People Who Give a Damn

Self-rule in any group or society needs democratic communication, with sending and receiving information is free and open to all. Equal power or participation call for equal access. A transparent way for people to filter for the most important messages can be an essential tool in working together for a better world. The workshop begins with discussion of attendees' communication successes and difficulties, including how to coordinate internally, reach more new people, and take effective action. We will ask attendees to try a prototype of open source free software that does this and answer questions about the tool to incorporate suggestions into development plans. We will use the collective experiences of attendees to inform a discussion on usefully connecting people who give a damn, on uniting visions and coordinating efforts to build better lives for all. * How could we as a small group with an interest in democratic communication stay together? * Should we ask all attendees of the US Social Forum to try these tools? * What could be and should be the relationships between internal democracy in groups and organizations and using the same tools for one huge network?

Self-rule in any group or society needs democratic communication, with sending and receiving information is free and open to all. Equal power or participation call for equal access. A transparent way for people to filter for the most important messages can be an essential tool in working together for a better world. The workshop begins with discussion of attendees' communication successes and difficulties, including how to coordinate internally, reach more new people, and take effective action. We will ask attendees to try a prototype of open source free software that does this and answer questions about the tool to incorporate suggestions into development plans. We will use the collective experiences of attendees to inform a discussion on usefully connecting people who give a damn, on uniting visions and coordinating efforts to build better lives for all. * How could we as a small group with an interest in democratic communication stay together? * Should we ask all attendees of the US Social Forum to try these tools? * What could be and should be the relationships between internal democracy in groups and organizations and using the same tools for one huge network?