Invitation

From Digitally-Empowered Activists Conference Wiki

Dear XXXXX,

I am writing to invite you to a small gathering in Istanbul from Thursday, February 7th, to Friday, February 8th, 2008, hosted by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. The event is entitled "Digitally-Empowered Activists: Getting the Tools to the People Who Need Them" and is organized by the Berkman Center's Internet and Democracy Project .

We are convening a group of approximately 20 participants, including members of civil society and digital activists from around the world. This diverse group will come together to discuss how new low-cost mobile and web-based tools can be used to organize for social change and how to best disseminate this new skill set to activists around the world.

The objectives of this event are to:

1. Present cutting-edge activist applications of a representative sample of new digital media (video, blogs, online social networks, mobile SMS)

2. Identify our target audience: the "high impact" activists that would most benefit from learning to use these tools.

3. Determine why this group is not currently using these tools and develop a scalable dissemination strategy to get these tools to the activists who need them.

Event Logistics

Time and Date: The event will take place on Thursday, February 7th, and Friday, February 8th, of 2008. The introductory session will begin at approximately 4pm on Thursday, followed by an informal dinner. Breakfast and registration will begin at 8:30am on Friday and the day's activities will end at approximately 6:00 pm. We will leave Saturday morning open for attendees to schedule individual or small group meetings with one other. There are no official sessions scheduled for Saturday.

Location: The event will take place at the Point Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.

Travel: We will provide economy-class air travel to attendees. You will receive a future e-mail regarding travel logistics. Please direct any questions about reserving airline tickets to Catherine Bracy at cbracy@cyber.law.harvard.edu.

Visa: [country-specific information to be inserted for each invitee]

Lodging: We will provide up to three nights' stay at the Point Hotel. We will provide dinner on Thursday, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Friday, and breakfast on Saturday. Please direct any questions about reserving a room to Catherine Bracy.

Agenda: We will circulate an agenda at a future date, to be shaped in part by who is able to attend. We will also create a wiki for the workshop, which will allow participants to share ideas and references before, during, and after the event. The day will include both sessions with the full group of roughly 20 as well as smaller breakout groups to work on sub-topics.

RSVP: Please reply to Mary Joyce (mjoyce@cyber.law.harvard.edu) to let us know if you will / might / cannot attend.

Background on the Internet and Democracy Project:

The Internet and Democracy Project is an initiative focused on the relationship between the Internet and democratic norms and modes, including its impact on civil society, citizen media, government transparency and the rule of law. These subjects are being examined through a series of case studies from all over the world, with a focus on the Middle East. The goal of this work is to support the rights of citizens to access, develop, and share independent sources of information, to advocate responsibly on important issues and to debate ideas freely with both civil society and government. The project will include original research and the identification and development of innovative web-based tools that support the goals of the project. The project is a two-year research effort funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative of the US Department of State. This grant provides the Berkman Center with funding to independently investigate the relationship between technology and the Internet. We seek to maximize transparency throughout our research efforts, but also recognize that certain contexts require a higher level of confidentiality to permit full participation; rules for interviews, events, and other research elements are determined accordingly. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the substance or process of any of our projects.

We look forward very much to hosting you in February, or at another time if you cannot make this event. You can also reach anyone at the Berkman Center at +1.617.495.7547

Sincerely,

John Palfrey Executive Director Berkman Center for Internet & Society Harvard Law School

Bruce Etling Project Director Internet and Democracy Project Berkman Center for Internet & Society Harvard Law School Email: betling@cyber.law.harvard.edu