Social Tech Brewing Co.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Social Tech Brewing Ottawa event on Jan 26th in our new venue at The Code Factory cafe.

Our guest speaker was Gatineau-based communications/advocacy specialist Pam Kapoor (www.pamkapoor.ca) who spoke about her experience in fall 08 working in Ohio on early voter and get-out-the-vote campaigns to support Barack Obama. Pam described how grassroots mobilization efforts such as Vote Today Ohio delivered thousands of voters to early polls and made use of coordinated online/phone outreach, and demographic data sharing between progressive causes supporting Obama. Q&A session focused as well on online political campaigning in Canada.

A podcast of the event was produced by Chris Brown of Liquid Visual, and is hosted by OpenConcept.

> Listen to Podcast

List of websites visited:

Obama's election victory last November has been hailed as the coming of age for online political campaigning. In Canada we've seen the growing importance of online campaigning in recent elections, and in the progressive coalition movement that nearly brought down the government at the end of last year.

As we look forward to new political landscapes both in Canada and the US, what can we expect to see in the new tools and best practices in online advocacy and campaign organizing?

Join Social Tech Brewing Ottawa from 5:00 to 6:30 pm on Monday, Jan 26th (the day of Canada's parliamentary re-boot) for a discussion about new exciting times in online politics and advocacy.

To jump-start our discussion, Pam Kapoor (Gatineau-based communications/advocacy specialist) will share some of her experiences as Press Officer and Cincinnati Regional Director with Vote Today Ohio, a key contributor to the early-voting and GOTV (get out the vote) effort that delivered a necessary win for Obama in that critical swing state.

Summer is finished, and whaddya know? We're straight into a fall election.

That can only mean one thing: the Social Tech Brewing Election '08 edition

More than ever, the Internet is going to be front and centre in the 2008 Canadian election - both for local candidates and for national campaigns. What can Canadians expect to see happening online over the next few weeks? How can progressive groups and causes use online channels to get their issues into the public election debate?

Looking down south, we can see how the Obama and McCain campaigns have been using flashy websites and social networks like facebook, myspace and youtube for months to build up grassroots excitement and momentum. Here in Canada we have a much shorter campaign -- just 5 weeks -- but we're only a few days in and already we're seeing the blogosphere light up with the debate around Elizabeth May's inclusion in the TV debates (not to mention the puffins and blue sweaters as well)

Join us at the next Social Tech Brewing gathering - 5:30 - 7:30 pm, Monday, September 15th at the Parliament Pub on Wellington Ave, just across from Parliament Hill.

Just wanted to give a quick update on the site. For a number of years Phillip Smith hosted this site with a Community Bandwidth server that was discontinued. There have been more Social Tech gatherings in Ottawa recently, so it made sense to move the site over to our servers. In the process I upgraded it from 4.6 to 5.x.

Take a tour and let us know what kind of input you'd like to have in the site. What would help you organize local events for non-techies and techies alike to talk about how technology impacts the social sector?

This month Social Tech Brewing in Toronto joins fellow "social tech" group NewPath as we spread holiday cheer at the Yonge Street Mission's Annual Christmas Market.

The Christmas Market is a very special and unique experience for everyone. Yonge St Mission opens a Market to families in need who would otherwise not be able to give gifts to their children and family members for Christmas or eat heartily, like so many who are more fortunate, during the season of joy and giving. Volunteers have found the experience quite transformative in terms of being a part of an event that gives so much to our community’s most needy.

The Yonge Street Mission distributes donated new toys, food and clothing for 2000 Regent and Moss Park families in need during 9 days leading up to Christmas. Group Volunteers make all the difference in YSM's ability to make this a wonderful festive event for families. Duties may include: preparing for the Market, receiving and sorting donations, greeting families, assisting them in shopping for their needs and providing good cheer. For a complete listing of job descriptions for this event, check the NewPathNetwork.org website.

Date
Dec 21, 2006

Time
9:30 am - 12:00 pm

Location
Yonge St Mission
270 Gerrard St E
Toronto, ON M5A 2G4

Details and event registration

It was three years ago this month that the first Social Tech Brewing in Toronto was announced. That was just one year after Social Tech Brewing founder Andre Charland started the event in Vancouver.

Social Tech Brewing has been a catalyst or fertile ground for many new movements in Toronto, including Penguin Day Toronto, "Geek Ends," DrupalCampToronto, Wireless Toronto, and several others. It has run with relative frequency from November 6th, 2003 mostly in part to the work of incredible volunteers and participants like you.

So, for our event this Thursday, we'll have an informal discussion about the future of Social Tech Brewing in Toronto; the discussion will explore how Social Tech Brewing can find new energy, leadership, and vision for the next three years.

Please RSVP on Upcoming.org if you're interested in being a part of Social Tech Brewing in 2007!

We'll meet at the Centre before 6PM and then promptly move the discussion to a nearby bar.