Net and Elections - Online Public Service Model Emerges (fwd)

[Marloth _at__ t-online.de (Heinz Marloth)]

Liebe KollegInnen,
die folgende mitteilung aus den usa leite ich gerne
an sie weiter:

> *** Internet and Elections - Online Public Service Model ***
>
> A new model for promoting public interest use of the Internet is
> emerging with the Web White & Blue initiative in the United States. 
> This message to leading global Internet policy/community networking 
> e-mail lists is a brief introduction to that effort and ends 
> with notes about upcoming conferences and opportunities to meet in 
> person.
> Web White & Blue, sponsored by the Markle Foundation and Harvard's
> Shorenstein Center, is promoting easy access to 1998 election
> information available from over 40 non-profit, government, and
> commercial web sites.  Over 1000 web sites, from the largest online
> portals and media sites to non-profit and government sites, are
> participating by placing the WWB icon on their site.  The scale of
> this public service campaign makes it the largest online effort to
> promote political participation to date.  The effort took a number of 
> lessons from the blue ribbon for free speech initiative with the use 
> of an icon for awareness.
>       Visit Web White & Blue at:  http://www.webwhiteblue.org
> The About <http://www.webwhiteblue.org/about.html> section contains 
> details on the project.  For extensive details visit the Press 
> Information page and download the press kit in PDF.  To receive 
> official updates from WWB, please subscribe to our announcement list 
> on the web site.
> WWB may be an exciting model for adaptation and use in your own 
> country with efforts to promote the use of the Internet and 
> citizen participation.  The model may also be useful for future 
> global Internet-wide efforts and special events.  What public goals 
> (often of a non-technical nature) do we want the Internet to help us 
> reach that cannot be achieved without broadly conceived cooperative 
> efforts?  Developing online partnerships that involve the private 
> sector, non-profits/voluntary organizations, governments and 
> individuals will be required to meet public goals.  Through 
> practice and various initiatives we will learn through trial and 
> error how evolve the Internet in ways that fundamentally contribute 
> to public goals in a world that is increasingly competitive because 
> of technology.
> An opportunity to meet ...
> As an aside, I'd like to mention that I plan to participate in the
> Internet and Politics conference <http://www.dipoli.hut.fi/pi99/> in 
> Helsinki, Finland on January 6-9, 1999.  (FYI - I should also be at 
> the Politics Online conference in Washington DC on Dec. 7 
> <http://www.gspm.org/politicsonline/>.)
> After the Finland conference I am considering a side trip to Estonia 
> and a stop in Stockholm the next week.  My open rail travel week of 
> January 18 - 24 may be an opportunity for meetings in a number of 
> cities including Oslo, Copenhagen, Cologne/Bonn, Brussels or Paris 
> before an extended visit in London.  I have given around 50 
> "Democracies Online" public presentations in 14 countries within the 
> last three years.
> I am preparing a new presentation on Web White & Blue and online 
> public service campaigns.  For those familiar with my past trips, 
> this visit is more about small group meetings than public 
> presentations, but depending upon my schedule we can discuss 
> possibilities if you are interested.
> Looking down the road, I hope to be in the Asia-Pacific region for a 
> few weeks in the second or third quarter of 1999.  Depending upon the 
> types of projects I am involved with (some big ideas are developing), 
> I hope to visit a number of other places to complement and the 
> strengthen our virtual networks of interest. 
> If you'd like to connect at the conference in Helsinki, meet 
> during my January trip or plot future possibilities, drop me a note 
> at <clift _at__ publicus.net> or call me at +1.612.822.8667.  
> To get better connected to those interested in the use of the 
> Internet in democracy, join the Democracies Online Newswire that I 
> run on a voluntary basis. Send a message to: listserv _at__ tc.umn.edu  
> In the message body, write: subscribe do-wire Your Name (Place)  
> For more details and access to past messages see: 
> http://www.e-democracy.org/do 
>
> Your comments, ideas, and questions are appreciated.
> Sincerely,
> Steven Clift, http://www.publicus.net <- Background, Articles
> Web White & Blue Project Coordinator, http://www.webwhiteblue.org
> Consultant to the International Advisory Group for the Markle
> Foundation's E-Mail for All/WWB efforts.
>  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
>    Steven Clift - E: clift _at__ publicus.net - ICQ: 13789183 
>    3454 Fremont Ave S, Mpls, MN 55408 T:+1.612.822.8667  
>    Web White & Blue, Project Coordinator - Consulting 
>    http://www.webwhiteblue.org  
>    http://www.publicus.net   

mfg   H.M.
--
Heinz Marloth   Seehofstraße 15   D-60594  Frankfurt, Germany
Tel.  069 - 61 23 94              eMail:  marloth _at__ t-online.de