[extropy-chat] World Future Society Presents - Extreme Democracy

Sat Nov 4 16:37:37 UTC 2006

Our good friend Jon Lebkowsky will be speaking at the WFS in Austin on 
December 5th.

>Extreme Democracy

>The World Future Society will hold it's next monthly meeting in Austin on 
>Tuesday, December 5, 2006. It will be held at the meeting room at 9503 
>Research Blvd. # 400., Austin, TX 78759 (512.349.7151) at 6:00 p.m.
>
>Jon Lebkowsky will be speaking on "Extreme Democracy"
>
>"In the 1990s online activists experimented with the Internet and the 
>World Wide Web as a platform for a new kind of politics, leveraging 
>interactive "many-to-many" tools to support both advocacy and 
>deliberation. Early online activism focused on issues that were relevant 
>to the Internet's strong "geek" element,"cyber liberties" issues of free 
>speech and privacy. However in 2000, as Internet penetration was 
>mainstreaming and reaching critical mass, the web became relevant to 
>political campaigns. In the presidential campaign for election 2004, the 
>Internet became an essential part of the political process. Howard Dean's 
>short-lived front-runner status, a product of his campaign's effective use 
>of Internet tools, proved that the Internet could have an effect. Though 
>Dean was unsuccessful in his bid for the Democratic nomination, he 
>continued to use web-based tools effectively to take control of the 
>Democratic Party. Jon will answer the question, how is the Internet's role 
>in politics evolving, and what are the implications for 2008?
>
>Jon has been online since the 1980s, when he learned that computers could 
>form networks, and that computer networks are environments for 
>communication, group-forming, and community-building. Since then he's done 
>diverse work as a writer, publisher, consultant, community developer, 
>project manager, and technology director. He just ended five years as CEO 
>of Polycot Consulting, Inc., a company he co-founded in 2001. He is 
>currently writing, working as an independent consultant, and helping build 
>a nonprofit called AssistOrg, which will provide web development and 
>consulting services to NPOs.
>
>Jon Lebkowsky is an authority on, and evangelist for, computer-mediated 
>communications, social software, virtual communities, community 
>technology, and online social networks. He has served variously as a CEO, 
>technology director, project manager, systems analyst, and online 
>community developer. His current consulting practice focuses on web 
>usability and strategy and effective use of online social technologies. He 
>is knowledgeable of Internet policy and trends, and is a strong proponent 
>of universal broadband access to computer networks.
>
>He has written about technology and culture for publications such as Mondo 
>2000, 21C, boingboing, Whole Earth Review, FringeWare Review, Wired 
>Magazine, and the Austin Chronicle.
>
>His blog is at 
><http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=815270&r=814529&t=510084801&l=1&d=87625248&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eweblogsky%2ecom&g=0&f=87625252>www.weblogsky.com, 
>and he contributes to other blogs at 
><http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=815270&r=814529&t=510084801&l=1&d=87625250&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eworldchanging%2ecom&g=0&f=87625252>www.worldchanging.com, 
>www.smartmobs.com, and 
><http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=815270&r=814529&t=510084801&l=1&d=87625240&u=http%3a%2f%2faustin%2emetblogs%2ecom&g=0&f=87625252>www.austin.metblogs.com.
>
>A longtime proponent of online tools for civic engagement, he co-edited 
>Extreme Democracy, a book on technology, democracy, and advocacy, and 
>served on the organizing committee for O'Reilly's Digital Democracy Teach-In.
>
>Copies of Extreme Democracy will be available for sale at the meeting.
>
>Attendance fee is $20 per person, for members, $25 for nonmembers, cash or 
>checks only. (Make checks payable to CenTexWFS.) The fee includes a meal 
>but is charged for attendance. The meeting room is at the back of the 
>restaurant on the right.
>
>Seating is limited so please reserve your place 
><http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=815270&r=814529&t=510084801&l=1&d=87625245&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ecentexwfs%2eorg%2findex%5ffiles%2fpage0008%2ehtm&g=0&f=87625252>here.
>
>For more information about the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future 
>Society, visit 
><http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=815270&r=814529&t=510084801&l=1&d=87625244&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ecentexwfs%2eorg&g=0&f=87625252>www.CenTexWFS.org. 
>
>
>For more information about the World Future Society, visit 
><http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=815270&r=814529&t=510084801&l=1&d=87625249&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ewfs%2eorg&g=0&f=87625252>www.wfs.org."

<http://www.natasha.cc/>Natasha <http://www.natasha.cc/>Vita-More
Cultural Strategist - Design Media Artist - Futurist
PhD Candidate, 
<http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/researchcover/rcp.asp?pagetype=G&page=273>Planetary 
Collegium
Proactionary Principle Core Group, <http://www.extropy.org/>Extropy 
<http://www.extropy.org/>Institute
Member, <http://www.profuturists.com/>Association of Professional Futurists
Founder, <http://www.transhumanist.biz/>Transhumanist Arts & Culture

If you draw a circle in the sand and study only what's inside the circle, 
then that is a closed-system perspective. If you study what is inside the 
circle and everything outside the circle, then that is an open system 
perspective. - Buckminster Fuller

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