I just spent a wonderful week in Asheville, NC, attending Code4Lib 2010. Code4Lib is an energetic community of library hackers who communicate all year round via IRC, email, and other media, but like to also meet annually to grab some face time with each other and share a bit of play in the process. What struck me most about the meeting was how well Code4Lib lives up to its ethos of “no spectators.” It was a meeting that demanded real participation, not simple proximity. I wrote a report about this first look at Code4Lib, take a look if you want to know more.
Somewhere in 2007, when I was not yet blogging again, I began to articulate my hopes for an Obama presidency. One foundation on which my hope for change rested was the simple symbolism of his name and skin color. I wanted to be able to hold his image before the world as a concrete demonstration that the US was changing course. He hardly had to do more than exist, I imagined, to make the world a better place.
Today that vision became real, and so much more. Barack Obama not only exists, he invites, engages, and challenges the world. He calls us all to be better than we have been. His speech in Cairo makes me feel like we are not in Kansas anymore (so to speak). We have entered a new era.
Without leadership painting a vision of the world we want it is very hard to act together toward a constructive end. Obama is laying that vision out, and the world he envisions is a world I want to live in. It is a world I want to work to create. I doubt I am alone. I think we are in the presence of true leadership.
All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort — a sustained effort — to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.
It’s easier to start wars than to end them. It’s easier to blame others than to look inward. It’s easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There’s one rule that lies at the heart of every religion — that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. (Applause.) This truth transcends nations and peoples — a belief that isn’t new; that isn’t black or white or brown; that isn’t Christian or Muslim or Jew. It’s a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the hearts of billions around the world. It’s a faith in other people, and it’s what brought me here today.
We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.
The White House of Barack Obama is demonstrating its clear grasp of the twenty-first century. They understand the communication modes available to them in a way that our government has never understood to date. And they are skilled in pulling out all the stops to support their agenda.
Today at 5am (our time) Obama gave a speech in Cairo. The White House webcast the speech live for anyone who wanted to wake up and watch it. Then promptly posted it on YouTube. They also used SMS to text the speech to folks who signed up to get it via cellphone. They posted the transcript.
And it didn’t stop with the speech. Here is a complementary video that was posted on YouTube today, a video profiling some muslims working in the federal government, painting a picture of the diversity of our nation. To see this kind of quality coordinated with this sort of event is stunning.
And, may I say, a bit scary? These folks are so good at what they do, what happens when what they do no longer serves the nation’s interest? We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there. For now I am simply in awe.
We used to sing a song about the OPA in Essex, CT, with Chet Bowles and crew. The OPA team that gathered there were once the young troupers of the FDR administration, and long past its heyday they remember those glory days of fighting off the Great Depression.
President Obama has just changed the White House public liaison into the Office of Public Engagement (what a nice name). This is an effort to bring the public voice into the White House, and the briefing book they have created is a nice example of how that may work. I especially like that “Get the Insurance Companies out the Health Care” is the second recommendation in the health care section.
Most encouraging to me, though, are the faces. Take a moment to flip through the staff pages of the OPE. You’ll get a glimpse of what this administration looks like once you get past the big names. Young, diverse, excited. They look fired up and ready to go!
Marika Viragh has created a wonderful “Race to Africa” project for her senior year in high school. She hopes to attract support for kids at the Ubumwe Community Center in Rwanda. She’s collecting shoes and dollars. Consider it.
I’m also impressed with the webhost she’s found for her site. Squarespace looks a bit like an iWeb that could actually work: solid hosting with the sugar of interesting design.
I am “lucky” enough not to be housed in an institutional setting these days. Institutions are going through painful responses to shrinking resources and I’m sure the leadership of institutions everywhere are suffering sleepless nights as they try to find a humane course through these rapids. I was very impressed, today, when I stumbled on the site the MIT Libraries has created to help its community understand the impact of budget cuts. It is not easy to share information about reductions in service or challenges of budget planning without whining. I wish more institutions would be this up-front about the course they have chosen and the impact of changes. Communicating clearly is leadership. Other examples can be found at some of the other ARL institutions communicating about budget impact.
Let me be the first to say that rev=”canonical” is not the savior of the internet or even the solution to persistent URLs. But it is an interesting concept and something like this may well be a great way to notify systems of the persistent URL associated with a particular resource, especially if we go to the trouble to create short persistent URLs. Keep an eye on it.
Where the Bush Administration set out to demoralize and destroy, the Obama Administration is hard at work encouraging and building. I believe the real goal of Cheney and the Bush gang was to destroy the federal government. Everything from the mess at Justice to the hiring of mercenary soldiers makes sense in this framework. They really wanted the government to be so dysfunctional that no future administration could effectively subordinate “business” power in the future. Business first. Government out of the way.
Today the Christian Science Monitor covers the excitement of workers in federal agencies about the visits Michelle Obama is making as she settles into Washington. It seems some are surprised that Michelle is experiencing such a positive reception. I am not surprised at all, having heard Michelle a couple times myself. I know what she is giving them: Love. Mom-in-chief indeed. Michelle is telling them that the work they do is critical, that their president appreciates their dedication, that the change ahead includes a large dose of respect for what government, and these workers, can do. This crowd is so thirsty for affirmation, they are soaking it up and returning it tenfold. Look at the handsigns in this picture from the Monitor.
Hand on heart, that’s a real pledge of allegiance for you. And the response, pure love. Know hope.
Next week Southwest Airlines will start flying from the Twin Cities. That should stir things up a bit. And today 37 signals points out that part of how they succeed is by constraining themselves.
It offers flights only to select cities, no seating class distinctions, a simple pricing structure, a bare-bones frequent flier program, no meal service, etc.
It looks like Christopher is considering a run for the US Senate in Ohio. Woo hoo! I find it hard to keep down the shivers of excitement I feel when thinking about bright next-generation thinkers and doers like Christopher and Michael Bennet building a new US Senate interested in solving our problems rather than building walls between parties.
