[CivicAccess-discuss] inviations? + tranlated letter + plans?

[Patrick Dinnen]

I like it. The tone's good I think.

Patrick

Michael Lenczner wrote:
> I moved some stuff around.  And I'm just showing the english because I
> couldn't keep the flow when I was going back and forth from english to
> french.
> 
> Mostly i just rearranged and tried to tighten things up.  The only
> thing I added was the bit about being humble and sincerely inviting
> people as "real" co-founders - because I think if we didnt' say that
> we might be viewed a bit as "who the hell are these guys and who do
> they think they are?".  And I think it's an important part to
> recognize that there are people who have put a lot more thought and
> sweat into this goal than me.
> 
> 
> -----------------------------------
> Hi There,
> 
> Stéphane, Patrick, Michael and Tracey would like to invite you to
> become co-founders of a new civic engagement space - Citizens for Open
> Access to Civic Information and Data (COACID).  We are contacting you
> because we know that you have been thinking and talking about these
> issues, have been actively engaged in related activities, and also
> because each or you has unique expertise, knowledge and experience to
> contribute to this type of activity (i.e. policy work, open source,
> social planning, data access, technology development, mapping, etc.).
> 
> The motivation for this project is the belief that the combination of
> stronger open access to civic information and data along with new
> information and communication tools can encourage and support a more
> informed and engaged citizenship.
> 
> As concerned citizens of our neighborhoods, cities, provinces and
> country we are trying to contribute to the development of a larger
> community of practice around open civic data in Canada.  Besides
> helping us make better informed choices as voters and keeping
> government more transparent and therefore accountable, civic
> information and data are the essential bits and bytes required to
> re-imagine, re-envision, visualize and critically analyze the
> communities we live in.
> 
> A discussion list and a wiki with some draft content have been
> created.  A wiki is a collaborative tool that will host content and
> resources discussed on the list.  This mailing list and wiki exist to
> help people with these beliefs and interests share their skills,
> information, and resources and to support each other in relevant
> activities and projects.
> 
> Please join the list and introduce yourselves, check out the wiki,
> share your ideas and interests, add content and discuss issues you
> think are important from your unique and diverse perspectives.  We
> also think it would be beneficial and productive to temporarily
> discuss in a smaller group context. We are asking for your help to
> collaborate in the formation of what COACID should be before we open
> it up to the larger public.
> 
> We're serious about inviting you to collaboratively create this space
> with us – so please feel free to make suggestions and modifications
> you feel would be beneficial.  We recognize that many of you already
> have a large involvement in this area and it would be a waste to
> launch this project without your input and support.  Unfortunately we
> can't identify and invite every person who works in this area across
> Canada, but we have gone out of our way to request the involvement of
> as many practitioners as possible.
> 
> We look forward to developing this community with all of you.  See you
> on the mailing list!
> 
> Cheers
> Stephane, Patrick, Michael and Tracey
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