Changemakers: Tools and Strategies for Digital Advocacy (By invitation, April 17, 2009 at the Upham Hotel)

Changemakers: Tools and Strategies for Digital Advocacy, part of the Santa Barbara Social Innovation Design Charrettes series, offers activists, leaders of non-profits and advocacy groups, foundation representatives, companies, and academics a way to collaboratively design and vet new ideas for using new media in advocacy. The series is an invitation-only event for leaders who are developing answers to questions such as:

- How to capture people's attention for public causes in a world crowded with channels and messages?

- How can social media best be used to sustain people's interest in a social problem or a cause?

- What is the impact of social media in a corporate environment?

- How should "membership" be defined in the new media world?

- How does mobile computing change the equation of mobilization and organizing?

- What are the limits of new media for mobilizing?

- What organizational structures are best suited to advocacy in a world of new and rapidly changing media?

The day-long workshop has an intensive and interactive design unlike a conference or typical workshop. It will bring field leaders in advocacy across groups together with one another and with nationally and internationally renowned scholars. Everyone is expected to roll up their sleeves and participate in intensive small-group processes of problem definition, emergent and competitive solution-generation, and proposal vetting. The goal is to use a highly facilitated, multi-disciplinary approach to unpack problems, generate alternatives, consider unintended consequences, and equip participants to make informed decisions about how to apply the results in their own organizations.

The design charrette is being organized by the Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS). Lead faculty organizers are Kevin Almeroth (Computer Science), Bruce Bimber (Political Science), Jennifer Earl (Sociology), and Lisa Parks (Film and Media Studies). The facilitator will be Kris Krug. CITS Advisory Board Members are David Toole (Outhink Corporation), John Seely Brown (formerly Xerox PARC), Chuck House (Stanford Media-X Program), and Mark Bertelsen (Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati). The charrette is financially supported by a generous donation from the David and Diane Toole Foundation.