I’ve heard great things about the training and conferences provided by E-Democracy in the Twin Cities. So I am happy to pass on the following request. It is a great opportunity for the right community!

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Wanted: Partners to Help Host Citizen Media Outreach Events in Rural Minnesota (See Examples Below)
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Citizen media projects are springing up across the country and the world. Between now and the end of June 2008, E-Democracy.org is hosting Citizen Media Outreach Events across rural Minnesota to showcase some of these exciting projects, and encourage the launch of similar projects in rural Minnesota.

We are looking for organizations or institutions in rural Minnesota interested in co-sponsoring a Citizen Media Outreach Event in their community.

E-Democracy.Org will provide:
  * Speakers/presenters for each event – either experienced
  E-Democracy.Org presenters or newly identified partners
  who are already engaged in citizen media projects in
  rural Minnesota.

Partners will be responsible for:
  * Organizing a local venue and providing local publicity
  for the event.

Contact : team@e-democracy.org
  For more info : http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rural_Voices

Four Possible Formats to Choose From.
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  (We can customize these events to
  meet the specific needs/interests of our partners)

1) Citizen Media Presentation (90 Minutes) – An E-Democracy.Org presenter will conduct a 45 minute online tour of some of the most interesting citizen media projects in Minnesota, across the country, and around the world. We’ll explain the following tools and talk about how they might be used for community engagement. The final 45 minutes will be reserved for a public discussion about citizen media in the host community.

The online tour will include:

* Issues Forums
  * Podcasting
  * Online Video (YouTube and Others)
  * Social Networking Site
  * Citizen Journalism
  * Wikis
  * Blogs

2) Organizing a Local or Neighborhood Issues Forum in Your Community (90 Minutes) – This presentation will focus on the details of how to set up and manage an online civic forum in your community using the E- Democracy.Org model. We’ll talk about:

* Building and managing a forum
  * Recruiting participants
  * Engaging Elected Officials and City Staff
  * Facilitation – keeping things civil and respectful

3) Citizen Media Panel Discussion (90-120 Minutes) – We’ll engage our network of contacts around the state to organize a panel discussion with real bloggers, podcasters, and others citizen media types from rural Minnesota. The purpose of the panel will be to introduce the audience to the power of online tools for community building and introduce them to some of the real people who are making it happen in Minnesota and hopefully inspire new projects.

4) Citizen Media Workshop (Half or Full Day) – Hands-on sessions on any or all of the following tools. Workshop sessions will provide basics of how to get started with the tool and examples of how these tools are being used for community organizing and civic engagement:

* Managing a Local Issues Forum
  * Community Blogging
  * Citizen Journalism
  * Podcasting
  * Online Video
  * Wikis

Tim Erickson
Hamline Midway
Info about Tim Erickson: http://forums.e-democracy.org/contacts/timerickson