Symposium speakers

From DoWire Wiki

These are the biographies and presentation summaries for the International Symposium on Local E-Democracy speakers and panel moderators:

Contents 1 Day One 2 Julian Bowrey 3 David Brauer 4 Fred Carpenter 5 Steven Clift 6 John Ellis 7 Julia Glidden 8 Ed Goetz 9 John Groh 10 Isobel Harding 11 Dylan Jeffrey 12 Phil Noble 13 Donald Norris 14 Nora Paul 15 Chuck Olsen 16 Jane Ratford 17 Mary Reid 18 Brian Russell 19 RT Rybak 20 Ravi Singh 21 Anna Tan 22 Rona Zevin 23 Sarah Walder 24 Day Two - Field Day 25 Betsey Buckheit 26 Dan Carlson 27 Ross Currier 28 George Esbensen 29 Tim Erickson 30 Andrew Haeg 31 Mary Kiffmeyer 32 Robbie LaFleur 33 Scott Neal 34 Jason Reid 35 Gary Smith 36 Mike Speiker 37 Griff Wigley 38 Annie Young 39 Mary-Margaret Zindren

Day One

For Day Two speakers, see below.

Julian Bowrey

• Head of Local e-Government, UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
• Website: http://www.localegov.gov.uk
• Panel: Closing Summary, e-Government and Democracy Panel Moderator
• Biography: Julian Bowrey has managed the Local e-Government Programme at the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) since July 2002. He is responsible for assisting all councils in England to e-enable their services by 2005. Before taking up his current post Julian worked with councils in the East of England to help modernise their political processes. Prior to joining the Civil Service Julian worked in local government, latterly as Head of Policy and Review for Cambridgeshire County Council.

David Brauer

• Forum Manager, Minneapolis Issues Forum and Editor, Southwest Journal
• Website: http://e-democracy.org/mpls http://www.swjournal.com
• Panel: Citizens Online and Public Engagement Panel Moderator
• Biography: David Brauer is a journalist who edits two community newspapers in Minneapolis, the Southwest Journal and Skyway News. He has been a freelancer for national publications such as Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune and the American Lawyer, specializing in politics and business. He's a 25-year Minneapolis resident who co-founded the Minneapolis-Issues forum in 1998 to maintain his ability to inform the local public when his professional career turned national.

Fred Carpenter

• Manager Technical Services Division, Planning Department, Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska
• Website: http://munimaps.muni.org/planning/index.cfm
• Panel: Citizen Voices and Public Engagement
• Panel Summary: Internet Innovations to Improve Citizen Participation in the Planning and Development Process - Learn how the Municipality of Anchorage, winner of the American Planning Association’s 2001 Public Education Award, is providing Anchorage area citizens online interactive applications that provide better access to and involvement in the planning and development process. Highlighted in this presentation will be applications that allow the public to view current zoning and platting activity, capital projects, and current neighborhood activity. Also to be discussed is how the Internet can greatly improve public involvement by making planning information available quickly, efficiently and at significantly lower costs than traditional distribution methods. The presentation will conclude with information about the Internet’s role in increasing public expectations for access to information and how this impacts the role of city planning departments.
• Biography: Mr. Carpenter has been with the Municipality of Anchorage’s Planning Department for over 28 years. He presently manages the information technology support for the Planning and Public Works Departments. During his time with the city he has been involved in GIS, application/database development, and public participation processes. During the last six years, Mr. Carpenter has guided the Planning and Public Works departments in the development and implementation of online applications and information regarding planning and development activity within Anchorage neighborhoods. He is currently overseeing the implementation of a one-stop online citizen portal through which citizens and employees can quickly, easily, and conveniently find a variety of city information and services in a positive and worthwhile manner.

Steven Clift

• Editor, Democracies Online and Chair, E-Democracy.Org
• Website: http://dowire.org
• Panel: Conference Co-Chair, Informed Voting
• Panel Summary: Informed Voting in South Korea - ... more to come
• Biography: Steven Clift, a leading global expert on "e-democracy," has spoken hundreds of times across 25 countries. In 1994, he led the creation of the world's first election-oriented web site from Minnesota - http://E-Democracy.Org. He is the editor of http://DoWire.Org, the Democracies Online e-mail list, blog, and wiki with participants in over 80 countries. He shares dozens of the articles he's written for the United Nations, the OECD, the Internet Society, and others from his http://Publicus.Net website. Steven, twice listed on PoliticsOnline.com's "25 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics," is frequent media commentator on e-democracy. He focuses on the democratically transformative uses of the Internet between elections and as of late has focused considerable time on pilot projects of the UK Local E-Democracy National Project. Steven lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Contact: http://publicus.net/contact.html

John Ellis

• Operations Director Idessa (UK) Limited
• Website: http://www.idessa.com
• http://www.microdemocracy.co.uk
• Panel: Citizen Voices and Public Engagement.
• Panel Summary: MicroDemocracy - An approach to targeted consultation and engagement.
• Biography: John is the Operations Director for Idessa UK Ltd, an Anglo American eDemocracy solutions provider. John set up the Athena Consortium, an Anglo-American consortium delivering eVoting technologies to the United Kingdom’s electoral modernization program. Before joining Idessa John was the head of eDemocracy for Anite Public Sector Modernizing Government Division, a major provider of integrated solutions to local and national government in the United Kingdom. In addition, John is a specialist in system security architectures and computer forensics. Prior to joining Anite Public Sector, John was a serving officer in the British Army.

Julia Glidden

• Managing Director, UK and International, Accenture eDemocracy Services
• Website: http://www.accenture.com
• Panel: e-Government and Democracy
• Panel Summary: Defining and developing e-democracy: the private sector perspective -
• Biography: Dr. Julia Glidden is Managing Director of Accenture eDemocracy Services (formerly election.com), UK and International. She is a recognised expert in the field of e-democracy with extensive experience in enhancing voter participation in the election process and has been invited to participate in numerous global forums on the application of new technologies to the democratic process. She has authored a case study on the use of Internet Voting in the Arizona Presidential Primary, as well as articles on the application of election technology in developing democracies and the current deployment of electronic voting equipment in the United States.

Ed Goetz

• Associate Dean, Humphrey Institute
• Website: http://www.hhh.umn.edu/people/egoetz/
• Panel: Welcome
• Biography: Edward G. Goetz, professor, specializes in housing and local community development planning and policy. His research focuses on issues of race and poverty and how they affect housing policy planning and development. Before coming to the University of Minnesota in 1988, Goetz worked at the mayor's Office of Housing and Economic Development in San Francisco and for several nonprofit community developers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He has served on the board of directors of nonprofit housing agencies in the Twin Cities, and on several regional commissions related to affordable housing and development.

John Groh

• President. Election Systems & Software International
• Website: http://www.essvote.com/HTML/international/international.html
• Panel: Informed Voting
• Panel Summary: Multichannel e-voting in practice -
• Biography: For more than a quarter century, John Groh has been helping multinational companies improve their service and communicate better with their global customers. As President of ES&S International, John Groh is responsible for Election Systems & Software's overall company marketing and leading the international business sales team in markets around the world. Accomplishments include:
  • Initiating the automation of Venezuelan elections for over 11 million voters using more than 7,000 ES&S machines.
  • Placement of pilot projects in the Philippines where ES&S overcame the challenges of collecting votes in a remote jungle area from 1.8 million people spread over 2,000 square miles.
  • Overall development of the international sales strategy and unit so as to improve service for prospective clients.

Isobel Harding

• Head of the Information Society Unit for Yorkshire and Humber Regional Assembly and NorthlincsNet, UK Local e-Democracy National Project Lead Authority
• Panel: Opening Presentation
• Panel Summary: UK e-Democracy National Project Overview
• Website: http://www.e-democracy.gov.uk http://www.readmyday.co.uk/blogs/isobelharding.php
• Biography: Isobel Harding is head of the Information Society Unit for Yorkshire and Humber Regional Assembly, as well as lead for the Local eDemocracy National Project for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, UK. Her work consists of developing Yorkshire and Humber as a region of e-excellence, promoting regional development and an inclusive Information Society. The Local eDemocracy National Project is one of 22 in an £80m suite of projects - £4.5m of which is dedicated to benchmarking, developing and testing new tools and practices in eDemocracy at a local level. Isobel also developed learning networks for the NHS, is the author is specialist ICT qualifications for nursing staff, and has worked on developing training and opportunities for both employed and long-term unemployed people ­ including online mentoring, and delivering leadership and 'champion' skills.

Dylan Jeffrey

• Senior Policy Adviser, UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
• Website: http://www.odpm.gov.uk
• Panel: Welcome, Informed Voting Moderator
• Biography: Dylan has been with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister since August 2002. Initially working on building a comprehensive electoral pilots programme amongst local authorities in England and Wales, Dylan is now the Project Sponsor for National Projects on Local e-Democracy. Prior to this he was Corporate Projects Manager for the London Borough of Newham with responsibility for elections, democratic engagement, managing the electoral roll and compiling a new constitution and the subsequent implementation of the first directly elected mayor of a local council in the UK. From 1997 to 2002, he carried out a number of official roles including Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officer for the European Parliament, UK Parliament, Greater London Authority and Mayor, local council and neighbourhood elections. Dylan was an electoral modernisation trail blazer introducing all-postal and e-voting at various elections during his time at Newham.

Phil Noble

• President, PoliticsOnline
• Website: http://politicsonline.com and http://www.pnoble.com
• Panel: Closing Keynote
• Panel Summary: E-Politics: The good, the bad, and plain ugly?
• Biography: Phil Noble is one of the leading experts in the US and internationally on the Internet and politics. Noble is the founder of PoliticsOnline and its affiliated company Phil Noble & Associates, an international public affairs consulting firm. Noble is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns and public affairs projects in 40 states and 30 countries. He has worked to elect the head of state in 15 countries. PoliticsOnline (POL) has been a global leader in developing ground breaking public affairs and e-democracy strategies, tools and projects for a large variety of clients including US and international political organizations, corporations, NGOs, governments and universities. Nobel holds teaching and advisory positions with a variety of academic publications and organizations including George Washington University, University of Southern California, University of Amsterdam and is a former Follow of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.

Donald Norris

• Professor and Director, Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, University of Maryland at Baltimore
• Website: http://www.umbc.edu/mipar
• Panel: e-Democracy at Home and Abroad - Researchers Roundtable
• Panel Summary: E-democracy in perspective and compared to e-government.
• Biography: Donald F. Norris is Director of the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research(MIPAR) and Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He is a specialist in public management, urban affairs, and the application, management and impacts of information technology in public organizations. He holds a B.S. in history from the University of Memphis and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in government from the University of Virginia.

Nora Paul

• Director, Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota
• Website: http://www.inms.umn.edu
• Panel: e-Democracy at Home and Abroad - Researchers Roundtable
• Biography: Nora Paul is the director of the Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Nora was with the Poynter Institute from 1991 to 2000, a mid-career journalism training program in St. Petersburg, FL. She held seminars in news library management, computer-assisted research, and new media leadership. She was editor for information services at the Miami Herald from 1979-1991. Nora is the author of Computer Assisted Research: A guide to tapping online information, and co-author of Great Scouts: Cyber-guides for subject searching on the web and Behind the Message: Information Strategies for Communicators. Her work at the Institute focuses on the impact of the new media environment on content, new story-telling forms, and convergence of media operations.

Chuck Olsen

• Filmmaker/Blogger, Blogumentary
• Website: http://blogumentary.typepad.com
• Panel: Citizens Online and Public Engagement
• Panel Summary: A demonstration of videoblogs and how they can be used to create and document hyperlocal community conversations. We'll look at a short video from the previous night's Saint Paul Saints game, a Minneapolis crime meeting from http://MNstories.com, and a Minneapolis Library Board candidate interview from http://NewPatriot.org.
• Biography: Chuck Olsen is the producer-director of Blogumentary, an open-source blog documentary combining his love of filmmaking with his passion for democratized media. Chuck's work has been featured at the Walker Art Center, Mother Jones magazine, Wired News, and on computer screens around the world. After working in public television for 7 years as a web producer, Chuck is now an independent consultant and media-maker obsessed with the burgeoning videoblog revolution. His new project is a daily videoblog called Minnesota Stories, an evolving showcase for locally-produced citizen videos that slip through the cracks of broadcast media. Chuck is also the Minneapolis correspondent for Manhattan-based videoblog Rocketboom.

Jane Ratford

• Marketing Lead, UK Local E-democracy National Project and E-Government Advisor, Improvement and Development Agency
• Website: http://www.e-democracy.gov.uk
• Panel: 60 Second Pitch Host
• Panel Summary: Comments on e-democracy marketing.
• Biography: Jane began her career as a newspaper reporter, specialising in local government affairs. She moved into local authority communications and has worked in a number of London boroughs, including Tower Hamlets and Hillingdon. She is currently on secondment to the IDeA from St Albans District Council where she won an IPR local government best campaign award for e-voting in 2002.

Mary Reid

• Councillor, Kingston upon Thames and Board Chair, UK Local E-democracy National Project
• Website: http://www.maryreid.org.uk
• Panel: e-Government and Democracy
• Panel Summary: Who needs elected representatives?
• Biography: Mary Reid was elected to the Council of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (a London borough) in 1997. In 2002, Mary took on an Executive portfolio named Participation and Communication, which placed e-government at the heart of the three way relationship between the Council, citizens and councillors. She has established Kingston as one of the most innovative Councils in the UK in e-government. Since November 2003 Mary has chaired the National Project for Local e-Democracy. She also serves on the e-Government Task Group of the Local Government Association, which acts as a collective voice for local councils in England. In her professional life, for many years Mary lectured in Computing in Further Education. She is now a well established educational author, having published twelve books on ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Mary Reid also has a small web design business, and her websites include several for Members of Parliament, as well as for community organisations.

Brian Russell

• Media Activist, AudioActivism.Org
• Website: http://www.audioactivism.org
• Panel: Citizens Online and Public Engagement
• Panel Summary: Discover, Report, Share - Discover, Report, Share is a quick demonstration of how making your own media with tools like Podcasting can empower citizens to be more active in politics, democracy, and social justice.
• Biography: Brian Russell is an activist podcaster and multimedia designer whose mission is to help others create their own media. Brian dreams of the day when his next door neighbors will be better informed about world wide events than the main stream media. You can find the media he makes at http://www.audioactivism.org.

RT Rybak

• Mayor, City of Minneapolis
• Website: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mayor
• Panel: Citizens Online and Public Engagement
• Panel Summary: From Citizen to Mayor - Participation in the Minneapolis Issues Forum
• Biography: R.T. Rybak was elected Mayor of Minneapolis in November of 2002 as a Democrat. Immediately prior to being elected mayor, Rybak was a business consultant. Previous positions include:
  • General Manager, Channel4000.com
  • Vice President, Internet Broadcast System
  • Publisher, Twin Cities Reader
  • Director of Development, Downtown Council
  • Reporter, Minneapolis Tribune
• R.T. Rybak is a lifelong Minneapolis resident currently living in the East Harriet neighborhood of Minneapolis with his wife, Megan, and their two children.

Ravi Singh

• CEO, ElectionMall Technologies Inc.
• Website: http://www.electionmall.com
• Panel: Informed Voting
• Panel Summary: We have seen dramatic changes in how the Internet has been used in campaigns during the last ten years. Online campaign websites permit candidates to disseminate their message to a broad audience, minimizing the candidate’s need for special interest and private donor money. Moreover, through websites, candidates are able to delve more deeply into political issues than through other media; they also can interact more effectively with the electorate. Campaign websites, however, just scratch the surface of how campaigns can use the Internet. Traditional media and Get-Out-The-Vote services are no longer enough. Technology has now made it possible for candidates to disperse information quickly and cost-effectively to voters through e-mails, faxes, text-messages, and on-line video or audio files. A candidate’s use of new technologies can directly affect the outcome of a campaign. Technology also provided ordinary citizens with the chance to be an active participate in campaigns. Online citizens now have the chance to utilize communication tools to engage in grassroots operations and learn about political issues.
• Biography: Ravi Singh, is the CEO and founder of ElectionMall Technologies, Inc., a non-partisan technology company that provides candidates, citizens, and political parties with the necessary online tools, services, and products to help them win elections via the World Wide Web. Singh, described as the “Campaign Guru,” in USA Today, has spoken internationally in Europe and Asia on the role of Internet technologies in campaigns and elections. He has also been a panelist and lecturer at numerous universities and conferences, and has been a guest and commentator on MSNBC’s “Power Lunch” and other local news channels and radio shows. Ravi Singh was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he became the first American with a turban to graduate from a USA Military Academy. At age 25, Ravi again made history as the first Asian Indian American to run for a seat in the Illinois State House. Singh has a Bachelors of Science from Valparaiso University and a Masters of Political Science from Northwestern University. He is a member of the EAPC (European), IAPC (International), and AAPC (American) Associations of Politic Consultants.

Anna Tan

• Franchise Director, Home and Community Franchise of UK DirectGov and Programme Director of Local Directgov
• Website: http://www.direct.gov.uk/HomeAndCommunity
• Panel: e-Government and Democracy
• Panel Summary: Local DirectGov - Joining up local/community and central government web services.
• Biography: Anna Tan is the Franchise Director for the Home and Community Franchise of Directgov and Programme Director of Local Directgov at the Office of Deputy Prime Minister. Since its launch in 2004, it has established itself as the single portal for government services in England. Prior to joining ODPM in 2004, Anna worked for a variety of voluntary sector and local government web projects in London.

Rona Zevin

• Director, Office of Electronic Communications, City of Seattle
• Website: http://www.seattle.gov http://www.seattlechannel.org
• Panel: e-Government and Democracy
• Panel Summary: Seattle's Democracy Portal - videostreaming and enhanced Council meeting coverage - The City of Seattle has been cablecasting and videostreaming live and archived City Council meetings for many years, as well as producing commentary on civic and community issues. Based on our experience, I will describe policies for meeting coverage, and the evolution of videostreaming to include indexed meetings and "enhanced" coverage using both the web and TV.
• Biography: As director of the Seattle's Office of Electronic Communications, Rona Zevin manages the City's web site, government access TV channel, and programs to address the digital divide and regulates cable TV. She has held many policy and management positions with the City of Seattle, and is currently focused on implementing Seattle's "Democracy Portal," an initiative to use the Internet and TV to engage citizens in the governmental, civic and community life of Seattle. She has held several policy and management positions with the governments of Seattle and Philadelphia, and has degrees in mathematics and city planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sarah Walder

• Youth participant involved with DemGames.Org
• Website: http://www.demogames.org
• Panel: Citizens Online and Public Engagement
• Panel Summary: A live tour of the Democracy Games produced by the UK Local E-democracy Project.
• Biography: Sarah is a secondary school (7th grade) student from the UK. She is avid instant messenger and plays the violin, field hockey and net ball.

Day Two - Field Day

Betsey Buckheit

• Chair, Northfield Planning Commission
• Website: http://nfld.us/blogs/betseybuckheit
• Panel: Civic Weblogging
• Panel Summary: Part of a panel discussion.
• Biography: Northfield resident since 1989, Betsey Buckheit is gainfully unemployed (that is, busy but unpaid). Trained as a philosopher and attorney, she chairs the Northfield Planning Commission and blogs about Commission action, land use issues, local politics and hockey. She'll soon be leaving her blog, the Planning Commission, and the country for 9 months in Cambridge, England with her Carleton professor husband and her daughter.

Dan Carlson

• Police Chief, City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota
• Website: http://edenprairieweblogs.org/html/dan_carlson.html
• Panel: Civic Weblogging
• Panel Summary: Part of the panel discussion.
• Biography:

Ross Currier

• Executive Director, Northfield Downtown Development Corporation
• Website:
• Panel: Civic Weblogging
• Panel Summary: http://www.nddc.org
• Biography: Currently Executive Director of the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation. Previously, Real Estate Development Consultant, Currier Consulting, Director of Real Estate Development, Artspace Projects, Inc., Manager of Real Estate Owned, TCF Bank, fsb, and Director of Projects, Parliament Management Co. Community Activity: Planning Commission and Design Advisory Board, Northfield, District 17 Representative on Capital Improvement Budget, St. Paul, Board of Directors, West Bank Community Development Corporation, Minneapolis and Board of Directors, North Country Development Fund, Minneapolis. Education: MBA, College of St. Thomas, St. Paul and BA, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.

George Esbensen

• Fire Chief, City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota
• Website: http://edenprairieweblogs.org/html/george_esbensen.html
• Panel: Civic Weblogging
• Panel Summary: Blogging in City Government - A question and answer session about blogging as a non-elected city official. Panel discussion format with Scott Neal, City Manager and Police Chief Dan Carlson, both from the City of Eden Prairie, also.
• Biography: My fire service career began with the Eden Prairie Fire Department in 1986 as a paid-on-call member. During my tenure I have held the ranks of firefighter, Lieutenant and Assistant Chief - Operations. In 2002 I was selected as the department's first full-time Fire Chief. In addition to my duties as Fire Chief I hold the position as the city's Emergency Preparedness Director. In that position I work closely with Emergency Preparedness Coordinators within our Police and Public Works departments as well as our City Manager. I have been president of the Hennepin County Fire Chiefs Association. I am married and have three children. I have an AAS degree from Hennepin Technical College in Fire Science Technology. I have been blogging for about 1 year.

Tim Erickson

• Forum Development Director, E-Democracy.Org
• Website: http://e-democracy.org
• Panel: Issues Forums in Motion
• Panel Summary: As we ride the bus from Minneapolis to the state capital, in St. Paul, Tim will be providing anecdotes from the St. Paul Issues Forum and pointing out historically notorious points of interest along the way. This will be a fascinating and fun look at St. Paul through the eyes of the St. Paul Issues Forum.
• Biography: Tim has been facilitating local, national, and international online public policy discussions since 1998. He was the original founder of Politalk.Org and was the Forum Manager for the E-Democracy.Org Local Issues Forum in St. Paul, Minnesota for 4 years. Most recently, Tim provided support and training to the E-Democracy.Org UK pilot projects in Newham and Brighton & Hove. Tim is a member of the Online working group of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium.

Andrew Haeg

• Senior Producer & Analyst, Minnesota Public Radio
• Website: http://www.mpr.org
• Panel: Information Age Democracy in Minnesota
• Panel Summary: Participatory journalism and civic education on government budgets - For the last two and half years Minnesota Public Radio has been developing a new initiative called Public Insight Journalism. The goal is to strengthen our news coverage by reaching out to our audience and asking them to share their knowledge and insight with us. To engage our audience in substantial ways, we have created two Budget Balancers that enable people to craft their own budget plan, compare it to the governor's plan, and this year participants could e-mail their budget plan to the governor or their legislators. We learned a great deal from the budget plans that people created using the Budet Balancer. We could see the patterns of choices people were making, and participants also were able to share their thoughts after making each budget choice. More than 4,500 people used the Budget Balancer this year, while some 7,000 completed the 2003 version. Based on our success with the Budget Balancer, we are looking for new ways to engage our audience on other important issues, such as health care.
• Biography: Andrew was an MPR business reporter for four years prior to helping start and manage Public Insight Journalism for Minnesota Public Radio in January of 2003. For the last six years, he has also has been filing regular reports as Midwest correspondent for The Economist Magazine. He has a degree in English from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota and a master's in journalism from Columbia University in New York.

Mary Kiffmeyer

• Minnesota Secretary of State
• Website: http://www.sos.state.mn.us
• Panel: Information Age Democracy in Minnesota
• Panel Summary: Welcome and Introduction to Minnesota's Election Reporting System - Since the 2000 election cycle, Minnesota has had in place a web-based, real-time, to-the-precinct election night reporting system that to this day remains unique in the US. The system has been upgraded for each election, based on constituent and stakeholder requests. The presentation will demonstrate the highlights of the system.
• Biography: Mary Kiffmeyer (Republican) was elected as Minnesota's 20th Secretary of State in 1998 and was re-elected in 2002. Prior to her election, Kiffmeyer served her party for over a decade as an election judge, election judge trainer, and statewide precinct caucus and presidential straw ballot coordinator. In office, she has been a champion of delivering better service through the use of technology. Minnesota's web-based election night reporting system is unparalleled in the nation. Secretary Kiffmeyer serves on the boards of a number of state and national organizations.

Robbie LaFleur

• Director, Minnesota Legislative Reference Library
• Website: http://www.leg.mn http://www.leg.mn/lrl/lrl.asp
• Panel: Information Age Democracy in Minnesota
• Panel Summary: A Virtual Tour of the Minnesota Legislative Web Site - The Minnesota Legislature has been building and improving its Legislative Web Site since 1996. The Legislature's Internet presence began even earlier, with a Gopher site in the fall of 1993, one of the first in the country for a Legislature. It received over 63,000 hits in 1994, the first full year. With over 48 million hits already in 2005, the Legislative Web site has become an indispensable working tool for the Legislature, lobbyists, and citizens. The success of Minnesota's Web site is the result of an enthusiastic, unique collaboration of offices in the House of Representatives, Senate, and joint agencies. A quick virtual tour of the site will highlight the newest features, including RSS feeds and podcasts.
• Biography: Robbie LaFleur has been with the Legislature Reference Library for almost twenty years. She remembers the days when checking the language in a bill meant walking over to the Capitol and getting a print copy, and a fax machine was considered cutting-edge. Ms. LaFleur has long been an advocate of the early adoption of new technologies to improve the Library's services to the Legislature and the public; the Library's Web page now includes an RSS feed, and the Library delivers many of its current awareness services via e-mail. Her undergraduate degree in Scandinavian Studies and graduate degree in Library Science are both from the University of Minnesota.

Scott Neal

• City Manager, City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota
• Website: http://edenprairieweblogs.org/html/scott_neal.html
• Panel: Civic Weblogging
• Panel Summary: Panel member.
• Biography: Scott H. Neal joined the City of Eden Prairie as its City Manager in April 2002. Mr. Neal has 14 years of professional experience as a City Manager and City Administrator prior to coming to Eden Prairie. His previous positions included City Administrator of Northfield, MN; City Administrator of Mt. Pleasant, IA ; and as the City Manager of Norris, TN. Mr. Neal has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Master of Arts degree in Public Administration with a Program of Study in Urban Management. Both degrees were earned at Iowa State University in Ames, IA. He has been a member of the International City/County Management Association since 1990 and of the Minnesota City/Council Management Association since 1996. Mr. Neal represents the City of Eden Prairie on the Board of Directors of the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility Association, the Hennepin South Services Collaborative and the Eden Prairie Habitat for Technology. He was recently appointed to the National League of Cities - Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations Policy Committee. Mr. Neal is also a member of the Eden Prairie Morning Rotary Club

Jason Reid

• City Web Coordinator, City of St. Paul
• Website: http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us
• Panel: Information Age Democracy in Minnesota
• Panel Summary: St. Paul's extensive use of e-mail alerts and their new webcasting trial.
• Biography: Jason Reid has worked for the City of Saint Paul for 6 years on various technology and e-governance initiatives. Currently Jason is the City Web Coordinator.

Gary Smith

• Police Chief, City of Northfield, Minnesota
• Website: http://garygsmith.net
• Panel: Civic Weblogging
• Panel Summary: Member of discussion panel.
• Biography: Gary Smith has been the police chief in Northfield, Minnesota since March of 1999. He came to Northfield from Grand Island, Nebraska where he had worked for the police department there since January 5, 1981. He remembers that date because it was the day he realized his dream and became a police officer.

Mike Speiker

• Webmanager, Minnesota House of Representatives
• Website: http://www.house.mn
• Panel: Information Age Democracy in Minnesota
• Panel Summary: Presenting with Robbie LaFleur.
• Biography: Webmanager for the Minnesota House of Representatives since 1995.

Griff Wigley

• Weblog Coach and Founder, Northfield Citizens Online
• Website: http://northfield.org and http://www.wigleyandassociates.com
• Panel: Civic Weblogging - Moderator
• Panel Summary: Creating Local Civic Blogospheres - Two approaches - On the bus: the story of Northfield Citizens Online, launched by a group of citizens in 1993 as an online community network, and how it's evolved over the years to its current form. Included: community web forums, the news blog, the civic blogosphere project, use of RSS, and the extensive use of community photos. The panel: Stories from civic bloggers in two communities: 1) Eden Prairie, Minnesota where the city manager (CEO), police chief and fire chief are bloggers; and 2) Northfield, Minnesota, where a grassroots, "open source journalism" initiative has spawned a dozen civic-oriented weblogs authored by community leaders and citizens.
• Biography: Griff Wigley is a weblog coach, helping business, non-profit, government and civic leaders learn the art of leadership blogging. He also works with organizations interested in developing citizen journalism projects, and moderates public policy web forums and online events. He's a co-founder of and volunteer for Northfield Citizens Online, a non-profit that operates the community network, Northfield.org. His first career spanned 15 years as a family therapist and school social worker. He has a BA in Philosophy and a Masters in Human Development. He's lived in Northfield, Minnesota for thirty years where he and his wife Robbie raised their four children.

Annie Young

• Park Board Commissioner, Minneapolis
• Website: http://www.annieyoung.net http://www.minneapolisparks.org
• Panel: Issues Forums in Motion
• Panel Summary: Stories from the Minneapolis Issues Forums as we drive along our riverside parkways.
• Biography: Annie Young is a locally and nationally recognized orator who motivates listeners about environmental justice, social change, sustainable development, urban ecology issues, community-building stories and real-life experiences. Ms. Young's repertoire is based on life-long lessons, working with people to build community in both rural and urban settings. Over 30 years experience in grassroots organizing and social change efforts have helped her form the basis of the messages she shares with her audiences. Her experiences help community members, leaders and elected officials to discuss practical solutions in facing complex issues within our communities. With a focus on sustainability, she shares information about the Three E's and how they can address the environmental deprivation occurring across the country, especially in urban neighborhoods.

Mary-Margaret Zindren

• Director of Communications & Strategic Initiatives, Minnesota League of Cities
• Website: http://www.lmnc.orghttp://www.lmnc.org/services/govoffice.cfm
• Panel: Information Age Democracy in Minnesota
• Panel Summary: Presentation on GovOffice, an affordable platform designed with smaller local governments in mind.
• Biography: Mary is the Director of Communications & Strategic Initiatives at the Minnesota League of Cities. She coordinates the Leagues participation in the public/private GovOffice.com partnership. She also managed the development of the publication "Building Inclusive Communities: An Action Guide for City Leaders."