West Virginia has a Summit on Digital Government?

I just found out that West Virginia has an Information Technology Summit… and one of the topics for this year’s session is on digital government and new technologies. First off, I cannot figure out how I did not know about this. Secondly, you better believe I will be there. Thirdly, this Summit needs much better publicity.

From what I can tell by the website, the Summit has ZERO social media applications, which is a huge flaw in my eyes, (and honestly, probably why I didn’t know about it).

In addition to the topics listed above, additional topics for the Summit include; innovation, leadership in challenging times, cloud solutions, and cost savings. But… why isn’t mobile government listed? And I must ask, can someone be more specific? Innovation seems a little vague to me.

After finding this out, I can’t help but wonder… based on my politically social background and involvement in Leadership Kanawha Valley and Leadership West Virginia, would I qualify to be a speaker?

Delegate Tim Miley and 4-Square

I just had to comment about how Tim Miley (@WVInjuryLawyer) has been tweeting more and more in the past few weeks. He’s even using 4-Square! Not only is he using it for his business, he’s promoting restaurants!

I personally feel 4-Square is a great tool for politicians, and more need to use it! If you’re on the campaign trail and want to stop for a bite to eat, you 4-Square where you are, and ask constituents in the area to come join you for coffee or a piece of pie. I just bet a younger group of people show up that what you’d expect.

As of the past couple weeks, more West Virginia politicians have been conversing with their tweeps, including @wvhouse members Jonathan Miller (@DelegateJMiller) and Bob Beach (@WVDelegate). Keep it up!!

WV’s First Political Twitter Discussion: @Kenwardjr @DelegateJMiller @bitmapped

Late this morning, Charleston Gazette (@wvgazette) Reporter Ken Ward (@Kenwardjr) and House of Delegates member Jonathan Miller (@DelegateJMiller) had a discussion on Twitter over cap and trade, carbon capture, and carbon dioxide. Brian Powell (@bitmapped) also joined the conversation.(Too bad it didn’t have a hashtag associated with it.)

This is the second major instance in West Virginia social media history that a reporter has opened a discussion with a politician through a social media vehicle. The first occurred with Mannix Porterfield asked House of Delegates (@wvhouse) Speaker Thompson (@RT4WV) a question on his Facebook Fan Page.

Conversations and debates, like the one between Ward and Miller, via new media vehicles allow for open discussion and promote interest in government because everyone can be involved. This increases governmental transparency and let’s voters actually discuss issues with those running for office.

A scary thought for all elected officials, or anyone who refuses to answer reporter or constituent questions? If you don’t respond, you could always get tweet-bombed. Although you would have to actually check your twitter account, which one politician in this state doesn’t seem to do.

We Need Governmental Transparency, Now More Than Ever

"Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government." -President Obama, 1/21/09

After reading today's Charleston Gazette (@wvgazette) article by Kate Long, it is extremely evident that this openness is exactly what West Virginia government is lacking. House of Delegates (@wvhouse) member Nancy Peoples Guthrie (@nguthrie4me), who is the chairwoman of the House stimulus committee, said, "There's no reason for this to be cloaked in secrecy... it's gotten beyond the point where 'trust us' is a sufficient answer." (See full article here: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201008100756)

As an advocate of social media being a connection vehicle for politicians and their constituents, I’m alarmed I just might need to take my stilettos two steps back before taking another step forward. It appears elected officials from different branches of government need to be more social and communicative with each other. Long’s article clearly points out the lack of information sharing from the executive branch to the legislative branch.

“Jim Pitrolo, legislative director for Gov. Joe Manchin, told legislators Wednesday the administration is doing everything it can to assure transparency as it spends $1.05 billion of federal stimulus funds,” (see full article here by Phil Kabler here: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201008110855).

But things haven’t been transparent. “This should not be difficult information to track down. It should be a matter of record,” stated Guthrie. Pitrolo cites that the information is available on the site www.recovery.wv.com, but tracking this information down is very difficult, noted members of the House.

While working on one particular client’s campaign this past primary, several figures were request in order to state how much money that client secured for their district. Those numbers, in detail, were not hard to come by. So why is this so difficult? And does the federal government not track how stimulus dollars are spent by states in order to measure if the stimulus money is even effective?

Recently a member of Generation X and I sat down to lunch and had a very inspiring, informative discussion. One of the main outcomes: Gen X and Gen Y, at least in West Virginia, are losing faith in elected officials for reasons just like this. Movements like govloop.com and Gov 2.0 are making leaps and bounds to increase transparency in government through social mediums and connecting more constituents to elected officials. I whole-heartedly support this effort, but after reading about the secrecy of stimulus spending, we need to open the communication lines between branches of government here in the mountain state.

We younger generations live our lives transparently; you can learn more about a person by their Facebook page than hours of conversation, tell what interests and hobbies someone has by their tweets, share joyous moments on Flickr, and learn someone’s professional history on LinkedIn. Older generations like their space, their privacy, and while I, too, enjoy a quiet moment every now and then, I want to know more about the lives of those who are elected to represent me. What do you do all day at during interims? Why do you oppose this bill? Why did you vote to amend that legislation? What are you eating for lunch? How was your drive Charleston? Why isn’t information on how stimulus money is being spent already out there?

Transparency is a way of life for the majority of us younger folk. Transparency is humanizing. If we don’t instill more transparency between and among our branches of government now, how will younger generations ever have faith in tomorrow’s elected officials?

Calling All Politicians: Stop Being Anti-Social! Be Social By Design!

What does the term “PC” mean to you? Politically correct? Wrong! “PC” means POLITICALLY CONNECTED! How connected are you to your constituents? The number one way to get real feedback and converse with the folks who elected you is through SOCIAL MEDIA!

The number one fail in political social media right now, and I don’t mean to be harsh, is @JoeManchinWV. The man who made me fall in love with politics isn’t following a soul on Twitter. I spoke with Senator Oliverio (Mike_Oliverio) last night, a future U.S. House of Reps member, and mentioned he might want to change his Facebook picture. Delegate Doug Skaff (dougskaff) asked me how much he should tweet.

With the youngest and sexiest United States Senator in office right now, West Virginia politicians need to know how to better utilize social media (or new media, whichever), to communicate with their constituents. Goodwin doesn’t even have a Twitter account.

The most recent political social media development in West Virginia, in my opinion, has been Speaker Thompson (@RT4WV) using his Facebook page to post statements regarding his views about what’s going on at the Legislature (@wvlegislature). Mannix Porterfield, a reporter, even asked the Speaker a question on his page and Thompson replied! He’s effectively using social media to communicate with both the media and constituents.

So all you politicians in the great state of West Virginia and across the United States, when you’re ready for my class on political social media, give me a call, 304.993.8464.

Digital, Youth and Politics: The Week's Hottest Moves : By Lauren DeLisa Coleman

The times, they are a changin'. Voices previously a bit off the radar are gaining more and more visibility thanks to digital platforms. If you missed the MSNBC segment on the announcement of a new series on Hip Hop and politics, definitely check it out on line. NBC's The Grio and allhiphop.com have come together to create what seems to be one of the most extensive and cool looks at hip hop culture's influence on politics, almost since the culture's beginning. Entitled Hip Hop & Politics: From the Beat to the Ballot, the on-line series sizzles with info that any and all policy makers looking to connect better with influential constituents (who also happen to be those who out-index across digital media usage) should watch. Viewing this web series could only help politicians to become more savvy when interfacing with consultants they should be bringing on to specifically target this demo and convey messages to them across on-line and mobile phone platforms.

And in the spirit of further converging politics with digital platforms and youth culture, this writer is joining forces with political consultant Cartney McCracken to create a new Follow Friday series on Twitter. Beginning June 18, 2010 follow either @mediaempress or @CartneyWV to jump onto the #FFRed, #FFBlue, #FFWhite series. The first two will obviously offer Twitter handles of policy makers who correspond to their party color. #FFWhite will feature the Twitter handles of Independents as well those related to the political scene from consultants to journalists and more.

"I feel social media has eclipsed traditional media when it comes to connecting with our government. And connecting is the key world. We started #FFwhite, #FFblue, and #FFred to connect tweeps across the nation, and across the world, with elected officials and with those who are in the political arena. We're not just creating a list for people to follow, we're leveraging the influence of constituents on their government. We're proactively championing more collaboration between the public and it's government," explains Cartney.

Watch for an interesting mash-up of people.

There you have it, two unexpected yet welcome moves as we watch politics further converge with pop culture and digital tech.

Enjoy!

Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-coleman/digital-youth-and-politic_b_616553.html