Blurring the edges

In a digital era, the edges of politics, governance, and advocacy blend into each other. Elected office and electoral campaigning. Talking and listening. Democratic and Republican. Organizing, strategizing, and messaging.

Yet, in an increasingly partisan era, we may not take advantage of the multitude of ideas and innovations across the aisle.

The 2009 Politics Online (April 20 & 21, 2009) will be a multi-partisan meeting of the minds and idea exchange -- without acrimony and manipulation. Politicos, techies, organizers, and advocates will metabolize what happened this election, nourish their intellects, and move forward, applying what was so successful in their campaigns to the commercial, non-profit, and government spaces. The kinds of multi-partisan discussions that will occur at the 2009 Politics Online Conference will encourage innovation on both sides of the aisle.

Smart people coming together to talk and think critically about politics and technology, forming partnerships, caucusing, learning, and developing new solutions for elections, elected office, and advocacy.

New venue
The 2009 Politics Online Conference will be held in the conference facilities of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, located at 1330 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20004.

About the conveners
This year, the Politics Online Conference is hosted by three organizations: The Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, Campaigns & Elections' Politics magazine, and GWU's Graduate School of Political Management.

The mission of the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet is to promote the use of the Internet and new communication technologies in politics to enhance democratic values, encourage citizen participation and improve governance, at home and abroad; in short, to “democratize democracy.”

Founded in 1980 by Stanley Foster Reed, Campaigns & Elections’ Politics magazine (www.politicsmagazine.com) covers the strategies, techniques and personalities of modern politics. It is read by thousands of federal, state and local elected officials, candidates for public office, party activists, issue campaigners, political consultants, campaign staffs, lobbyists, PAC directors, university professors, news reporters and numerous behind-the-scenes opinion makers.

GWU's Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) seeks to improve politics by educating its students and professionals in the tools, principles and values of participatory democracy, preparing them for careers as ethical and effective advocates and leaders at the international, national and local levels.

For more information about sponsoring or attending the 2009 Politics Online Conference, email Lynn Stinson at lstinson@gwu.edu.

Learn more here.