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I have been doing a lot of research on fundraising, at the same time as I’ve been studying the changing expectations of individuals who are adjusting to living in the information age. In addition, I’ve become increasingly intolerant of people and organizations that use tactics for fundraising and promotion of their issues that treat me like an emotional being that is to be manipulated into supporting their cause.

You know what I’m talking about – it’s the high energy college students working for Greenpeace (or any number of Adopt-a-child charities) in their matching shirts, clipboards, and excessive geniality. It’s the form letters you receive in the mail from faceless alumni organizations touting the value of your dollar for the next generation. It’s the ads on your favorite websites with pictures of unhappy black children in front of a grass hut. And it’s the appeals from acquaintances asking for help in spreading the word on this ‘really important issue – it’ll only take five minutes to make a difference!’

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Wow! What a full and exciting weekend Matt Cooperrider and crew provided at NYU’s ITP last weekend. You can get all the details here: http://mudball.net/pcamp09/, but the reality is that they really pushed the limit on integrating an offline conference with online participation.

They started with skype chats prior to the event, had a room that was dedicated to virtual presentations and interaction during the event, and are still following it up with even more skype interaction!

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Okay, so the name may change but the concept is definitely sound.

In a discussion this weekend with Noel Dickover of CommuniBuild and Andrew Wright of Grasshopr, Noel suggested that we convene a barcamp to focus on citizen’s engagement with Congress. He was right of course, and so the ship has been set to sail – the organization has begun.

Noel sent out an initial email to some people including the Open House Project this morning. I responded, adding on a Google Group to facilitate organizing, and by the end of the day, there were already 19 people in the group with some very healthy discussions around naming and the proper date well under way (currently looking like Sept 11, 12 – but we’ll see).

It’s exciting to stumble upon something that is so in need of happening and to be part of bringing it to fruition. This should be a very fun experience that will bring a lot of benefit to a community of individuals that have yet to be convened. I will not pretend to know the outcome of this event, but I’m pretty sure it will have a strong impact on the ways that citizens engage with Congress.