Those in the Washington, DC area this week may want to join MixedInk at the Center for American Progress’ Internet Advocacy Rountable.  This month’s event addresses “Crowdsourcing Message and Policy Development,” a topic we think and write about a LOT (as regular readers of our blog know).

Joining me on the panel will be Michael Yaki, the National Platform Director for the Obama Campaign this year, and Brian Young, Senator John Kerry’s Internet Director.

Here’s the event description:

In 2006, with less money and less name recognition than his opponent for Senate, incumbent Orrin Hatch, Pete Ashdown took an innovative approach to his campaign website. Harking back to a tradition of elected representatives being delegates of their constituents will (rather than trustees), Ashdown included a wiki on his website where voters could edit and develop his campaign platform. This collaborative process, made easy by the web, foreshadowed a growing practice of letting large groups of citizens to collaborate on developing political messages and policy platforms.

But why should we let the crowd do this? According to James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds, large groups of people are simply smarter than small groups and individuals, on average. For example, Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann, in The Spiral of Silence, shows that long before asking people in surveys “who they will vote for” can effectively predict an upcoming election, asking them “who they think will win” will get the prediction right.

Join us on Thursday, October 16, 2008, from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm for the Internet Advocacy Roundtable as we discuss crowdsourcing message and policy platforms with a panel of speakers who have managed crowdsourcing programs and developed new software to make these programs more effective.

The Center for American Progress is a progressive think tank, but people of all political stripes with an interest in the democratization of politics and policy are welcome.  Note that an RSVP is required.

See here for details:

http://www2.americanprogressaction.org/o/507/t/124/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=20520

Hope to see you there!