Dear Friends:
Ever since we launched Personal Democracy Forum in 2004, we’ve envisioned creating a hub for the growing community interested in understanding how technology is changing politics, government and civil society. In nearly eight years and with your help, we’ve built a vibrant annual conference in the US (along with satellite events overseas) and a lively daily news site where the reporting is serious, but at the same time spurs conversation that pulses with excitement about the possibilities to make the civic process more open and participatory, make the powerful more accountable, and make life better for all people.
Now, in tandem with the redesign and relaunch of our websites, we’re proud to announce that we are changing our name to Personal Democracy Media (PdM), an independent media company focused on how technology is changing politics, government, and civil society. PdM produces conferences and events, tracks and analyzes news, and provides cutting-edge resources for the people and organizations building a a new world of 21st century democracy.
While our annual June conference in New York City (June 11-12) will continue as Personal Democracy Forum (PdF), expect to see more local and overseas events built around current events like last week’s Personal Democracy France conference and Dec. 12’s flash conference at NYU “From the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street: The Future of Networked Democracy.” In January, we will also roll out Personal Democracy Plus (Pd+), our premium subscription service providing timely information and resources to help you succeed professionally with insider briefings, useful case studies, vendor guides, and detailed reporting, along with other features.
Today, we invite you to explore our redesigned websites. On PersonalDemocracy.com, you will find information about our current and upcoming events, along with a rich archive of material from our past conferences, events and conference calls. You will find that the new site makes it easier to dig into our archives, and has a new feature allows you to search by speaker or topic. And as noted above, we’ll soon be adding Pd+ content to the mix.
On techPresident, we’ve made four big upgrades. First, as you look at the home page, you’ll see some featured topics across the top left. These take you into directly to curated topics pages that point you to our best articles on those subjects. If you want a one-click primer on We-government, or how Obama is using tech in 2012, or the politics of Facebook Nation, or how Malcolm Gladwell gets social media wrong, or Occupy Wall Street, we’ve got it for you. Click around, we’ve also left you some Easter eggs to find. And over time, we’re going to keep adding more curated topics pages, so if there’s a subject you want, let us know.
Second, down the right-hand rail, you’ll see a constantly updating stream of daily news briefs. If you want to keep your eye on what is happening now in the world of tech and politics, including our coverage plus a solid mix of other good material that’s out there, just check out the news briefs regularly. (Or subscribe to the RSS feed.)
Third, we’ve redesigned the home page to better emphasize our featured posts and articles. And lastly, we’ve integrated the Disqus commenting system, to make it easier for you to make and share your responses to our coverage.
Speaking of responses, please let us know what you think of all these changes–pros and cons. Right now the new sites are still in beta, and if you don’t mind kicking the tires a little, you’ll probably also spots some bugs that need fixing. Tell us here in the comment thread what you think (or if you prefer, just email us at pdm-at-personaldemocracy-dot-com).
The site has been designed to serve our community better and with your help we hope can continue to improve it and have it continue to be an ongoing resource. Hopefully you’ll like the new look and other style changes, for which we have to thank Montserrat Lobos (for the logos), Hazan + Co (for the wireframes), Segal Savad (for the design), Alley Interactive (for turning all of these concepts into code). And last, but not least, our chief operating officer Jen Vento and managing editor Nick Judd, for overseeing the whole redesign process and working many long hours to iron out its kinks.
We look forward to seeing you at our events, on our site, and to continuing the conversation.
December 11, 2011