What’s Political Innovation all about? It’s a series of practical events at which people with ideas on political innovations can meet up with technical experts, journalists, bloggers, politicos and others with an interest in politics and public affairs to grow and promote innovative projects.
Where? When? Final dates and venues are to be confirmed, but think ‘soonish‘, ‘on a Saturday’, ‘in Scotland’ along with ‘in Wales’ and you won’t go far wrong. We did two events in 2009 – one in Belfast and one as part of NESTA’s Reboot Britain event in London. We’d like to do events in Northern Ireland (again) and Dublin if we can.
How can I get involved? You can write an essay and we’ll consider it for publication. You can help us get a venue organised or give us a bit of sponsorship? We’re looking to just cover our expenses. Please get in touch if any of this appeals to you?
Who’s it for? We’re hoping to attract anyone who says “why is politics still done like this?” to themselves. It’s not really a left-right thing. Along with politicians, their assistants, lobbyists and journalists and with the digital natives who have contributed the ideas this website is showcasing, or have had experience working on innovative projects. We’re particularly keen to get some Councillors and local government staff along.
What will you get out of it? If you have an idea and have been trying to hack it together, you may meet a few new collaborators, sponsors, partners or customers. If you’re interested in politics and want to know how scary ideas like open data, collaborative authoring or the decentralised ungovernable blogosphere are likely to change the political landscape, it will be a day well-spent.
If you’re a politician, you will meet people with practical ideas on how they can help you represent people more effectively. If you like any of the ideas showcased in the Political Innovation essay series that is running throughout the Summer 2010 on our partner blogs, you will be able to meet the authors and get involved in their work.
Lots of exciting new projects will also be showcased during short ‘elevator pitches’ that will take place during the day.
How much? NOTHING! It’s free, thanks to our sponsors (*ahem* – our operators are standing by, ready to take your calls!)
How should attendees prepare? Have a look at the list of essays on this site. See if there are any that you’re particularly keen on. Pass on the good news about the event to your friends and colleagues and make sure that you’ll have room for a bit of Pizza at around lunchtime.
But what exactly will happen on the day itself? There are no formal speakers and no agenda. Instead, the day will start with a number of one-minute idea-pitches where prospective session-leaders try and tempt you to come along to their Political Innovation Workshop.
And then, once you’ve heard them all, you all go off and organise the room allocation and timetabling yourselves.
That can’t work, can it? Yes – yes, it can. Like this. It’s quite a successful model,
Any more questions? Please get in touch. Join the Google Group, get every new posting send to your inbox, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or just subscribe to our RSS feed.
