I have been really busy with Reboot Alberta and the Reboot Alberta Blog for the past while and not keeping up with the many issues I would like to write about on the blog.
The Right Call column I do for Alberta Venture magazine with Fil Fraser, Janert Keeping and others is up in the new issue.
As well I did a book review for Alberta Views magazine on Rich Vivone's book on the Klein era "Ralph Could Have Been a Superstar." It is a timely read as we once again have a government in Alberta telling us the economic sky is falling and the only solution is program cuts. Can we learn from the excesses of "brutal" government cuts without concern for the consequences other than getting the budget math right? I hope the Stelmach government reads Rich's book and learns from past mistakes in developing Budget 2010-11. Not much evidence of any such learning so far.
Then I have been working on promoting our own book at Cambridge Strategies "Green Oil" and encouraging Albertans to see themselves as owners of the energy reserves of the province - and begining to act accordingly.
I have been asked to be interviewed by the panel reviewing issues in Alberta Children's Services next week and that will take of preparation and should be interesting.
Another big concern will be the planning of the next stage of Reboot Alberta and get a handle on the principles, values and issues that animate and delineate what is means to be a progressive Albertan in the 21st century. If you are interested in finding out more about progressive Albertans go to http://www.rebootalberta.org/ and become part of the movement.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Daveberta Reflects on Reboot Alberta
Dave Cournoyer, (a.k.a. Daveberta) is the gold standard of political bloggers to my mind. I am not alone in those sentiments. In the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards he was voted First in "Best Political Blog," Best Progressive Blog," and "Best Blogosphere Citizen." Since then he has grown both in experience and astuteness.
I have learned a great deal from knowing and reading Dave over the past 3 year. As one of the "elder statesmen" of social media in Alberta I like to say most of my mentors are under 30. It is true and Dave Cournoyer is one of them.
Dave was at the Reboot Alberta launch this past weekend and by all accounts, he valued the experience. He was also not alone in that sentiment if you have been checking out the posts of the other Bloggers who were at the Reboot Alberta launch. You can find links to these Bloggers through the blog poll at http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/.
His blog post on Reboot Alberta is a typical example of his thoughtful and reflective commentary on politics, democracy and public policy in Alberta. This guy gets it when it comes to expressing the frustration and feelings of so many Albertans about poltics in our province. Here is the link to his blog post on Reboot Alberta.
If you are a progressive Albertan and want to reinvigorate your citizenship, personally re-engage and take back some responsibility for politics and public policy in alberta come to http://www.rebootalberta.org/ to learn more and get involved.
I have learned a great deal from knowing and reading Dave over the past 3 year. As one of the "elder statesmen" of social media in Alberta I like to say most of my mentors are under 30. It is true and Dave Cournoyer is one of them.
Dave was at the Reboot Alberta launch this past weekend and by all accounts, he valued the experience. He was also not alone in that sentiment if you have been checking out the posts of the other Bloggers who were at the Reboot Alberta launch. You can find links to these Bloggers through the blog poll at http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/.
His blog post on Reboot Alberta is a typical example of his thoughtful and reflective commentary on politics, democracy and public policy in Alberta. This guy gets it when it comes to expressing the frustration and feelings of so many Albertans about poltics in our province. Here is the link to his blog post on Reboot Alberta.
If you are a progressive Albertan and want to reinvigorate your citizenship, personally re-engage and take back some responsibility for politics and public policy in alberta come to http://www.rebootalberta.org/ to learn more and get involved.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Reboot Alberta Launch and What's Next for the Progressive Movement in Alberta .
I have done a blog post on some of my thoughts out of the weekend launch of Reboot Alberta on that blog.
There is a way for you to join the Reboot Alberta movement too by going to http://www.rebootalberta.org/.
I will be doing a post on as many blog posts on the Reboot Alberta that I can gather. One interesting place to start getting aware of the reaction going into and coming out of Reboot Alberta is though the imaginate post of Mastermaq. He has already collected a number of blog posts links and has done a Wordle cloud on the Tweets and some blogs about Reboot Alberta. Here is the link to his post. More blog posts are coming and will be linked from http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/ as they emerge.
There are lots of Reboot Alberta related links in Mack's post so if you are courious about Reboot Alberta, get a coffee first and take the time to read and reflect on the buzz.
There is a way for you to join the Reboot Alberta movement too by going to http://www.rebootalberta.org/.
I will be doing a post on as many blog posts on the Reboot Alberta that I can gather. One interesting place to start getting aware of the reaction going into and coming out of Reboot Alberta is though the imaginate post of Mastermaq. He has already collected a number of blog posts links and has done a Wordle cloud on the Tweets and some blogs about Reboot Alberta. Here is the link to his post. More blog posts are coming and will be linked from http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/ as they emerge.
There are lots of Reboot Alberta related links in Mack's post so if you are courious about Reboot Alberta, get a coffee first and take the time to read and reflect on the buzz.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Reboot Alberta About to Kick Off & How to Connect to It!.
This weekend is promising to be significant for the 90 progressive Albertans who are attending. What will come out of it is anybody's guess but the energy and enthusiasm going in is impressive and encouraging.
The Twitter hashtag to follow Tweets about Reboot Alberta is #rebootab. The bloggers who will be there will be posting to their own sites. Most of them can be found in the blog roll links on http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/. They will also be putting links to blog posts on Twitter with the #rebootab hashtag. Twitter users can connect that way too and find the blog posts about the event.
If you are not on Twitter but want to keep current on the conversations - and even participate by submitting your own comments - you can keep track by going to http://www.rebootalbertalive.com/ That will have all the #rebootab tagged content on a real time basis. This site is live now.
Saturday 9-12 and afternoon plus Sunday morning from 9-11 am will be prime time.
If you a progressive thinking Alberta who is disillusioned, despairing and despondent about Alberta politics, Reboot Alberta may be the place to help you revive your interest in citizenship and the need to change from politics as usual. Check it out and let us know what you think.
The Twitter hashtag to follow Tweets about Reboot Alberta is #rebootab. The bloggers who will be there will be posting to their own sites. Most of them can be found in the blog roll links on http://www.rebootalberta.wordpress.com/. They will also be putting links to blog posts on Twitter with the #rebootab hashtag. Twitter users can connect that way too and find the blog posts about the event.
If you are not on Twitter but want to keep current on the conversations - and even participate by submitting your own comments - you can keep track by going to http://www.rebootalbertalive.com/ That will have all the #rebootab tagged content on a real time basis. This site is live now.
Saturday 9-12 and afternoon plus Sunday morning from 9-11 am will be prime time.
If you a progressive thinking Alberta who is disillusioned, despairing and despondent about Alberta politics, Reboot Alberta may be the place to help you revive your interest in citizenship and the need to change from politics as usual. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Guest Post on Reboot Alberta Worth a Read
I have not asked for guest posts on the blog but I am happy to publish this one. The author wishes to remain anonymnous but I know who they are. Some people attending Reboot Alberta have been hesitant to give permisson to release their contact information electronicaly for reasons of their own.
I believe that must be respected but they will be obviously known to other attendees who we anticipate will repsect their perceived need for some privacy. At the Reboot Alberta blog we decided there would be no anonymous posts or comments. As a result this post will not appear at Reboot Alberta. However, I thought the post itself ought to be given an audience. So I have posted it here.
Regular readers of this blog know a rail against anonymous commenters, expecially the trite and unsubstantiated kind. This is not really an anonynmous post, at least not to me. but I will respect the request for privacy. Here is the guest post and I hope you agree this voice is worth hearing even if it must be from a private source for practical reasons.
Ken,
I certainly appreciate all the interesting ideas and themes that participants are bringing up regarding social media, voter apathy, citizen engagement, new politics, youth engagement, etc., but I strongly believe that before we get into any of these topics, if the crux of this conference is to discuss how we can reengage progressives so that we are again an influential force in political and public policy discussions, then, respectfully, we need to start way higher level and plan strategically. I think a large part of the failure of progressives to connect with people and to form an influential movement is because we’re too dispersed and haven’t been strategic enough.
We can blame the party in power, and criticize the process and the system – and we do so not without cause – but doing so really doesn’t move us along. We’re not organized and calculated enough. If we want to have a real impact on public discourse, in political parties, as non-partisan advocates, and in government, then we need to think, act, and speak strategically. And we don’t. Progressives in this province (and this includes me as I, too, often make this error) often assume a position of moral and intellectual superiority. And I think this makes sense to a certain extent. I think we are smart people and our principles and values are just. But starting the conversation from a position of presumed superiority (even if it is legitimate) isn’t helpful.
Moreover, we really do get bogged down with the issues and we don’t focus nearly often enough on the global outcomes we want to achieve. I think part of this is because people who are socially and politically active on the progressive side of the equation are social and political activists. I’m not trying to be tautological here. I’m serious. We get involved because there’s an issue or a cause that we’re passionate about. We get our hands dirty and work on the frontlines, and this is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. But issues-driven activism does not translate to good strategic planning, good policy development, or ultimately, to forward-thinking governance. Another reason why we find it so hard to conceptualize and plan the big picture is because we’re not a single, unified movement.
And again, this isn’t a bad thing at all. But we do need to leverage our diversity and use it to our advantage. How do we do this? I don’t know, but I it’s a damn good question for discussion. I do think though, that because we are such a diverse group, hammering out a synthesis of common ideas and principles would be a helpful focusing exercise.
We need to talk about the common beliefs that unite us as progressives and the things that divide us (or, to put it in a more nuanced manner, the things that illustrate our diversity). I don’t see progressive thought as a monolithic movement, but surely we share common fundamental beliefs and values. At the start of the conference, I think we should work out principles and/or a framework to guide the weekend’s conversations. Certainly, I would hope that all discussions are authentic and organic, but well facilitated and thoughtfully guided conversation is much more valuable than scattered, ‘schizophrenic’ discussion. We’re way too often shrill, negative, and defensive in our approach and language. I can understand this too. The progressive voice has been marginalized and ostracized for a long time now in Alberta, so I get that people are frustrated.
My point is that the topics that have been suggested are good and important tactical conversations that we should have. But before we even get to tactics, we need to have a strategic, and very candid ‘come to Jesus’ discussion about the state of progressive politics in Alberta right now, what we’re doing right, what we can improve, what we believe in, what we want to accomplish in the near-, medium, and long-terms, and how we intend to accomplish our goals. Surely, a group of thoughtful, intelligent, and engaged citizens can come together to develop a strategy that encapsulates our commonality and defines our values but also celebrates our diversity. We need to start high level; develop a framework for progressive politics; set goals, timelines, and expectations; figure out what we want to do; and then we can drill down and talk tactically.
Otherwise, all that’s going to happen over the course of the weekend is that a number of people will get together to have novel but trivial conversations. We will fail to seize the opportunity before us to galvanize a large body of people to go back to and galvanize their progressive networks and communities in order to start a broad-based, motivated, and ‘densely populated’ movement that can effect true socially progressive and fiscally compassionate public policy.
I believe that must be respected but they will be obviously known to other attendees who we anticipate will repsect their perceived need for some privacy. At the Reboot Alberta blog we decided there would be no anonymous posts or comments. As a result this post will not appear at Reboot Alberta. However, I thought the post itself ought to be given an audience. So I have posted it here.
Regular readers of this blog know a rail against anonymous commenters, expecially the trite and unsubstantiated kind. This is not really an anonynmous post, at least not to me. but I will respect the request for privacy. Here is the guest post and I hope you agree this voice is worth hearing even if it must be from a private source for practical reasons.
Ken,
I certainly appreciate all the interesting ideas and themes that participants are bringing up regarding social media, voter apathy, citizen engagement, new politics, youth engagement, etc., but I strongly believe that before we get into any of these topics, if the crux of this conference is to discuss how we can reengage progressives so that we are again an influential force in political and public policy discussions, then, respectfully, we need to start way higher level and plan strategically. I think a large part of the failure of progressives to connect with people and to form an influential movement is because we’re too dispersed and haven’t been strategic enough.
We can blame the party in power, and criticize the process and the system – and we do so not without cause – but doing so really doesn’t move us along. We’re not organized and calculated enough. If we want to have a real impact on public discourse, in political parties, as non-partisan advocates, and in government, then we need to think, act, and speak strategically. And we don’t. Progressives in this province (and this includes me as I, too, often make this error) often assume a position of moral and intellectual superiority. And I think this makes sense to a certain extent. I think we are smart people and our principles and values are just. But starting the conversation from a position of presumed superiority (even if it is legitimate) isn’t helpful.
Moreover, we really do get bogged down with the issues and we don’t focus nearly often enough on the global outcomes we want to achieve. I think part of this is because people who are socially and politically active on the progressive side of the equation are social and political activists. I’m not trying to be tautological here. I’m serious. We get involved because there’s an issue or a cause that we’re passionate about. We get our hands dirty and work on the frontlines, and this is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. But issues-driven activism does not translate to good strategic planning, good policy development, or ultimately, to forward-thinking governance. Another reason why we find it so hard to conceptualize and plan the big picture is because we’re not a single, unified movement.
And again, this isn’t a bad thing at all. But we do need to leverage our diversity and use it to our advantage. How do we do this? I don’t know, but I it’s a damn good question for discussion. I do think though, that because we are such a diverse group, hammering out a synthesis of common ideas and principles would be a helpful focusing exercise.
We need to talk about the common beliefs that unite us as progressives and the things that divide us (or, to put it in a more nuanced manner, the things that illustrate our diversity). I don’t see progressive thought as a monolithic movement, but surely we share common fundamental beliefs and values. At the start of the conference, I think we should work out principles and/or a framework to guide the weekend’s conversations. Certainly, I would hope that all discussions are authentic and organic, but well facilitated and thoughtfully guided conversation is much more valuable than scattered, ‘schizophrenic’ discussion. We’re way too often shrill, negative, and defensive in our approach and language. I can understand this too. The progressive voice has been marginalized and ostracized for a long time now in Alberta, so I get that people are frustrated.
My point is that the topics that have been suggested are good and important tactical conversations that we should have. But before we even get to tactics, we need to have a strategic, and very candid ‘come to Jesus’ discussion about the state of progressive politics in Alberta right now, what we’re doing right, what we can improve, what we believe in, what we want to accomplish in the near-, medium, and long-terms, and how we intend to accomplish our goals. Surely, a group of thoughtful, intelligent, and engaged citizens can come together to develop a strategy that encapsulates our commonality and defines our values but also celebrates our diversity. We need to start high level; develop a framework for progressive politics; set goals, timelines, and expectations; figure out what we want to do; and then we can drill down and talk tactically.
Otherwise, all that’s going to happen over the course of the weekend is that a number of people will get together to have novel but trivial conversations. We will fail to seize the opportunity before us to galvanize a large body of people to go back to and galvanize their progressive networks and communities in order to start a broad-based, motivated, and ‘densely populated’ movement that can effect true socially progressive and fiscally compassionate public policy.
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