Check out CivicLab’s call for ideas and collaboration at Neighborland, a tool for sharing ideas and sparking civic collaboration.
Neighborland – New Tool For Civic Engagment
Join Us @ Pumping Station One
CivicLab’s first hack meeting is being generously hosted by Pumping Station: One on Thursday Oct 18th, 7:00PM – 9:00PM.
Snacks, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages provided!
How can open source technology, design, and data accelerate social change and community improvement efforts? From Open 311′s city tracking system and the Grassroots Mapping of environmental impacts, to pedal powered electricity and LED banners at protests; design and technology have proven to be robust change agents.
CivicLab is entering the field with an initiative called “Hacks for Activists” (H4A). H4A seeks to build tools that solve common problems plaguing community organizers. We’re looking for activists, designers, coders, open hardware enthusiasts, and anyone with the slightest interest in technology for social change.
Here’s a few ideas we’re currently exploring but new projects are most welcome:
- Sign Me Up: An SMS/web based tool to replace paper sign-up sheets at community organizing meetings.
- Crowd Speaker: An application that would leverage participants’ cell phones as a collective public announcement system at rallies.
For more information and notifications about future meetings, you can contact bsugar [at] skilfullycurled.org, or visit our web site at http://www.civiclab.us.
Please sign up on our Eventbrite so we can get an idea of how many to expect: http://hacksforactivists.eventbrite.com
“Crowdsourcing Social Change” @ TEDxDePaul
Tom presented on “Crowdsourcing Social Change” at TEDxDePaul on October 13. You can watch the presentation deck and listen to the audio here (18 minutes). We did some crowdsourcing on the spot – asking attendees to reveal how much student debt they will have upon graduation and to share ideas for dealing with mounting and unmanageable student debt. Thanks to the folks at GoSoapBox for the use of their platform for this demonstration! Participate here.
College Makes a Difference – For Civic Engagement
According to a new report from CIRCLE, “That’s NOT Democracy – How Out-of-School Youth Engage in Civic Life and What Stands in Their Way,” 62% of young people with college experience voted in the 2008 Presidential election versus only 36% of young people with no college experience.
We Need To Upgrade US Education
From the Center for American Progress comes a new study, “The Competition That Really Matters: Comparing U.S., Chinese and Indian Investments in the Next Generation Workforce.” Download summary (12 pages) = The Competition That_Really_Matters-summary.
“To position the United States for the future, substantial investments are needed in research, infrastructure, and education. The most important of these areas to address is education. Why? Because as this report shows, the overwhelming economic evidence points to education—and human capital investments, generally—as the key drivers of economic competitiveness in the long term.”
Are you hearing anything like this in the current flurry of ads around the Presidential race?
“Barber Shop Show” Strolls Down Olympics Memory Lane
The unique WBEZ public affairs interview program, The Barber Shop Show, interviewed Tom as part of a special show looking at the impacts and politics of the Olympics. Listen to the program:
bss87.mp3 on Vocalo.org 89.5
Crowd Says “NO To Privatization!” @ Bughouse Square
I was on the soapbox (again), this time at the Newberry Library’s annual Bughouse Square Debates in Washington Square Park. Prepared for hecklers, I inveighed against the privatizing crooks and back-room deals that have ripped us off and threaten to do worse. But the crowd warmed to my reminders of the Monroe Street Parking Garage, Skyway Bridge and Parking Meter rip-offs and really appreciated my blasting of Mayor Emanuel’s Infrastructure Trust. Listen to the speech (9 minutes):
Tom Has A Big Idea
The August issue of “Chicago Magazine” has a feature on how to make Chicago even better. They selected six Big Ideas. Mine was #5. It’s about establishing a public bank for Illinois.
“THE RATIONALE: A state bank could help Illinois reduce its budget deficit and make more credit available, thereby boosting the economy.
THE PROPONENT: Tom Tresser, cofounder of Illinois Citizens for Public Banking and a former teacher who coorganized the opposition to the 2016 Olympics
HE SAYS: “Illinois has more red ink than any state but California. It owes $34 billion in principal on its bonds; pension debt stands at $76 billion, the highest in the nation; and it pays a ton in bond interest and fees, not just because it has a poor credit rating but also because it also uses big out-of-state banks and investment firms to do the deals.
“Contrast that with North Dakota. Since the economic downturn began in 2008, North Dakota has had a budget surplus every year. It has no state debt, excellent credit, and the country’s lowest unemployment rate [3 percent]. While student loans in Illinois carry interest of 8 to 12 percent, in North Dakota it’s 4 percent.” Read the full story.
Amazing VanGogh Dominoes Creation
There are truly no limits to creativity and ingenuity! Read the story here.
Tom’s Talk About (and Prototype of) The Gift Economy
I presented at TEDxIIT on Saturday, April 14, on the south side campus of IIT. I talked about The Gift Economy and created one among the attendees. 82 of the 100 attendees actually offered something to their fellow attendees!
Here is the presentation:
Click on the player below to listen and click on the Slideshare viewer to watch the presentation.
View more PowerPoint from Thomas Tresser
You can watch all the presentations here – http://mypages.iit.edu/~tedxiit/video2012.html
