Washblog

Campaigns.Wikia.com is a global democracy project that I have been involved in since July of 2006. In this context, Democracy means "Get Out The Voice". The dream, and potential, of the website is to provide the grassroots with a place to collect information and opinions about any candidate or ballot measure in any election in any country in any language. We currently have infrastructure built for 11 different languages, and we are building pages that will help people get involved in the 2008 Presidential Campaigns. The site is non-partisan, and we strive to encourage participation from all sides of any of these races. Getting the grassroots involved in the creation and development of this kind of participatory media project is the ultimate goal of the site, which is why I have been invited to do a presentation on the project at this particular event.

After some inquiries about sponsorship, it came up that the conference had not gotten the level of sponsorship that they need to be able to cover everyone's costs. As a result, they are only able to waive the conference fee for myself, and put an extra $50 towards travel & lodging expenses. Frankly, that's not enough by itself for me to be able to attend.

My first instinct is to reach out for help to the grassroots. While Campaigns Wikia is not a non-profit able to accept donations, the event hosts at M.I.T., Harvard and Yale are able to accept financial support. It needs to be done quickly because of the timeframe, but all I can do is pass this on and hope for the best. If you can help with the financing of this event, please contact me. I'm asking for more information on how people can help from the conference organizers, but for now I am collecting sponsorships from $5 or $10 dollars up to however much people are willing to give.

Chad Lupkes
Lead Volunteer Admin - Campaigns.Wikia.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: tad
Date: Jan 27, 2007 9:49 AM
Subject: Invitation to demo at M.I.T.
To: chadlupkes

Dear Chad Lupkes:

I'm writing to invite you to show off Campaigns Wikia in the Demos + Drinks session at Beyond Broadcast 2007: From Participatory Culture to Participatory Democracy, a one-day conference to be held at M.I.T. on February 24. This one-day event, hosted by M.I.T.'s Comparative Media Studies program in collaboration with Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the Information Society Project at Yale Law School will bring together industry experts, academic leaders, and political activists to examine how participatory media are reshaping political culture and fostering new modes of citizen engagement in the democratic process. Additional details are available at the conference website: http://www.beyondbroadcast.net

The demos + drinks session will be held at MIT's famed Media Lab from 5:30PM - 7:30PM, and will feature demos by some of the most innovative technologists and organizations actively developing participatory media. We want you to be one of them!

Please let us know by February 1 if you plan to attend. And, let us know about any other cutting edge projects and organizations that you think should be represented.

Look forward to hearing from you,
Tad Hirsch
PhD Candidate
Smart Cities Group
MIT Media Lab

P.S. There is no fee for participating in the demos + drinks session.
There is a $50 registration fee ($25 for students) if you'd like to
attend the rest of the conference. Registration information is available
at: http://www.beyondbroadcast.net/blog/?page_id=110