Forget Moonshot - Let's talk Boss Fights: #WOW meet #OpenGov

Taking idea generation to the next level requires an in person component that can't be replaced by online platforms (not yet, anyway).

What Melissa is talking about here is brainstorming, solution-building at a scale that has here-to-for been impossible.  

At least, that's the case when government uses new tools in old ways, Plato's Desktop-style.

Which is why World of Warcraft is so interesting.  Forget moontshots - maybe what we need to do is look at Wicked Problems as boss fights, the big challenges we need to marshal our resources to beat but, when we do, new worlds of engagement opportunities open up for us.

Make Web Not War is already a thing - what would you call a World of Open that has a better acronym than "WoO?"  Me, I'm still a fan of Community of Civic Engagement.  

Data Viz: Pork Mapping the Canadian Election 2015

Sun Media's David Akin tracks government spending announcements and his data reveals that, prior to Wednesday, the government had already committed $427 million this month in 51 announcements - 30 of which funnelled money in to Conservative ridings.

Data journalism is becoming a staple of modern media, which is a good thing - data mapping is a great way to tell a story.

Take the mapped graph to the right, for example.  It presents export-based wealth creation in Toronto, but it could just as easily show federal spending.

Imagine a map of the country that featured every riding colour-coded to the party of their MP, and then layered on top of that bars of federal funding by program in one colour and next to that, relevant outcome indicators in another.

For example, let's say some regions haven't voted in a Conservative once during Harper's tenure. 

How much funding have they received for transit infrastructure?  How has that funding (or lack of funding) impacted other factors, like job creation?

Especially given that the Harper Government's new "Canada 150" community infrastructure grant is setting dramatically different rules for different parts of the country, it'd be interesting (and timely) to see a visualization of what pork barrel politics is doing to our country.

Brand Humanization: Whose Party is It, Anyway?

 

People join social communities because they have a purpose, an intent, and communities let them act on their intent. They are looking for a place to be (Facebook), a place to learn (Google+, Pinterest), a place to interact (Twitter).

 

 

In my Inbox rests a political donation solicitation letter titled "are you in?"  It is not designed to create a community.  It does not encourage participation, does not provide an opportunity for learning or growth and certainly isn't a place to interact.

 

Unless, of course, be participation and interaction you mean giving money.

 

The voter/donation solicitation process is supposed to work thusly:

 

-  you Big Data your way towards an understanding of what people are hungry for

-  you put your smart people in a room to come up with some ideas with an eye towards differentiation (not solution)

- you focus-group and hone your messaging

- you use it, your candidates and local issues as a way to ID potential voters

- you "touch" those potentials a minimum of three times to turn your leads into commitments (vote, volunteer, donor potential) and then hammer them until they do all three.

 

See what's missing in this picture?

 

There's no community. It's not social. 

 

Back to the letter in my box.

 

And I'll, answer the question on everybody's mind: Will we have enough money to win?

 

- on whose mind?  It's definitely not on mine.  In fact, I was never asked what was on my mind.

 

Our victory will depend on raising the maximum amount of campaign funds.  It's really simple, your donation will help us reach more voters, by putting more organizers on the ground, more callers on the phone, inspire more volunteers and help us knock on more doors.

 

- who is referred to by "our" in this?  I don't feel it reflects me.  I don't feel like my contributions are desired.  There's no opportunity in here for me to learn, nor participate and really be part of something, like the our community.  They only want my money.  They are using ABC pressure tactics to get me to give it to them.  I feel kind of used.

 

During the final push, your donation will determine how many undecided voters we can identify.

 

Now I feel like I'm being squeezed out.  Without even lying that they'll call me later, they're rushing off to identity the next crop of people to be used.

 

This isn't community.  This is the opposite of community.

 

Now, for the opening sentence of the letter that I left out:

 

Later today, I'll head to a meeting with the senior campaign team.

 

By everyone, the writer meant the campaign team.  By our, the writer meant the campaign team.

 

Not the party, nor the member, not even the Member.  We aren't part of their "our" and we aren't wanted.  They matter; what they do, how they recruit, all of that is way more important than we are.  Our role is to give them money and get out of their way.

 

Politics is sales and the pie can only be cut so many ways.  Therefore, it's competition.  You're with us, you're against us or you don't matter.

 

Keeping that in mind, take a look at these MP exit interviews.  Consider the reality of civic disengagement and distrust of our politics.

 

Then, consider this:

 

What I'd like to do now is double down on Kent's claim that 2015 will be the year of the social contract (See: The Social Contract). To take a moment to remind you that you have an active role in shaping the continuing evolution of that social contract by cultivating relationships, engaging others and creating the narratives you want to work in, live in and play in.

 

I've shared that post a dozen times.  I've tweeted about it, promoted the event that's mentioned at the end of the post and shared variations on this theme from my own unique voice.

 

I haven't given Nick a red cent, but he's gotten a lot of free labour out of me, and intellectual property.  So have you, if you read anything I right.

 

It doesn't matter what colour their big tent is - they're not going to let you onto the stage to dance anyway.

 

If you want to join the real party, you don't need to pay to get into the tent.  It costs nothing to dance in the open.

 

Graphically Open

It's so much easier to understand how amazing this stuff is when you map it out like this, isn't it?

Forward, Toronto

 

 

 

“We have to forget the team sweaters. Whether it is a Scarborough versus Etobicoke team sweater, a left versus right sweater or a New Democrat or a Liberal sweater I want people to work together to build up the city.”

 

Remember that video Team Doug Ford took from Why Should I Care? wherein Tory talks about road tolls?  When you watch the whole thing, you see that the substance of what he said then mirrors his quote posted above. 

 

While I question some of the choices he's made and wonder if he fully understands the challenge he's presented for himself, I have no doubt that John Tory's intentions are pure.  Tory is an aspiring post-partisan; he's seen up close and personal the divisions that partisanship can create and the limitations fixed ideologies place on our ability to understand and solve our structural socio-economic woes.

  

Unless you're a die-hard partisan, you want John Tory to succeed as mayor.  This is our city, and he will be our Chief Magistrate.  Holding him, Council and the public service to account is part of our role as people of Toronto, but it doesn't end there - we need to bring our ideas to the table and be a working part of the solution.

 

In that vein, I would encourage Tory to look beyond the sweaters of partisanship and actively wade in to the different communities of the City, too.  He needs to be engaging directly with the people of Etobicoke, and Regent Park, and Alexandra Park in their spaces, in formats comfortable to them.

 

The same goes for the city's social entrepreneurs, CSR leaders, etc.  This doesn't mean the odd powwow with the Ilse Treurnichts or Tonya Surmans of the world (though they're definitely worth engaging with) - it means creating regular opportunities to engage the Andrew Dos, Bianca Wylies and Shilbee Kims of the world as part of the solution-generation process.

 

Tory should also tap into some of the talent and visions of some of the candidates who didn't make it into cabinet.

 

Alex Mazer's work with Better Budget TO is astounding and, with the full partnership of Team Tory, can have an even greater impact.

 

Andray Domise's vision for Techsdale is great and needs to be implemented; it also fits in nicely with the visions of other community leaders for Youth Entrepreneurship hubs possibly based out of underused TCHC/TPL spaces in Toronto's NIAs.  Then, of course, there's Toronto Youth Cabinet's Chloe-Marie Brown and her three big policy ideas for 2015.

 

Alejandra Bravo continues to make a difference among Toronto's New Canadian communities, empowering more civic engagement and literacy.

 

On the civic literacy side, we go full circle back to Why Should I Care?  Terri Chu has done an amazing job developing one of the most important forums for dialogue in the city.  Rather than pitting opposing perspectives against one another, new ideas and information are shared through conversation. Instead of exploring a battleground, common ground emerges.

 

Wouldn't it be great if we had more WSICs throughout the city?  Or if the City (Mayor and Councilors, City Planners, etc.) engaged in regular forums like this to engage, inform and hear from local communities?

 

Getting informed and getting engaged are crucial, but we need to go even further.  To really make a difference, people - all people - need to be an active part of the decision-making process.  That's what Reset Toronto has been hinting at; it's also what Toronto's Open Community, which represents a variety of sectors and communities, has been trying to promote.

 

Last night, I had the privilege to be part of TGIFTuesday, a policy kitchen conversation which brought a mixed group of people together to craft some policy actions to bring to Council.  Partners included Social Innovation Generation, the Centre for Social Innovation, Swerhun and Toronto Youth Cabinet.  The new Council will be getting a white paper based on the ideas generated there and there will also be a video in the near future. 

We're all committed to doing more of these and in more communities throughout town - it would be awesome to hold such events at local entrepreneur centres/community catalyst hubs.

 

All of this is breaking new ground, doing things differently and embracing the idea of iterative development.  In short, it's risky, it's a bit messy - but it's doing exactly what Tory want to see, which is breaking down silos and bringing people together.

 

We all need to take off team sweaters from left to right, but we also need to be comfortable engaging both above and below our social strata.  Tory's political advisors will probably discourage this - it goes against the political mentality of picking fights and reaching strictly for low-hanging fruit - but it's what the city both needs and deserves and, I believe, what John Tory ultimately stands for.

 

The Mayor-elect is welcome to join our conversations, events and hacks whenever he has the time.  We're happy to work with anyone committed to the same cause of building an informed, engaged and empowered society.

 

After all, the only way to move forward is to do it together.

 

The #OGT14 Round-Up

All the posts I have done, to date, on Richard Pietro's epic Open Government on the Open Road tour.

Other people might right books; I blog.  Richard travels, and meets, and films.

It's all been possible thanks to the patronage of Make Web Not War who believed in Richard's vision of civic engagement as art.  It's paid off for them, it's worked out for Richard and I actually do believe we've all been able to catalyze some change.

So, potential corporate patrons out there - if you'd like to see an actual book, or here Richard talk about his experience in person, or maybe support #OGT15 - let us know.  We'd be open to that conversation.

March 17 - Open Government on the Open Road

May 24 - Building Brand for the Journey Ahead

May 30 - #WeAreOpen to Memes!

June 23 - @RichardPietro needs a Bigger Boat

July 3 - #OGT14: The Adventure Begins

July 4 - @RichardPietro and an Affair at Queen's Park

July 25 - Why You Want to Be #WhereWorldsCollide

July 30 - Why @RichardPietro Deserves Your Support:

Aug 20 - The Most Interesting Person in Canadian Politics Right Now

Aug 29 - Please help me set my #OGT14 table! 

Sept 2 - This is Big: #OGT14 gets endorsed

Sept 9 - The Open Sausage: Inside #OGT14

Sept 15 - #OGT14 It Doesn't End Here

This is Big: #OGT14 gets endorsed

Richard Pietro brings to Ottawa his cross-Canada tour focusing on and encouraging citizen engagement in open government and open data movements.  Ottawa is the grand finale in his tour, which has included between 20 and 30 stops and events.

Those of us who were at the #OGT14 Queen's Park kick-off remember it was a struggle to get permission for a quick pic in front of the Legislature with the #OGT14 before Richard began his epic journey.

He wasn't a celebrity, after all, nor a political pundit with gravitas.  He was simply an engaged citizen with a dream and a journey before him.

That journey - OpenGov on the Open Road, #OGT14 - has proven an inspiration for countless Canadians from coast to coast.  Richard has helped remind us that l'etat, c'est nous when we choose to engage.  He's helped us discover our country and ourselves while spreading the world about why Open Government matters.

From modest beginnings camping in a backyard to being registered as an official event for Canada's Democracy week - many would have said it couldn't be done.

Richard did it anyway.  Not for himself, mind you, but for what he believes we can be when we get informed, engaged and try to make a difference - together.

And this is merely the end of #OGT14 - the journey towards fully Open Gov is just beginning.

It's a great time to be involved, isn't it?

Please help me set my #OGT14 table! (UPDATED)

I am going to be an "Official Speaker" at the September 16 close of #OGT14: Open Government on the Open Road at City Hall in Ottawa. 

Events take place starting at 6:30PM in Jean Pigott Hall at Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa. The doors will be open at 6PM.

I have to fill a maximum of 8 minutes of speaking time saying something poignant about why you can't have Open Government without a Responsible Society.

What I wasn't counting on was this - I've been assigned a 2 x 6 table that I need to populate with something.  Here are my directions:

Remaining décor is up to your imagination. Bring your own displays, banners, posters, props, pamphlets, swag ... Etc, but be aware that they will need to be free standing or on the table.

Here's where I need your help.

My firm Wakata Inc. is dedicated to public affairs with a social purpose; I like to frame my partner Jen Li and I as the stone in the soup, bringing people and organizations together and facilitating shared solutions.  While I'm going to #OGT14 as me, not as Wakata, I want to hold true to what I believe in.

So - what should I display on my table?  Who can I promote, what shared solutions can I hint at in my space?

M first thoughts were that I'd like to promote the following:

Samara - democracy renewal

Why Should I Care - civic engagement

Exhibit Change - improving communication and comprehension

SoJo - a cool web platform that will create community and help individuals turn ideas into action.

MaRS Solutions Lab - anyone planning policy past the four-year cycle deserves some space!

I would have included Make Web Not War, but I imagine they have their own table, being the patrons of #OGT14 and all.

Those are my first thoughts, though I would need some resources from them to put on my table around the stone I just asked Richard Pietro to pick up for me somewhere between Vancouver and here.

What do you think?  All cool suggestions are welcome - and feel free to share them on Twitter using #OGT14!

UPDATED Sept 2 2014:

And the gold star for first carrot goes to Samara!  Samara has offered materials about their Everyday Political Citizen project for my #OGT14 table.

Samara is a perfect compliment for what OpenGov and Responsible Society are all about - our politics can do better, but not without an informed, engaged public.  Their Everyday Political Citizen project is designed to recognize and celebrate the democratic catalysts in our midst; the people who ask questions, who encourage you to get informed, who believe that it's through direct engagement that we can make a difference.

My #EPCitizen nominee for this year, as it happens, is Richard Pietro.

Richard has picked up a stone out west for me to use as the centrepiece of my table, the thing that brings groups like Samara (and hopefully, SoJo, WSIC, Exhibit Change, MaRS) together.  This is appropriate, because his #OGT14 tour has served the same role this summer - bringing together an incredibly diverse community from across the country around one shared theme:

Open Government.

Richard's brought the stone, Samara the first ingredient - but there's lots of space left!  Who's up next?

What Marvel and Open Government Have in Common

"What is it?  I want to know what it is."  You want people reaching out for it... It's fun for me, honestly, to see, because I didn't know the severity of it.  It's severe.  It's a big deal.

 

 

In politics, information that could be shared often gets held back - and this for a number of reasons.  Marketing is key; during a campaign in particular, you want to roll out your platform in stages to keep momentum going, to throw your opponents off balance, so on and so forth. 

 

Sometimes, though, information gets withheld because the people holding it like knowing things that others don't.  The holding of information is valuable to them.

 

I love referring to film makers because when you get an amazing director with a great story - say, a Josh Whedon, a Bryan Singer or a Chris Nolan - they would love to share what they know with you.  They would love for you to be excited along with them. 

 

These folk don't hold back info for personal gain, but out of respect for the audience.  Good story tellers want you, their audience, to have the best, most fulfilling experience possible.  Sometimes that means keeping details back so that you can experience the full impact all at once.

 

Think The Sixth Sense, the first Matrix or more recently, The Lego Movie.  Not knowing those plot twists going in made the story that much more powerful.

 

And Brolin is right - we don't have a lot of surprise, of wonder any more.  We're oversaturated, we're impatient, we're disengaged.  Politics is a great example of this - or at least, good governance is.

How might we empower people to feel about democracy and civic engagement the way they do about a film franchise like Marvel's?  A great starting point would be to have leaders who respected the people as much as good directors do their audiences - and did everything, including info sharing, in a way that made their experience richer

 

Which is exactly what Open Government and Open Data are about.  Done properly, public information that has never seen the light of day will be open, accessible and easy to both navigate and use.  It'd be like citizens having the chance to be part of writing the story of society, in the way a good Twitter chat does. 

Picture everyone having the chance to be a contributing player in society - to design and be their own hero in a pantheon of civic heroes.

That's what Richard Pietro's doing - look at the fun he's having, the experience he's having, the brand he's building - and the contribution he's making.

Open Government is a powerful story just starting to be written, but with an arc that is as exciting as it is important. 

 

It's something those of us already part of the growing Open Community know, a feeling we're dying to share.

 

The best part is that it's not up to us as to when the whole story will get revealed - that's something that only you can decide by joining in.

 

... and Community

.@jasonmhare @OpenCommunityTO anything can be done ;-)... Those who say differently lack imagination and determination #OGT14

We can go pretty fast on our own, but to go far, it takes a little help from our friends.

I know Richard would agree.  His journey, after all, is as much about him helping us as it is us helping him.  

He's a catalyst.  Which, you know, is what leadership is all about.

@AndreaHorwath and @TimHudak: Open By Default

What we're not hearing about - government's plan to open your data!

We haven't heard a lot about Open Government this campaign.  It could be that the NDP and PCs see it as a Liberal thing - which is odd, seeing how OpenGov is being championed by the Conservatives federally.

Open Gov and Open Data aren't a Liberal thing - it's being spearheaded by the bureaucracy.  It's also not limited to Canada, Ontario and Toronto; literally, Open Gov is a global movement, which is very cool.

There's more than a passing chance that they really have no idea what Open Government is about, though, or why it's both common sense and a job creator.

They can't be blamed; as of now, there are really passionate, smart, engaged people speaking in complex technical terminology at events called hackathons.  

While the concept is about engaging, the message still needs refined and designed to become a conversation.  That is, however, the goal.  Makes for a great, already-built opportunity that political communications pros could capitalize on, don't you think?

I wouldn't want to think that either the NDP or PCs are shy about embracing Open Government because, well, it's open; after all their smack talk about the Ontario Liberals, they could be extra cautious about creating opportunities for their own selfish plays or examples of mismanagement getting out.

Thing is, this is a genie that's out of the bottle.  

People are more disaffected than ever with government and politics.  Those who've been inside the system for a while are assuming the disaffection is the same as it always is and are therefore continuing to play by outdated rules of engagement.

They don't realize the game has changed and that there's a new player at the table.

In the very big picture, it doesn't matter who forms the next government - the challenges faced are the same and the solutions are all variants on the same theme; open, authentic engagement, from top to bottom.  Nothing less has the capacity to deliver the shared solutions we need, nor empower people from every walk of life to be part of their implementation.

People are sharing their lives online.  Leaks and FOIs are revealing the inner lives of politics.

It's simply good planning to get out in front and be open first.  

As every pol knows, it's better to define yourself than let someone else do that defining for you.

#WeAreOpen to Memes!

The endlessly creative Richard Pietro has put together some Open Gov/Open Data memes.  They're pretty funny.

Funny + creative = inspirational.  It makes you feel like sharing, maybe even adding your own spin.

Which is why I'm throwing these into the mix, too:



The obvious.



What? It's got a cute puppy in it...



You don't need to pin a cloud - you can join in it!



Government should not be like Mordor.



We don't always open our data... but we should.  And make it machine readable.



Or a Peaceable Revolution, if you'd prefer...



It's happening, one way or another, so -



After all, it's Spring.

Will there be some uncomfortable truths revealed?  Yeah.  Be open, be honest, and invite people to be part of the solution - you'll be surprised how well people respond to actual leadership.

'Cause no one person, Party, ideology or department has all the answers.  Create entertaining platforms for people to participate in, they'll bring the options to you.

To paraphrase Jack Sheppard - we are all here and we're going to be here, together, a long, long time.  If we can't learn to do the open and collaborative thing, we will keep cycling back to the same problems of economic instability, poverty, bad decisions made with poor data in closed rooms, so on and so forth.

Strong individuals for a strong society.

Open Government supporting a Responsible Society.