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PdF London Event May 13: Action Replay

BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, April 22 2010

Technology is changing politics the world over, and right now one epicenter for that transformation is Great Britain, where the May 6 elections have become a fascinating free-for-all among three major parties, the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal-Democrats, and where the campaigns, the media, party activists, independent bloggers and ordinary voters are all rapidly engaging with each other online.

With those changes in mind, we're pleased to announce "General Election 2010: Action Replay," a formal review of the Britain's first digital election, on May 13 from 6:00-10:00pm at the RSA in London.

The free event, hosted in conjunction with the RSA, Onalytica and We Are Social and organized with the help of Steve Moore, will bring together more than 200 people who have been responsible for the most creative and high-impact uses of digital media during the campaign.

Speakers will include US political strategists Mindy Finn and Joe Trippi, along with PdF co-founder Andrew Rasiej. From the UK we have Stella Creasy*, Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in Walthamstow; Joanne Cash*, the Conservatives' Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in Westminster North; Will Heaven, the Daily Telegraph's Deputy Blogs Editor; Anthony Painter, Commentator and Journalist; and Mark Pack, the Lib-Dem Head of Digital at Mandate Communications and co-editor Lib Dem Voice (www.LibDemVoice.org). [*Invited.]

Our goal is a highly interactive conversation among all the attendees. We will be inviting participants from across the political spectrum who have distinguished themselves by their usage of digital media through the course of the UK election. To apply for an invitation, just fill out the relevant information in the registration pages.

Action Replay will be a prelude to our first major UK PdF conference which will take place this autumn in London. We will confirm attendance 10 days prior to the event, by email.

News Briefs

RSS Feed tuesday >

Pete Hoekstra's Campaign Website's "Offensive" Source Code Changed After Outcry

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Fidel Castro Loves the Internet

“The Internet is a revolutionary instrument that permits the receiving and transmission of ideas, in both directions, that is something we should know how to use,” Fidel Castro told a crowd of supporters on Feb. 4, according to the state-owned Cuban newspaper Granma International. Castro, who made his first public appearance since April 2011, launched his two-volume memoir, “Guerilla of Time,” and took the opportunity to discuss issues of importance to him. Earlier this week, Miranda Neubauer reported that one of these topics was the need for the Internet. Castro has been a proponent of the Internet as a tool for the exchange of ideas since 2003, but the average Cuban citizen faces great difficulty getting online. GO

Claire McCaskill Hires Blue State Digital's Alex Kellner As Digital Director

Missouri's senior Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has hired Blue State Digital's Alex Kellner as its digital director. GO

Controversial Hoekstra Microsite Targeting Debbie Stabenow Created By The Prosper Group

Michigan Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra has caused a firestorm in the past 24 hours with a new campaign ad that depicts China as a young woman riding a bike in a rural area speaking in broken English. The thirty second spot aired in Michigan during the Super Bowl on Sunday, and it accuses Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow of aiding ... GO

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As a result of Chopra's interview with The Atlantic's tech/politics correspondent, Nancy Scola, there's now a public record of what this first-ever CTO thinks the CTO's job actually is ("On any topic that is a priority for the president, my role is evaluate how technology, data, and innovation can advance, support, and improve upon those strategies," among other things) and how it might be improved.

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Slovenian ambassador apologizes for signing ACTA, Poland halts ratification

Apparently, some EU countries are reconsidering their support to ACTA, only a week after signing the agreement.
Helena Drnovsek Zorko, Slovenia's ambassador to Japan, has in fact issued a public apology to her country for signing it. Meanwhile, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he's halting the ratification process of the international treaty.
Last week people took the streets in Poland, and a protest is planned in Ljubljana tomorrow. GO

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Did Newt Gingrich Lose Florida for Want of a Better API?

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House GOP Hosts Legislative Data and Transparency Conference

Today, House Republicans are hosting a conference on legislative data and transparency. The goal, as it's been explained to me, is to set the table for a conversation between House leadership and open government/open data advocates about what the House could or should do next.

More information on the conference is here. It's being live streamed.

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