At TransparencyCamp 2011 with Lorelei Kelly - @loreleikelly.
Mind blowing level of expertise about the workings of Congress.
http://newstrategicsecurityinitiative.org/ - Afghanistan Congressional Information Hub - clunky one page briefings that went viral.
How do we get information in to Congress in a timely manner. Lobbyists have money to be able to quickly mobilize favorable expertise do this, public interest groups don't.
We need to make sure Transparency is not adversarial on the hill. Brow beating public officials is not productive.
Sunlight wants to see Lobbyist activity on Capitol Hill in more detail in real time. Like a mandatory Lobbyist Foursquare for Congress and Professional Lobbyists. It would enable us to create a heat map of activity.
USA has a believability problem as we approach Junk Bond Status as a country.
"Go back to your district and find policy experts." then mobilize them. They have the potential to leverage relationships with their elected representatives.
Reputation is critical. Who hasn't been bought.
The telephone area code is a simple filter mechanism used by hill staffers to cope with information overload. If the area code is not in my district they wouldn't pick up the phone in busy periods.
So much money in DC that the only channel to leverage is District-based high value relationships.
If you are involved in policy Go and make friends with your district representative and let them know your expertise and focus. They will call for help.
Purging the institutional memory in Congress has proved to be an effective way to concentrate power.
iPads on the house floor has the potential to change access.
Cultivate your local journalists.
