Hi all - I'm organizing a WordCamp in Boston in January (1/23/10, at the
Microsoft NERD center in Kendall Square).

I'd love to see Berkman Blog Group folks there, and I'd be especially interested
in what you might like to submit as talks:

<http://2010.boston.wordcamp.org/2009/11/10/come-speak-at-wordcamp-boston/>

WordCamp is a bit more formal than a BarCamp or PodCamp, in the sense that we
have planned tracks of content, but is still community oriented and planned and
run by volunteers.

Anyway, check out the blog, sign up, and email me if you have any questions.

Thanks

John
http://www.openparenthesis.org/

Yes, you read the subject line correctly: Blog Group dinner. Blog Group. You do
remember Blog Group, don't you? Or has it really been that long? Well, it has,
really, but it's definitely time for us to gather to catch up.

So for now: save the date and time. Location TBD. Suggestions and requests
encouraged.

What: Blog Group dinner
When: Thursday, December 10, 2009, at 7 pm
Where: TBD (Suggestions and requests encouraged)
Who: You and anyone you invite
Topic: Do we really need a topic more so than just catching up? How about all
the bloggy goodness of the last year or so, technology, new gadgets and tools,
how to use blogging and online tech in job searches, etc., etc.
Cost: Pay for yourself and whoever joins you for whom you might be responsible

And, yes, Erica and I know December is a busy time for many of you, but we hope
we can bring at least some of you together face-to-face.

Cheers!

j
blog group co-coordinator






(Personal aside: Like millions of people, including folks we know, I am looking
for an exciting employment opportunity.)

Howdy!

The Boston Book Festival is Saturday, October 24, 10 a to 6 p, in Copley Square.
There's a stellar lineup of attendees and events all day. 
http://bostonbookfest.org/.

Incidentally, OLPC {One Laptop Per Child} will be there in force and is looking
for some volunteers to help with the tent and show off the new XOs. If any of
you would like to assist with that, please message me offlist.

Cheers!

j Baumgart

Howdy!

Two events of interest:

"Startup Bootcamp [begins] at 9:00am on October 12, 2009 at Kresge Auditorium,
MIT. ... Startup Bootcamp is a free one-day event featuring talks by
entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on how to start a company ."  Registration
required. http://startupbootcamp.mit.edu/

---


"The Berkman Center at Harvard University in coordination with the Center for
Research on Computation and Society is putting together a Ruby on Rails workshop
for women on October 16th and 17th.

We are seeking to create an attitude-free, newbie-safe and mama- friendly tech
event to encourage women to join the Ruby on Rails community.  This is an
inclusive event meant to promote mixed gender collaboration."
More info and registration:
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/genderandtech/ruby-on-rails-workshop-for-women/



Happy fall!

j

Dear Berkman-Sunlight Colleagues,

The Ethos Roundtable is an informal group of people who are interested
in 1) measuring and extending ethos, and 2) using technology for
positive social change. We meet once a month in Harvard Square
(Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) for discussions and presentations.

If you're planning to be in the Boston area this month, please join us
for our next Ethos Roundtable session:

Tuesday, May 19th
4:30 - 6:00 pm
Charles Hotel
1 Bennett Street
Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Featured guest: Melinda Wittstock, founder of Ask Your Lawmaker,
Capitol News Connection, and Pundit Productions

Melinda Wittstock is an award-winning broadcast and print journalist
with 20 years of experience in New York, Washington, and London. Her
writing and hosting work spans BBC Radio and TV News, ABC News,
National Public Radio (NPR), MSNBC/CNBC, as well as London's Times,
Guardian, and Observer newspapers.

Melinda founded Capitol News Connection (CNC), which covers Congress
from a local perspective for more than 200 public radio stations
nationwide, reaching three million listeners. She also created "Power
Breakfast", which airs daily on WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington.

She conceived and launched the Ask Your Lawmaker web site and widget,
which lets citizens directly question their lawmakers. Users ask
questions and vote on the ones they most want CNC journalists to pose
to lawmakers. Audio answers are uploaded for users to listen to,
comment and share.

Melinda will be sharing her vision of collaboration between citizens
and professional journalists to foster accountability and transparency
in government. She calls this "truth-squadding," and will be leading a
discussion about how Web 2.0 makes this possible.

Although we don't often carry over an Ethos Roundtable theme from one
month to the next, we do have an opportunity to do this in May. During
our April session with Susan Labandibar, we brainstormed about ways to
call Congress to account about the hazards of recycling e-waste
overseas, and one of the strategies I suggested was posting a question
about this to Ask Your Lawmaker. I posted a question on this topic,
which you are welcome to vote up. You're also welcome to post a
question of your own (on any topic whatsoever) to Ask Your Lawmaker -
it only take about three minutes.

At the conclusion of our Ethos Roundtable session , we will stroll
down the hall to enjoy the good company, food, and drink at the 501
Tech Club that is so generously underwritten by TechFoundation. The
501 Tech Club is the monthly gathering of technology professionals who
work with nonprofit organizations.  All Ethos Roundtable attendees are
welcome at the Boston 501 Tech Club, and vice versa.

For more about the Ethos Roundtable, please see
<http://ethosroundtable.blogspot.com>.

For more about the Ask Your Lawmaker, please see <http://askyourlawmaker.org/>.

For more about the Boston 501 Tech Club, please see <http://nten.org/techclub>.

For more about TechFoundation, please see <http://techfoundation.org>.

Please remember that there's never any need to make a reservation to
attend Ethos Roundtable events. Just come if you can, and feel free to
invite others! However, if you're planning to attend the Boston 501
Tech Club event at 6:00 pm, we ask that you send an email to Kathleen
Sherwin of TechFoundation (ksherwin AT techfoundation DOT org). Since
TechFoundation is providing the free food and drink, it's courteous to
let them know how much to order.

Best regards from Deborah

P.S.: Full disclosure of financial relationship: I serve as a paid
consultant to Capitol News Connection and Ask Your Lawmaker.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Technology for the Nonprofit
and Philanthropic Sector
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
www.deborahelizabethfinn.com
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909

I bring resources and needs together for nonprofits and
philanthropies, mostly through strategic use of information
and communication technologies.

It is time once again for BarCamp Boston!

BarCamp Boston 4
Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26, 2009
MIT Stata Center
http://barcampboston.org/

Organized on the fly by attendees for attendees, BarCamp offers excellent
opportunities for networking, learning something new, and discovering some
Boston area technological excitement! You don't just attend a BarCamp—-you
participate in discussions, demo your projects, or join another cooperative
event.

Topics may include, but are not limited to: open source software, startups, UI
design, entrepreneurship, AJAX, hardware hacking, robotics, mobile computing,
bioinformatics, RSS, social software, programming languages, and the future of
technology.

More information and registration are at: http://barcampboston.org/. Voluntary
donations are accepted in place of a required registration fee.

Please forward/blog/announce to all your friends, coworkers, and other
interested parties!

Sponsorships, starting at $250, are a great way to advertise to a few hundred of
Boston's brightest software developers. Please visit
http://www.barcampboston.org/sponsorbarcamp/ if you're interested.

Don't miss the hottest gathering of Boston area geeks this spring!

I joined you folks a couple of years ago with Andy Carvin and spoke about local
e-democracy.

I happen to be coming into town this week and had planned to try to arrange
something, but ran out of time. So it is drinks and dinner unless someone wants
to organize a spontaneous event on this topic:

http://pages.e-democracy.org/Boston_roundtable

Also, I plan to be around Harvard on Friday morning to reconnect with those
interested in non-partisan efforts to strengthen local communities using ICTs -
note: http://blog.e-democracy.org

Cheers,
Steven Clift
E-Democracy.Org
http://twitter.com/democracy

Hello,



Rebecca MacKinnon, who has accomplished some terrific things online and
regularly attended blog group before moving overseas, is the guest for
Tuesday's Berkman Center lunch. Details below. Don't forget to RSVP.

j

BERKMAN LUNCHEON SERIES on THE TAO OF THE WEB

================================================================

3/3/09, 12:30 PM ET, Berkman Center Conference Room
RSVP is required (rsvp at  cyber.law.harvard.edu) [by noon on Monday, 3/2]
Lunch will be served.

Topic: The Tao of the Web: China and the future of the Internet
Guest: Rebecca MacKinnon

Most English-language discussions about "the future of the Internet"
approach the subject from an Anglo-American and European perspective.
But what if you take China - now with the world's largest number of
Internet users, fast-growing technology sector, and a strong voice in
global Internet governance debates - as your starting point for
thinking about where the global Internet is headed? What are the
implications for global free expression? How can citizens of different
countries, who speak different languages and come from different
political traditions, work together more effectively to protect and
hopefully even expand freedoms?  Rebecca is in the very early
stages of writing a book exploring these questions and look forward to
picking the brains of Berkmania.

This event will be webcast live; for more information and a complete
description, see the event web page:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2009/03/mackinnon

Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, a Harvard Alumni Association Shared
interest Group with 5,000 members worldwide, is hosting the Success
Redefined Summit -- a strategic retreat designed to connect Harvard
folks with the individual talents, shared resources, and leading
thinking that will enable each of us to thrive in 2009 and beyond.
This is a unique opportunity to engage experts and peers about
pathways to success during a period of economic uncertainty and
cultural change -- and a great way to spend the inauguration
weekend!

> What: Success Redefined Summit
> When: January 17-18, 2009
> Where: The Nye Center on Harvard campus, Cambridge, MA

Tickets are limited and advance online registration is required:
> www.harvardalumnientrepreneurs.com/anniversary/register.php

In addition to the Summit, HAE is hosting a community networking
party on 1/29 and an alumni anthology of essays about success.  Find
out more at the HAE website
www.harvardalumnientrepreneurs.com/anniversary

See you later this month -- and please spread the word! One need not
be an entrepreneur or a member of HAE to participate.

Betsy Campbell
President, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs

ok, one last time: does anyone out there want to take over the berkman
twitter account that we created for a demo so long ago?

http://twitter.com/berkman

in three days i'm gonna delete the account.

-- Jack

ok, one last time: does anyone out there want to take over the berkman
twitter account that we created for a demo so long ago?

http://twitter.com/berkman

in three days i'm gonna delete the account.

-- Jack