The #AskEd Accountablity Window ends tomorrow
During a question and answer session the Progressive Party AGM on November 7, 2009 Premier Stelmach – reeling from recent bad press over everything from the oil and gas royalty framework, to Bill 44, to Bill 50, to H1N1 vaccinations – announced to Alberta what “the biggest challenge we’re facing as a government” is. The answer? The media. Specifically he said, “I really do feel that the policies we have are the right ones for Alberta, but it’s difficult to get it through the present media that’s available to us.”
Yes, I laughed too when I heard it. Surely the biggest challenge could not possibly be that mistakes were being made on each of these issues, but instead it must be that the media was pointing them out.
But let’s put that aside and just say for a moment, that the Premier is right. If this is so, how the heck do you get around the media to give your message directly to the people? This is something many different companies are trying to figure out so they can reach consumers of their product too. Just like the Government is lamenting they’d like to do.
A few decades – even a few years – ago this might have been a problem, but with the advancement and building popularity of social media tools such as Facebook, a portal directly to the people now exists. And Premier Stelmach could rightfully take his message to the streets by using this grand new tool and bypass the mainstream media’s web 1.0 model entirely.
Yes! Now they’re starting to get it. The tools DO exist for you to actually have a conversation with citizens directly. All you have to do is open up and start doing it. The solution is so simple, but would be a groundbreaking change to the people of Alberta! A Premier who actually talks with the people instead of at us! It would be a revolution if undertaken properly.
So I waited.
I would have thought the first step in a process like this would have been the Premier taking over his Twitter account himself and starting to use it to actually interact with citizens, instead of allowing staffers to push out nothing more than 20th century-style public relations talking points and boring photos of him shaking hands with people I don’t know at uber-structured press announcements. (Seriously, how am I supposed to identify with a man that is only presented in such a way? No wonder people think he’s boring.)
But instead I was saddened by the reaction simply being a ramp up in the Premier’s online presence. His Facebook page and Twitter account increased the volume of craptastic PR available to the public, while he started a new e-newsletter. And nothing actually changed.
However a little over a week ago, the Premier’s office announced something new: a program called AskEd. The concept is so simple, but long over due: citizens can ask the Premier questions via Twitter or YouTube and the Premier will respond. It’s foolproof!
Well, it looks like the fools are running the program.
For those that don’t know, here is how Twitter works:
- You say something via Twitter.
- When I’m online, I respond via Twitter.
Here’s how the fools have decided the AskEd program on Twitter will work:
- You ask the Premier a question – but only before December 4 – via Twitter.
- A third party will vet the questions and decide which ones might be answered.
- In about two weeks time check our website and see if he responded.
Wow. I’m going to go out on a limb and say maybe Premier Stelmach should stick with mainstream media, he’ll probably have better luck with it because it sure doesn’t look like he gets social media.
So I’ve done what any responsible citizen could do. I conformed. I’ve asked three questions via the AskEd program. They may look tongue in cheek but I’ve asked them in all seriousness. We’ll see if I ‘make the cut’.
The questions are:
Ask @premierstemach a Q on Twitter & in 2 weeks he’ll answer on his website. #askEd: Do you understand why that is a social media #fail?
#askEd Can I still ask @premierstelmach Qs after Dec 4 or is that the end of the accountability period?
.@premierstelmach Why is #askEd not an ongoing thing instead of a short term marketing campaign? Can openness & transparency be the default?
Please feel free to re-tweet my questions (here and here and here) and to ask your own questions too. You have until tomorrow, after that, it looks like you can keep your questions to yourself.
Doug Elniski: now just another walled off politician?
Did MLA Doug Elniski do something dumb? Yes. Was posting his thoughts online the mistake? No.
This is what makes social media such a powerful tool when it comes to politics: you get a chance to see inside the mind of our leaders and what makes them tick. And as you can imagine, when you get a chance to look inside someone’s mind you might not always like what you see.
The alternative to this is what we have been doing for generations. In that example, we elect someone without really knowing much about them and then either approve of what they do on our behalf or become belligerent and shocked when a massive scandal blows up.
I would argue social media like Twitter and Facebook allow us to get an inside perspective of what our elected officials do and think and that is a good thing. If they are corrupt or disengaged, status updates may give a peek at that attitude. If they don’t? Well they were just lying to us anyway so we’re no worse off then we were before.
Personally, I don’t agree with Doug’s comments. When I first read his tweets at the Edmonton Pride Parade I thought to myself, “Gee, I don’t think those are appropriate comments to say out loud.” And when I read what he said at a grade 9 graduation I thought, “That does not seem appropriate at all.” But you know what? He has a right to think and say those things. Just like we have a right to judge him based on what he said.
I would much rather an elected leader show me their true face and let me decide what to do with that information, than live a lie and pretend to be something they are not.
Where I really became disappointed with Doug was with his reaction to the controversy created by his remarks on his blog. Rather than apologizing on his blog and trying to help us understand why he made the remarks and what he is doing/going through in getting past them, he simply deleted the blog all together.
And in doing so left us all to wonder what is going on in his head and became just another walled off politician. And that is our loss.
Where database technology is taking us
I have extolled the virtues of databases for years. (I’m certainly no pioneer in this field so I’m not looking for any kind of pat on the back or anything.) I love how they can take extremely complex data and distill it down into actually usable chunks. After all, what good is information if you can’t make any conclusions based out of it?
I’m probably an even bigger fan of real time data. For example, why wait until tomorrow to read a newspaper to find out what is happening right now? This is why I love RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter and their ilk.
I also really like maps. Not sure why. You’d have to ask my mom why she thinks I spent hours of my childhood looking at atlases. I think it is because they take real data – for example of where a road or country boundary is – and representatively put that information into my hand to allow me to carry it around. One of my favourite childhood memories is my parents letting me navigate the family from Ontario to Florida at the age of 11. I still remember in high school, trying to sit as close to the Social Studies teacher’s desk as possible because he had an amazing collection of historical maps because that made the class discussions ‘real’; but I digress.
Where things really get exciting to me is when you can put databases together with real time information and present this information visually on a map. Here’s an example of the most used terms on Twitter during the 2009 Super Bowl and where those words were originating. (h/t @brownbaggingit) To me, this is amazing stuff!
Even Richard Florida has become map/data crazed. In his most recent book, Who’s Your City?, he begins setting up his premise by using light data collected by a satellites, cross refrenced with census and industry reports to visually represent the places of the world who excel at things like innovation. The maps provide powerful argument to his thesis that where you live is important.
To me, there are some real possibilities this kind of technology offers us. And it’s actually not that difficult or expensive to achieve either; making it even more likely we will start seeing this kind of visualization continue to be become part of our vocabulary and expectations.
I for one can’t wait to see more of this kind of real time data being used by governments and corporations to make important decisions. It will allow for ‘informed’ decisions to be even more so.
Plus who doesn’t love a good map?
UPDATE: Another fantastic example of data being presented visually that just came to my attention: newstimeline.googlelabs.com
Rumour mill now slowly turning at Eau Claire
While we are on the topic of unsubstantiated rumours I might as well give all you fine looking readers out there another one.
I assume you’d like that because yesterday was a banner day for our little blog here – most visits since inception! Hot damn. That might be because I was asking everyone to vote for the djkelly.ca Blog at the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards (something I feel kinda dirty about doing) or because I finally directed all my Facebook friends to the blog for the first time. But I’m going to ignore that post and instead pretend we had so many visitors because you liked the post on the rumours about the Bow’s public space.
But don’t get too used to me feeding your regular gossip fix. I’m no Us Weekly (heck I’m no Star magazine either, so that’s not saying much about me). So here’s the poop:
Talking yesterday about the National Portrait Gallery got me thinking about the $500,000 Calgary city council approved for a “bid” to land the gallery. But I wouldn’t think you would just approve a half million dollars without having some idea as to where you’d put the darn thing.
So here’s the rumour: Mr. Mayor himself is eyeing the Eau Claire Market land for the National Portrait Gallery. This wouldn’t be too tough actually because the Market itself is slated for demolition and redevelopment. (Presumably to make way for another failed project.) Certainly this site would be prime real estate for a project of this kind. The Eau Claire area is a bit of a crown jewel – sitting right on the river in the heart of downtown – and as such any redevelopment to this area should be something we would be extremely proud of and would want to show off to visitors. If an art gallery were to be put in this place the architecture would have to be grand.
A little bit of info on the Eau Clair site for you: The market itself was sold in May 2004 to Harvard Developments and Synergy Properties who each own/are investors in several other Calgary shopping spots. In July 2007 they announced the new “market” would be a different kind of shopping centre with high rise condos as part of the project. The important thing to note in this is that the City has included a clause in their agreement that they must approve drawings for any redevelopment, meaning they’ll have their eye on the grander vision of the area.
Perhaps this is why I’m also hearing the rumour that Dave Bronconnier really has his heart set on an Opera House for this site. Although, why Calgary needs an opera house is beyond me. Certainly we don’t have the demand for opera to warrant an entire design specific building in the heart of downtown for this exclusive use, so the building would have to be multi-use. And we already have that in the Jubilee.
I don’t plan on calling the Mayor to ask him if the rumours are true. Unsubstantiated rumours are so much more fun. I doubt he’d take my calls anyway. But if you must know if its true perhaps the aldermen that read this blog could shed some light – or send Bronco a text asking. Or maybe the alderman that should read this blog could ask.
Kidz fun with… license plates?!
Hey kids want to have a blast online! The Alberta Government knows you love that internets thingy! So click here to play Ed Stelmach’s newest online game/internet sensation for the kiddies: the Alberta License Plate Scramble!
Does our government know how to speak to the latest generation or what? Certainly I could not think of a more fun topic for a kids game than license plates. Woo-hoo! (Children everywhere will be returning their Rockband Christmas presents at a dizzying pace, no doubt.)
(/sarcasm)
If you adults want to get in on the fun too you can take the Alberta Government’s license plate survey where you can pick colours for the new plates, select background graphics, suggest promotional slogans, and waste tax payer dollars one question at a time.
If you really want to get passionate about the process you can always join this Facebook group as well.
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