation to the streets of Edmonton, Alberta and drum up support for citizens in action. The Edmonton ChangeCamp braintrust is adamant that our event include folks outside of the immersive world of the social web. Average Albertans, everyday Edmontonians, non-twitter, “off-line” members of society must be included in this experience for it to be effective and truly representative of our greater Edmonton community. All are welcome, (although seating will be limited of course).
Picture courtesy Rakerman (via Flickr). Some rights reserved.
ChangeCamp day will not only provide you with an opportunity to voice an opinion but subsequently also be a part of the solution. Working on the strongest ideas put forward, you will collaborate with other participants in working groups called “labs” to identify a clear path forward on a given issue. This “lab” portion of the day and will involve putting your thoughts into practical, actionable advice, all of which will be recorded and organized by the ChangeCamp Edmonton facilitators and observers.
We then plan on having some time set aside for review of all of the concepts (time permitting) identified throughout the day. Follow-up will consist of the ChangeCamp Edmonton community staying in touch online and at future events in order to sustain and hopefully even grow what was started this year. All suggestions will be put forward to government by the steering committee in an appropriate manner, we’ll make sure they know about your work and hear your voice.
For more information please visit the Google group and join us as either a volunteer or participant. The steering committee will be posting a new website within approximately seven days or so from now. We’re looking to secure a location for a date in and around the last week of September. As soon as that can be done, we’ll announce the date and location to everyone. Also, this is a volunteer event and as such there will be some limited expenses, so if your organization would like to be a part of this from a sponsorship perspective
please contact me for more details. walter[at]fusedlogic.com
Picture courtesy Rakerman (via Flickr). Some rights reserved.
Interesting links to check out:
ChangeCamp Flickr Group (pictures)
ChangeCamp Organizers (videos)
ChangeCamp Edmonton Google Group
ChangeCamp Ottawa Google Group
This sounds very interesting. I’m looking forward to hearing more of the details.
Tim, thanks for your comment, you are most welcome to come out to the next meeting…
Walter,
The City of Edmonton is developing their “Open Strategy” in respect to information, systems including what we believe to be a responsibility we have to raise awareness in regards to open in the enterprise community, you know leading by example.
We are planning on having an OpenCamp in the fall to engage the community in the conversation about what information the community is looking for, in addition to information we believe we have that needs to be made more available.
My Question is: Should we be running our own OpenCamp or would it be better for use to participate in the ChangeCamp conversation.
Thanks
Chris Moore
Hi Chris, I love the fact that the City of Edmonton is headed in that direction and one of the things that our steering committee has discussed in the past is the “perception” of government’s direct role in ChangeCamp. Although our goal is not to politicize this event, we want to definitely encourage and invite the direct participation of government entities as part of the overall process.
Should you and your colleagues at the City of Edmonton have questions of average Edmontonians, ChangeCamp would be a great place to post questions and inspire various threads of discussion. My initial reaction is that we seem to be aligned with your goals. Thanks for your comments.
This sounds very interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing more of the details.