www.ChrisLaBossiere.com

I have heard and often use the saying "Out of the Room, Out of the Deal". It makes a great deal of sense in many different settings, and is very pertinent when we talk about politics. Like my last post about ChangeCamp Edmonton, I have very little sympathy for politicians who were "Out of the Room". They are for the most part "Out of the Deal" when it comes to new media circles and a new engaged citizenry who are using new technology to congregate.

Well the other side of that, is the often regular occurence where regular citizens are out of the room, usually because the door was closed to them in the first place. Again however, I think there is a place for new technology particularly web-based tools like Twitter and Facebook, to force the conversation back into the public's hands.

The perfect example in recent history is the Bill 44 debate that occured last spring. I still maintain that this debate was a revolutionary shift in the way political debates are held, as regular citizens began debating in real-time, at 4:00 am in fact, directly with MLA'a who were sitting in the legislature during the 3rd reading of the contentious bill. Not only was that unexpected by the MLA's, but those of them who were not on Twitter were signing up from the floor, so they could get their words in edgewise. Frankly they couldn't resist the momentum, and mostly because of Twitter discussions that were happeneing around "Hashtags" like #bill44. This simple string of text allows Twitter users to follow anything being said about this topic, in real-time by anyone in the World. You can still see that the conversation is still alive, largely due to Twitter, and I am hoping to keep that discussion going.

So, introducing www.LiveGov.ca. A web-project that I have started which will be an EVENT based website focused on live political events while they happen. My goal with LiveGov, is to bring focus to events, even if they are private or behind walls that typical Albertans simply can't attend. I plan to use the tool to create discussion around the Hashtags used in Twitter, and I plan to also "cover-live" the events when they reach their natural culmination.

LiveGov.ca will not be a website that you have to visit often, but it will always be there between events to create the hashtags, and allow individuals (Twitter users or otherwise) to follow the conversation. Using the Twitter API, anyone can see the discussions, based on hashtag, but also post directly to Twitter from there.

The magic (I HOPE), will come during the hours of the event when the discussion is at it's peak, to get people from all walks of life to join in. Using a tool from www.CoverItLive.com, during the events, even regular non-Twitter users will be able to participate in the discussion, add comments, upload photos, videos, etc. The number one hope I have is that with enough "Tweets" on a hashtags, we will DRAG the establishment into the discussion on Twitter, and LiveGov.ca will aggregate the conversation for every Albertan to see.

The first event I plan to cover is the Progressive Conservative Association - Annual General Meeting on November 7th. If you can imagine, these are the three hashtags I hope get a lot of discussion:

• #pcagm (general discussion on the event)
• #stelmach09 (discussion around the leadership review of Premier Stelmach)
• #bill44 (furthered debate on the future of this contentious bil)

Imagine with me for a second the ability for regular citizens to participate in the debate, without having to be at the convention or even PC party insiders. Then imagine if you will that we might start to see PC Insiders and MLA's use Twitter to respond to the comments of those citizens. It might be like having the convention in the living rooms of all Albertan's.

If this is a success, I plan to cover other types of live events:

• Sessions inside the legislature
• City Council meetings
• Party events
• Rally's and protests

Using the CoverItLive tool during those events, I can easilly have guest producers and posters contribute to the conversation, and using the embed ability of CoverItLive, let them embed the discussion in their blog or website. Allowing their readership to participate in the event.

If you would like to be a live contributor to the PC AGM event, let me know and I will be happy to grant you access to the tool. If you have Hashtags you would like to add or suggest, please comment here.