Time for an update on the program for the PdF Europe Barcelona conference, which is coming into focus. We have a great group of speakers already confirmed (listed here) and expect to be adding several more, over the next few days and weeks. If you’re on our email list you will be getting updates, but keep your eye here too. The purpose of this post to sketch out how the two days of the conference will flow, to give you a sense of topics and timing.
Here’s where our thinking stands. Day One of the conference (Friday, November 20) will mainly focus on how technology is changing politics in the sense of campaigns, elections, political media, and governance, but with the emphasis on individual country politics, not the pan-European question. The big thematic question for Day One is probably, inevitably, what should Europeans (in our individual countries) learn or not learn from how Barack Obama used the internet in his campaign, and from how the American political system is being changed by technology. That said, there will be a lot of internal comparitive discussion going on, with panels primarily made up of European practitioners, politicians and activists alike.
The rough timing for Day One looks like this:
8:30-9:30–Registration/coffee
Morning plenary sessions
9:30-10:00 Welcoming remarks
10:00-11:00 Keynote conversation: How the net is (or isn’t) changing politics
11:00-11:15 High-order bit: Mapping the Eurosphere
11:15-11:30 High-order bit: How Obama Won
11:30-12:30 Panel discussion: What Europe Should (and Shouldn’t) Learn From the Obama Campaign
12:30-2:00 Networking lunch
Afternoon breakouts (these will run concurrently in two sets of three)
2:00-3:15 How political parties are reinventing their relationship with the public
2:00-3:15 How blogs are transforming politics
2:00-3:15 Best practices workshop: How to use video to build your cause
3:15-3:45 Coffee break
3:45-5:00 The new power of organizing individuals into mass membership e-groups
3:45-5:00 How the internet is changing politicians
3:45-5:00 Best practices workshop: How to use social networking and Twitter to build your cause
Closing plenary
5:00-6:15 Open forum on the future of personal democracy in Europe
Day Two (Saturday, November 21) will look more frontally at efforts to knit together Europe using the internet (including cross-national transparency projects, political parties or projects that are cross-national in their reach, and work that is directly centered on the European Union and European Parliament institutions and conversation). The big thematic question here is whether the internet can help foster a stronger pan-European conversation, common efforts and identity.
The timing for Day Two looks like:
8:30-9:30 Networking breakfast
Morning plenary sessions
9:30-10:00 Welcome remarks
10:00-11:00 Keynote conversation: Reinventing Government
11:00-11:15 High-order bit: The Power of Local
11:15-11:30 High-order bit: Mobile Platforms for Change
11:30-12:30 Panel discussion: The Internet and Europe: Can We Connect the Continent?
12:30-2:00 Networking lunch
Afternoon breakouts (these will run concurrently in two sets of three)
2:00-3:15 Transparency: A Movement Rises
2:00-3:15 How Social Media Can Create a Pan-European Conversation
2:00-3:15 Best practices: How to use mobile tools to build your cause
3:15-3:45 Coffee break
3:45-5:00 Adapting to the new media environment
3:45-5:00 We.gov: a new kind of collaborative governance
3:45-5:00 Best practices workshop: How to fine-tune your web strategy to build your cause
5:00-6:15 Final plenary
As we firm up the roles of our illustrious group of speakers, we’ll be posting a more detailed schedule. Stay tuned!
Finally, don’t forget that the early registration deadline of October 16 is rapidly approaching. If you register now, you can save 50 Euros off the regular registration fee (which is 250 for regular attendees, 200 for students). We do offer discount rates for groups of five or larger; contact info-at-personaldemocracy-dot-com for details.
October 13, 2009