Notes on Curation: Looking Back on #PDF13, And Ahead
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, June 11 2013
Did we "Think Bigger?" Yes! Beyond the many great individual talks and panels, I was struck to see several cross-cutting themes emerge over Personal Democracy Forum 2013's two days. Read More
WeGov News: New Staff, New Partnerships, New Backing!
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, June 5 2013
techPresident's WeGov section is bulking up with a new staff editor, an expanded editorial mandate, a partnership with the engine room, and fresh infusions of support from the Omidyar Network and the United Nations Foundation. Read More
#PDF13: Here's the Breakout Schedule: 90+ Speakers; 20+ Great Sessions [UPDATED]
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, May 20 2013
We're almost done nailing down the schedule for Personal Democracy Forum 2013, just a little less than three weeks away. In addition to our main hall keynotes, we're pleased to be offering more than 20 in-depth breakout sessions featuring an amazing array of 90 expert speakers. This year we've developed several core tracks for the breakouts: Net-powered organizing, the growing civic stack, tech policy, and political data. We also will be offering a few sponsored sessions with partners from Mozilla, Omidyar Network, Thoughtworks and a special workshop run by GitHub. Here's what we have lined up for you in each track... Read More
Why "Gender 50/50" Is An Important Challenge and Commitment for the Tech Industry
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, April 23 2013
It's 2013, and while some big tech conferences like Social Media Week are rolling out commitments to move toward real gender balance in their speaker mix, others like TechCrunch Disrupt are still reproducing the male-dominated events that dominate the field. What does it take for things to change? Read More
PDF 2013 Main Hall Preview + New Speakers!
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, April 10 2013
With PDF 2013 less than two months away, here's an advance look at the main hall talks, plus a whole new round of confirmed speakers. Read More
Book Review: Evgeny Morozov Doth Protest Too Much
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, April 9 2013
According to Evgeny Morozov, the world has gone crazy and he's one of the few sane people left. His strange new book, "To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism," goes so far to build up straw men for his attacks that he suggests contemporary technologists would have ensured Rosa Parks could never have committed her legendary act of civil disobedience. And it gets worse ... Read More
A Modest Proposal: Start Facebook.org
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, March 25 2013
The news that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is working with a group of tech entrepreneurs to start a new independent political group aimed at influencing US policy on immigration and other issues prompts the following question: when is this giant social network going to start taking its own civic responsibilities more seriously, especially as it comes to how Facebook implicitly influences political processes all over the world? Read More
techPresident is Hiring! Full-Time Assistant Editor/Writer Wanted for WeGov
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, March 22 2013
We're looking for an enterprising and well-organized assistant editor to join our existing (and illustrious, hardworking and spunky) team in tracking and reporting on how technology is changing politics, government and civic life. Read More
First POST: Droning
BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, March 7 2013
Exclusively for Personal Democracy Plus subscribers:The aftermath of Rand Paul's anti-drone filibuster, the U.S. Attorney General defends the Swartz prosecution, Rush Limbaugh discovers that Twitter isn't representative of all Americans, OfA's Jim Messina pushes back on critics, Knight's Prototype Fund makes its first grants, Morozov on Italian politics, and more. Read More
OFA Targets Congress on Guns and Some Members Fire Back
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, February 27 2013
Whatever else you might say about Organizing for Action -- whose funding mechanism looks like a classic influence-peddling scheme -- the suggestion that the group is creating spam-bots to harass opposing members of Congress is ludicrous on its face. Read More