We are pleased to announce a great set of panelists to lead our discussion of Political Issues of the Social Web on Net Tuesday, November 9.

As results of the mid-term election change the players in Washington, and across the states, important questions loom large …

• What is “net neutrality”, and why is it important?
• What fights looming in Washington are essential for us to be... [read more]

We are pleased to announce a great set of panelists to lead our discussion of Political Issues of the Social Web on Net Tuesday, November 9.

As results of the mid-term election change the players in Washington, and across the states, important questions loom large …

• What is “net neutrality”, and why is it important?
• What fights looming in Washington are essential for us to be aware of?
• Have the results of this week’s election helped or harmed the causes we care about?

We’re getting together to learn about these issues, and to better understand some of the laws and regulations that can ensure or inhibit our ability to connect with one another in a free, open and empowering social web. Our discussion will be led by four terrific panelists:

• Rachel Colyer, Organizing and Communications Manager of the Media and Democracy Coalition (http://www.media-democracy.net/), a Washington-based collaboration of over two dozen local and national organizations committed to amplifying the public's voice in shaping media and telecommunications policy.

• Susan Gasson, Associate Professor of the iSchool at Drexel (http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/Home), which works to “unite technology, people, and information to make a fundamental difference in this knowledge society -- a society in which citizens collaboratively and freely create and share knowledge and utilize information and technology to promote growth, prosperity, and well-being.”.

• Bryan Mercer of the Media Mobilizing Project (http://mediamobilizingproject.org/), which “exists to build the media and communications infrastructure for a movement to end poverty, led by poor and working people, united across color lines.”

• Christopher Wink is the marketing director of Back on My Feet (http://www.backonmyfeet.org/), a homeless advocacy nonprofit; co-founder of Technically Philly (http://technicallyphilly.com/), a news site that covers technology and innovation for the region; and Web editor and business manager for NEast Philly (http://neastphilly.com/), a hyperlocal news site for Northeast Philadelphia.


We’ll be meeting at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street, starting at 6:00 PM. Light fare will be available. We’ll also be streaming the event live, and supporting a Twitter backchannel. More info will be available at http://phillynetsquared.org.

RSVP’s are requested for planning purposes, but not required. Feel free to stop in, and bring a friend. But more importantly, bring your curiosity, perspective and passion as we explore these important issues together.

We gratefully acknowledge our sponsor, the American Friends Service Committee (http://afsc.org), for making this event possible.