Posts in St. Paul Updates

May 09 18:12 UTC

---UPCOMING WORKSHOP: ONLINE TOOLS FOR GROUP COLLABORATION---

Our May 12 workshop is Online Tools for Group Collaboration, which will
introduce participants to a variety of free and easy-to-use tools that enable
and enhance collaboration within both small and large groups.

Online Tools for Group Collaboration
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, May 12th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free and all are welcome to attend.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

---DAILY PLANET WRITERS' GROUP---
In other news, The Twin Cities Daily Planet (tcdailyplanet.net) has an ongoing
writers' group at Rondo Library during our regular tabling time, starting at 4
pm.  According to the Planet's website, you can "bring something you’re
working on to share with the group, or just come to get ideas and/or
assignments."  I would also like to add that the writers' group is frequently
done by 5:30 or so, making it very easy to go to both the writer's group and
our upcoming Outreach meeting.

---E-DEMOCRACY WORKSHOPS FOR YOUR GROUP---
Finally, St. Paul E-Democracy would like to widen our audience by doing a
couple of our workshops each month "off site."  If you have a group that would
be interested to host one of our workshops, please contact
<email obscured> .  A rough list of workshops is available at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach .

Thanks for reading, and see you Monday.
-Jonathan
Today is the first day of May, which means the beginning of our new "Intro to
Online Tools" workshop series.  Meant to be enjoyed either as an eight-week
class or eight individual classes, this workshop series is designed to
introduce participants to the communication, collaboration and advocacy
opportunities presented by the Internet.  Our next workshop, the first in this
series, is E-Tools for Citizen Participation.  It is a great introduction to
the series and to the variety of tools available online, so I encourage you to
attend and to recommend it to others.  Keep reading this week's St. Paul Update
for more information about this and other topics.

---MAY-JUNE SESSION STARTING---

First of all, let me go into a little more detail about our new workshop
series.  Rather than treat each of our workshops as a discrete event, we will
be running our May-June session as a single eight-week class, with the earlier
sessions building into the later ones.  Of course, there's no reason you can't
just show up for the ones that interest you.  But, that being said, we're
trying to get some new faces to commit to the full eight weeks (or a
significant portion thereof), and if you know anyone who'd be interested,
please pass along a copy of our schedule.  Also, since Rondo's electronic
classroom has limited seating, we are now recommending that audience members
tell us they're coming ahead of time.  This way we can make sure everyone has a
seat, and we can plan accordingly for the more popular workshops.  Be sure to
check out our new schedule online:
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule> for a web-only version,
or
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/images/d/d3/2008_Rondo_May_June_SPED_schedule.pdf>
for a printable pdf, or
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/images/1/18/2008_Rondo_May_June_SPED_flier.pdf>
for a printable half-sheet pdf.

---UPCOMING WORKSHOP: E-TOOLS FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION---

Our May 5 workshop is E-Tools for Citizen Participation.  As the first workshop
in our May-June series, this workshop serves as an introduction to e-tools and
as such is a great time to start attending.  Participants will learn to use the
Internet to become more informed and more involved with their community.  Tools
covered will include discussion forums, community-built reference sites,
citizen journalism, blogs, social networking and government websites.  We will
also provide some examples of how these tools are being used, and give a brief
overview of how you can go about making use of some of these tools yourself.
This is a great overview workshop, and a great introduction to our workshop
series, so I hope to see a lot of you there.

E-Tools for Citizen Participation
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, May 5th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free and all are welcome to attend.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

---DAILY PLANET WRITERS' GROUP---
In other news, The Twin Cities Daily Planet (tcdailyplanet.net) has an ongoing
writers' group at Rondo Library during our regular tabling time, starting at 4
pm.  According to the Planet's website, you can "bring something you’re
working on to share with the group, or just come to get ideas and/or
assignments."  I would also like to add that the writers' group is frequently
done by 5:30 or so, making it very easy to go to both the writer's group and
our upcoming Outreach meeting.

---E-DEMOCRACY WORKSHOPS FOR YOUR GROUP---
Finally, St. Paul E-Democracy would like to widen our audience by doing a
couple of our workshops each month "off site."  If you have a group that would
be interested to host one of our workshops, please contact
<email obscured> .  A rough list of workshops is available at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach .

Thanks for reading, and see you Monday.
-Jonathan
In our upcoming workshop, Mike Dean will be presenting on cool tools for
community organizing.   Also, St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee is
having its monthly meeting right before the workshop, so come a little early
and help us plan out our upcoming programming.  Finally, our May-June workshop
series is beginning soon; this time, we're running it as an eight-session
class, rather than a bunch of individual workshops, so if you know someone who
would benefit from our full curriculum, this would be a great time to suggest
that they start attending.  Keep reading for more information on this and other
topics.

---NEXT WORKSHOP: COOL TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING---

In our upcoming workshop, Mike Dean of Tipping Point Strategies will discuss
great tools that community organizers are using to improve their communities.
The conversation will explore:

    * how some groups are using mobile technology to reach a more diverse
audience.
    * how free databases can improve your communication and make your
organization more organized.
    * and a few other cool tools.

This is a brand new workshop, so if you've come to a Cool Tools workshop
before, don't hesitate to come again.
More information about Mike Dean can be found at:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Cool_Tools_for_Community_Organizing .

Cool Tools for Community Organizing
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, April 28th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free and all are welcome to attend.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

---MAY-JUNE SESSION STARTING SOON---

We've decided to do something a little different for our May-June workshop
series.  Rather than treat each of our workshops as a discrete event, we will
be running our May-June session as a single eight-week class, with the earlier
sessions building into the later ones.  Of course, there's no reason you can't
just show up for the ones that interest you.  But, that being said, we're
trying to get some new faces to commit to the full eight weeks (or a
significant portion thereof), and if you know anyone who'd be interested,
please pass along a copy of our schedule.  Also, since Rondo's electronic
classroom has limited seating, we are now recommending that audience members
tell us they're coming ahead of time.  This way we can make sure everyone has a
seat, and we can plan accordingly for the more popular workshops.  Be sure to
check out our new schedule online:
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule> for a web-only version,
or
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/images/d/d3/2008_Rondo_May_June_SPED_schedule.pdf>
for a printable pdf, or
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/images/1/18/2008_Rondo_May_June_SPED_flier.pdf>
for a printable half-sheet pdf.

---SPED-OUTREACH MEETING APRIL 28---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee (the fine people who bring you the
E-Democracy programming in Rondo Library) will be having our monthly planning
meeting Monday, April 28th, from 5:15 to 6:45 .  We can always use an
additional head or two contributing ideas, so please come a little early for
the workshop and tell us what you think of what we're doing.  More information
about upcoming meetings can be found at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach .

---VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES---

E-Democracy is a volunteer-powered organization. Without help from people like
you, we can't host workshops or help community members during tabling. We are
currently looking for volunteers for the month of April, particularly the 28th.
Volunteers can help table at Rondo Library from 4-6pm or assist with our
workshops from 6:50 to 8:45. They provide one-on-one assistance to community
members and may also help with setup and demonstrations.  Please contact
<email obscured> to volunteer, and thanks in advance.

---DAILY PLANET WRITERS' GROUP---
The Daily Planet (tcdailyplanet.net) has an ongoing writers' group at Rondo
Library during our regular tabling time, starting at 4 pm.  According to the
Planet's website, you can "bring something you’re working on to share with
the group, or just come to get ideas and/or assignments."  I would also like to
add that the writers' group is frequently done by 5:30 or so, making it very
easy to go to both the writer's group and our upcoming Outreach meeting.

---E-DEMOCRACY WORKSHOPS FOR YOUR GROUP---
St. Paul E-Democracy would like to widen our audience by doing a couple of our
workshops each month "off site."  If you have a group that would be interested
to host one of our workshops, please contact <email obscured> .  A
rough list of workshops is available at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach .

Thanks for reading, and see you Monday.
-Jonathan
Our upcoming workshop will cover the basics of internet safety, including
protecting your computer, your personal information and your children.  This is
a great workshop, so I hope to see many of you there.  Also, the two meetings I
mentioned last week have been moved: the SPED-Outreach meeting is now April 28,
and the Digital Inclusion Roundtable will not be taking place till next month.
Finally, our May-June workshop series is beginning soon; this time, we're
running it as an eight-session class, rather than a bunch of individual
workshops, so if you know someone who would benefit from our full curriculum,
this would be a great time to suggest that they start attending.  Keep reading
for more information on this and other topics.

---NEXT WORKSHOP: INTERNET SAFETY---

If you spend any time online (so that's all of you), or have kids who do, come
to our Internet Safety workshop this on Monday, April 21.  It will feature
discussions of protective software, avoiding scams, and being "street smart"
online.  This workshop is essential for anyone who owns a computer with an
internet connection, uses email, or has ever wondered about how to stay safe
while using sites like MySpace or Craigslist.  A draft outline of topics that
may be covered in this workshop is available at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Internet_Safety

Internet Safety
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, April 21th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no registration
is needed.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

---MAY-JUNE SESSION STARTING SOON---

We've decided to do something a little different for our May-June workshop
series.  Rather than treat each of our workshops as a discrete event, we will
be running our May-June session as a single eight-week class, with the earlier
sessions building into the later ones.  Of course, there's no reason you can't
just show up for the ones that interest you.  But, that being said, we're
trying to get some new faces to commit to the full eight weeks (or a
significant portion thereof), and if you know anyone who'd be interested,
please pass along a copy of our schedule.  Also, since Rondo's electronic
classroom has limited seating, we are now recommending that audience members
tell us they're coming ahead of time.  This way we can make sure everyone has a
seat, and we can plan accordingly for the more popular workshops.  Be sure to
check out our new schedule online:
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule> for a web-only version,
or
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/images/d/d3/2008_Rondo_May_June_SPED_schedule.pdf>
for a printable pdf.

---VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES---

E-Democracy is a volunteer-powered organization. Without help from people like
you, we can't host workshops or help community members during tabling. We are
currently looking for volunteers for the month of April, particularly the 21st
and 28th. Volunteers can help table at Rondo Library from 4-6pm or assist with
our workshops from 6:50 to 8:45. They provide one-on-one assistance to
community members and may also help with setup and demonstrations. Please
contact <email obscured> to volunteer, and thanks in advance.

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---

The Digital Inclusion Roundtable that was mentioned in last week's Update was
unfortunately canceled.  The next roundtable has been tentatively scheduled for
May 15.

---SPED-OUTREACH MEETING APRIL 28---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee (the fine people who bring you the
E-Democracy programming in Rondo Library) will be having our monthly planning
meeting Monday, April 28th, from 5:15 to 6:45 (this is a week later than what I
wrote last week...sorry for the confusion).  We can always use an additional
head or two contributing ideas, so please come a little early for the workshop
and tell us what you think of what we're doing.  More information about
upcoming meetings can be found at http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach

Thanks for reading, and see you Monday.
-Jonathan
The April Digital Inclusion Roundtable that was supposed to be scheduled for
Thursday, April 17, has been canceled.  The next one will probably take place
on Thursday, May 15.

Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Our next workshop will be a repeat of our aways-popular podcasting workshop,
which will include significant hands-on time with the free audio-editing
program Audacity.  I also want to encourage you to attend two meetings: the
upcoming Digital Inclusion Roundtable at SPNN (April 17) and our upcoming
Outreach Committee meeting (April 21).  Finally, we need tabling volunteers; if
you are available to volunteer on Monday, April 14 or Monday, April 21, from
4-6pm, please contact me at <email obscured>.  Keep reading for
more information about these and other topics.

---NEXT WORKSHOP: Podcasting and Audacity---

Our next workshop will be a repeat of our popular podcasting workshop. Podcasts
are essentially radio-style shows distributed over the internet to anyone who
wants to listen.  This workshop will introduce you to the basics of podcasting,
and will show you how to record your own podcast and publish it online.  You
will also gain hands-on experience with the popular sound-editing software
Audacity, which is used by many veteran podcasters.  If you've ever been
curious about podcasting, if you're familiar with the basics and want to learn
a little more, or if you have no idea what a podcast is, then come to Rondo
Library this Monday to have your questions answered.

Podcasting and Audacity
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, April 14th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no registration
is needed.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: BLOGS AND BLOGGING---

This past Monday's workshop was on the basics of blogs and blogging.  Some
notes from the workshop can be found at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED_Blogging_Workshop and the RSS video we
watched can be found at http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english/

---VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES---

E-Democracy is a volunteer-powered organization. Without help from people like
you, we can't host workshops or help community members during tabling. We are
currently looking for volunteers for the month of April, particularly the 14th
and 21st. Volunteers can help table at Rondo Library from 4-6pm or assist with
our workshops from 6:50 to 8:45. They provide one-on-one assistance to
community members and may also help with setup and demonstrations. Please
contact <email obscured> to volunteer, and thanks in advance.

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---

The City of St. Paul is moving forward with its Community Broadband initiative.
In order to ensure that citizens are part of this process, the City of St. Paul
and SPNN are hosting monthly Digital Inclusion Roundtables, at 11:30am on the
third Thursday of every month, at SPNN.  The next meeting in this series will
probably be on April 17 (I will send out a confirmation on Monday or Tuesday).
For more information, or for the minutes from the last meeting, please contact
me at <email obscured>

---SPED-OUTREACH MEETING APRIL 21---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee (the fine people who bring you the
E-Democracy programming in Rondo Library) will be having our monthly planning
meeting Monday, April 21st, from 5:15 to 6:45.  We can always use an additional
head or two contributing ideas, so please come a little early for the workshop
and tell us what you think of what we're doing.  More information about
upcoming meetings can be found at http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach

Thanks for reading, and see you Monday.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Our upcoming workshop (April 7th) will be on Blogs and Blogging; it will
introduce participants to blogs and their uses, as well as RSS and the more
technical aspects of running a blog. We also need volunteers for our upcoming
tabling sessions and workshops, particularly for the April 7th tabling, so I
encourage you to pick a day (or more) that fits your schedule.  Keep reading
for information about these topics and more.

---NEXT WORKSHOP: Creating a Community Blog---

Our next workshop will focus on Blogs and Blogging. This workshop will
introduce participants to blogs and their uses, as well as RSS and the more
technical aspects of running a blog. If you've ever been curious about blogs,
if you're familiar with the basics and want to learn a little more, or if you
have no idea what a blog is, then come to Rondo Library this Monday to have
your questions answered.

Blogs and Blogging
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, April 7th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no registration
is needed.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: Online Maps and Geotagging---

This past Monday's workshop was on online maps and geotagging, as well as more
robust free GIS packages.  Some notes from the workshop can be found at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Online_Maps_and_Geotagging

--VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES--

E-Democracy is a volunteer-powered organization. Without help from people like
you, we can't host workshops or help community members during tabling. We are
currently looking for volunteers for the month of April, particularly the 7th
and 14th. Volunteers can help table at Rondo Library from 4-6pm or assist with
our workshops from 6:50 to 8:45. They provide one-on-one assistance to
community members and may also help with setup and demonstrations. Please
contact <email obscured> to volunteer, and thanks in advance.

See you Monday.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Our next workshop will be on the array of geographic tools available online,
with a focus on geotagging and commonly used mapping sites.  I also want to
thank Tim for helping with last Monday's workshop, and I want to thank everyone
who filled out the computer use survey, which is now closed.  Keep reading for
more information.

---NEXT WORKSHOP: Online Online Mapping and Geotagging---

On Monday, March 31st, St. Paul E-Democracy will be hosting a workshop on
online mapping and geotagging at the Rondo Library in St. Paul.  This workshop
will introduce participants to the geographic tools available online, with a
focus on geotagging and commonly used mapping sites.  In addition to being easy
to use, these tools can be a powerful way of displaying more than simply
driving directions.  Geotagging, for instance, allows users to link media or
data to a specific point on a map, easily providing geographic context to
something like a series of photos or videos.  We will also present a brief
overview of some of the full-featured open-source GIS programs now available,
for those participants with more advanced uses in mind.

Online Mapping and Geotagging
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, March 31st
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: Online Video and YouTube---

This past Monday, Tim and I presented on online video and YouTube,
demonstrating the process of filming, editing and uploading a digital video.
The full lesson plan on which the workshop was based is available on the
Outreach website, at http://pages.e-democracy.org/Online_Video

---STATE OF THE CITY VIDEO FROM RONDO LIBRARY---

In related news, SPED-Outreach volunteers were in Rondo Library last Monday to
record video statements on the state of St. Paul, in response to Mayor
Coleman's State of the City address earlier this month.  The final video is now
posted on YouTube, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpW6NUc23qM
A related discussion on the state of St. Paul has been taking place on SPIF
over the past week or so; check it out at www.e-democracy.org/stpaul

---TABLING CONTINUES, MONDAYS 4-6---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee continues to table every Monday we
have a workshop, from 4-6pm.  We are happy to answer any questions about
E-Democracy, e-tools or general computing.  Feel free to drop by; we'd love to
see you.
Also, we can always use an extra person or two at the table.  If you would like
to help improve computer literacy in St. Paul, please contact me at
<email obscured>

---COMPUTER USE SURVEY OVER---

Thank you to everyone who filled out the Community Computer Use Survey.  I will
do my best to keep everyone updated as the data is analyzed and results are
announced.

See you Monday.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Our next workshop will be on the basics of recording, editing and posting video
online for free.  Also, I encourage you to attend the Digital Inclusion
Roundtable tomorrow (Thursday) at SPNN (for more information about this
meeting, see the posting at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/March_20_Digital_Inclusion_Roundtable).  Finally,
please fill out the Computer Technology Survey, if you haven't already.  Keep
reading for more info on these topics, as well as a follow-up to last Monday's
"Building Your Own Website" workshop.

---NEXT WORKSHOP: Online Video and YouTube---

On Monday, March 24th, St. Paul E-Democracy will be hosting a workshop on
online video at the Rondo Library in St. Paul.  The workshop will give
participants the opportunity to gain hands-on experience recording, editing and
uploading video, using Windows Movie Maker, iMovie and YouTube.  Today it is
easier than ever to use video to make yourself heard online; come learn how.

Online Video and YouTube
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, March 24th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---

The City of St. Paul is moving forward with its Community Broadband initiative.
In order to ensure that citizens are part of this process, the City of St. Paul
and SPNN are hosting monthly Digital Inclusion Roundtables, at 11:30am on the
third Thursday of every month, at SPNN.  The next meeting in this series will
be March 20.  For more information, or for the minutes from the last meeting,
please contact me at <email obscured>

---TAKE OUR SURVEY---

If you haven't yet, please go to the St. Paul Public Library website
(http://www.sppl.org), scroll down to the "Community Computer Use Survey" and
select your preferred language.  This survey is being administered by several
organizations that we partner with for our programming, and the information
gathered will be used to inform the discussion around community broadband in
St. Paul.  Also, if you have taken the survey, please encourage others to do so
as well.

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: BUILDING YOUR OWN WEBSITE---

First of all, I want to thank Marc for all his help on Monday.  Thank you Marc!
For those of you that missed it, I gave a broad overview of website
construction followed by demonstrations of various software packages,
particularly Drupal and Joomla! (the "!" is part of the name, apparently).  If
you missed it, if you want to review some of the websites we looked at, or if
you want to see the presentation I gave at the workshop, go to
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/Building_Your_Own_Website>.  Also, because
someone asked, <http://pages.e-democracy.org/Outreach_tools> contains links to
several wiki sites about halfway down the page.

---LAST MONDAY'S SPED-OUTREACH MEETING---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee (the fine people who bring you the
E-Democracy programming in Rondo Library) had our monthly planning meeting last
Monday.  We discussed planned programming for the Saint Paul Public Library
Saint Paul-itics campaign, as well as our upcoming "23 things."  I will try to
get the minutes online soon; if anyone wants them sooner, please email me at
<email obscured>

Thanks for reading.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Next week's workshop will be an introduction  to the basics of building a
website, from HTML to Content Management Systems and Hosting.  Our monthly
planning meeting is also next week, right before the workshop, so I encourage
you to come for both.  Finally, next week is the last week for filling out the
Community Technology Survey, so if you haven't done so yet, please do it now.
For more information about these topics and more, please keep reading.

---NEXT MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: BUILDING YOUR OWN WEBSITE---

On Monday, March 17th, St. Paul E-Democracy will be hosting a workshop on
building your own website at the Rondo Library in St. Paul.  The workshop will
be a broad overview of basic concepts, from HTML to Content Management Systems
and Hosting.   If you're looking to put yourself or your organization online,
but have no idea where to start, then I encourage you to come to this workshop.

Building Your Own Website
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, March 17th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: SOCIAL NETWORKING---

Last Monday, Tim and I discussed tools for social networking, including
MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning and Drupal.  If you're curious what
you missed, or are looking for that site we used in the presentation, go to
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/Social_Networking>.  Also, I will probably be
covering Drupal in marginally more detail at this next workshop (Building Your
Own Website), so if you're curious about it I encourage you stop by on Monday,
or check out the website (<http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach>) to see
if I've posted the outline for the class.

---SPED-OUTREACH MEETING THIS MONDAY---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee (the fine people who bring you the
E-Democracy programming in Rondo Library) will be having our monthly planning
meeting this Monday, March 17th, from 5:15 to 6:45.  We can always use an
additional head or two contributing ideas, so please come a little early for
the workshop and tell us what you think of what we're doing.  More information
about upcoming meetings can be found at
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach>.

---NEW WORKSHOP SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED---

We at SPED-Outreach are excited to announce our May/June workshop schedule:

May

May 5 -- E-Tools for Citizen Participation

May 12 -- Online Tools for Group Collaboration

May 19 -- You Tube and Online Video

June

June 2 -- Blogging

June 9 -- Podcasting

June 16 -- Building Your Own Website

June 23 -- Staying Safe Online

June 30 -- E-Participation and Real-World Politics

---TAKE OUR SURVEY---

If you haven't yet, please go to the St. Paul Public Library website
(http://www.sppl.org), scroll down to the "Community Computer Use Survey" and
select your preferred language.  This survey is being administered by several
organizations that we partner with for our programming, and the information
gathered will be used to inform the discussion around community broadband in
St. Paul.  Also, if you have taken the survey, please encourage others to do so
as well.

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---

The City of St. Paul is moving forward with its Community Broadband initiative.
In order to ensure that citizens are part of this process, the City of St. Paul
and SPNN are hosting monthly Digital Inclusion Roundtables, at 11:30am on the
third Thursday of every month, at SPNN.  The next meeting in this series will
be March 20.  For more information, or for the minutes from the last meeting,
please contact me at <email obscured>

---TABLING CONTINUES, MONDAYS 4-6---

St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee continues to table every Monday we
have a workshop, from 4-6pm.  We are happy to answer any questions about
E-Democracy, e-tools or general computing.  Feel free to drop by; we'd love to
see you.
Also, we can always use an extra person or two at the table.  If you would like
to help improve computer literacy in St. Paul, please contact me at
<email obscured>

Thanks for reading.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Next week's workshop will focus on Social Networking websites, including
Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Ning.  I also want to encourage anyone who has
not taken the Community Technology Survey on the library's website to do so
(see link below).  Finally, I want to remind everyone that E-Democracy
volunteers are available every Monday at Rondo Library, from 4-6pm, to answer
questions about E-Democracy or any of the e-tools we cover in our workshops.

---NEXT MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: SOCIAL NETWORKING---
On Monday, March 10th, St. Paul E-Democracy will be hosting a workshop on
social networking websites at the Rondo Library in St. Paul.  The workshop will
cover sites including Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and others, as well as Ning,
which allows users to create their own social networking site and can be seen
in action at <http://www.studentsspeakout.org/>.   If you've ever wondered
about joining a social networking site, then come to this workshop to learn
more.

Social Networking
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, March 10th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: TOOLS FOR E-CITIZENSHIP---
First of all, thanks again to Rick Mons for his help with Monday's workshop,
and thanks to all the SPIF members who suggested tools to include.  We ended up
covering numerous tools for e-citizenship, paying particular attention to St.
Paul E-Democracy.  If you are curious about any of these tools, or need help
setting up an E-Democracy account, come by our table this Monday at Rondo (see
below).  The links from this workshop can be found at
<http://pages.e-democracy.org/Online_Tools_for_E-Citizenship>.

---TAKE OUR SURVEY---
If you haven't yet, please go to the St. Paul Public Library website
(http://www.sppl.org), scroll down to the "Community Computer Use Survey" and
select your preferred language.  This survey is being administered by several
organizations that we partner with for our programming, and the information
gathered will be used to inform the discussion around community broadband in
St. Paul.  Also, if you have taken the survey, please encourage others to do so
as well.

---TABLING CONTINUES, MONDAYS 4-6---
St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee continues to table every Monday we
have a workshop, from 4-6pm.  We are happy to answer any questions about
E-Democracy, e-tools or general computing.  Feel free to drop by; we'd love to
see you.
Also, we can always use an extra person or two at the table.  If you would like
to help improve computer literacy in St. Paul, please contact me at
<email obscured>

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---
The City of St. Paul is moving forward with its Community Broadband initiative.
In order to ensure that citizens are part of this process, the City of St. Paul
and SPNN are hosting monthly Digital Inclusion Roundtables, at 11:30am on the
third Thursday of every month, at SPNN.  The next meeting in this series will
be March 20.  For more information, or for the minutes from the last meeting,
please contact me at <email obscured>

Thanks for reading.  I look forward to seeing you at Monday's workshop.
-Jonathan
There is a typo in the information about the upcoming workshop.  The correct
date is March 3rd, not the 28th.

This Monday, St. Paul E-Democracy is hosting a free workshop on tools for
e-citizenship.  We will cover topics such as issues forums, local reference
wikis, citizen journalism, community portals and local blogs, and we will
discuss both existing sites and the (often simple) process of creating your
own.  Additionally, SPIF Forum Manager Rick Mons will be there to talk about
the St. Paul Issues Forum.  Come learn how to use the internet to become more
informed and involved in your community!

Tools for E-Citizenship
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, March 3rd
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

At our upcoming workshop, Tools for E-Citizenship, you'll  learn how to use the
internet to become more informed and involved in you community, so I want to
encourage you to attend.  I also want to encourage anyone who has not taken the
Community Technology Survey on the library's website to do so (see link below).
Finally, we are looking for volunteers to help improve digital literacy; if
you're interested please contact <email obscured>, or come by our
table in the Rondo Library on Monday between 4:00 and 6:00pm

---NEXT MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: TOOLS FOR E-CITIZENSHIP---
This Monday, St. Paul E-Democracy is hosting a free workshop on tools for
e-citizenship.  We will cover topics such as issues forums, local reference
wikis, citizen journalism, community portals and local blogs, and we will
discuss both existing sites and the (often simple) process of creating your
own.  Come learn how to use the internet to become more informed and involved
in your community!

Tools for E-Citizenship
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, March 28th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

Also, if there are any tools for e-citizenship that you use and think should be
included in this workshop, send me an email at <email obscured>,
or participate in the SPIF discussion at www.e-democracy.org/stpaul.

---LAST MONDAY'S WORKSHOP: GOOGLE TOOLS---
If you missed last Monday's workshop on Google's vast array of tools, you can
go to
http://pages.e-democracy.org/New_Tools_for_Public_Participation:_Google_Tools
to see some of what we covered.

---TAKE OUR SURVEY---
If you haven't yet, please go to the St. Paul Public Library website
(http://www.sppl.org), scroll down to the "Community Computer Use Survey" and
select your preferred language.  This survey is being administered by several
organizations that we partner with for our programming, and the information
gathered will be used to inform the discussion around community broadband in
St. Paul.  Also, if you have taken the survey, please encourage others to do so
as well.

---TABLING CONTINUES, MONDAYS 4-6---
St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee continues to table every Monday we
have a workshop, from 4-6pm.  We are happy to answer any questions about
E-Democracy, e-tools or general computing.  Feel free to drop by; we'd love to
see you.
Also, we can always use an extra person or two at the table.  If you would like
to help improve computer literacy in St. Paul, please contact me at
<email obscured>

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---
The City of St. Paul is moving forward with its Community Broadband initiative.
In order to ensure that citizens are part of this process, the City of St. Paul
and SPNN are hosting monthly Digital Inclusion Roundtables, at 11:30am on the
third Thursday of every month, at SPNN.  The next meeting in this series will
be March 20.  For more information, or for the minutes from the last meeting,
please contact me at <email obscured>

Thanks for reading.  I look forward to seeing you at Monday's workshop.
-Jonathan
In honor of Presidents Day, St. Paul E-Democracy did not hold a workshop this
week.  This doesn't mean we weren't busy, however.  We are continuing to
prepare for the launch of the Frogtown Neighborhood Forum, a process I
encourage all of you to get involved in by coming to our meeting on February
26th (see below).  I also encourage you to come to our next workshop, which
will take place this Monday and will focus on Google's wide array of free web
tools.  Keep reading for more information about these and other activities
taking place in the coming weeks.

---ST. PAUL E-DEMOCRACY TO LAUNCH FROGTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD FORUM---
St. Paul E-Democracy is currently planning the launch of a neighborhood forum
in the Frogtown area of St. Paul.  As part of this planning process, we are
convening a community meeting to discuss the potential design of the forum.
The meeting will take place on February 26th, at Rondo Library, from 10:30 to
Noon.  More information can be found at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Frogtown_Neighborhood_Forum.  If you want to help
make our Frogtown Forum a success, or if you just want to learn more about our
plans, please attend the meeting or contact <email obscured>.

---TAKE OUR SURVEY---
If you haven't yet, please go to the St. Paul Public Library website
(http://www.sppl.org), scroll down to the "Community Computer Use Survey" and
select your preferred language.  This survey is being administered by several
organizations that we partner with for our programming, and the information
gathered will be used to inform the discussion around community broadband in
St. Paul.

---LEARN ABOUT GOOGLE TOOLS---
This Monday, St. Paul E-Democracy will host an evening workshop focusing on the
various free tools available from Google.  Topics will include productivity and
collaboration tools, as well as Adwords, Analytics, mapping tools, and
specialized, customized and website-specific search tools.  I encourage you to
come learn how you or your organization can easily make use of one or all of
these free tools.

New Tools for Public Participation: Google Tools
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, Feb. 25th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

---TABLING CONTINUES, MONDAYS 4-6---
St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach committee continues to table every Monday we
have a workshop, from 4-6pm.  We are happy to answer any questions about
E-Democracy, e-tools or general computing.  Feel free to drop by; we'd love to
see you.
Also, we can always use an extra person or two at the table.  If you would like
to help improve computer literacy in St. Paul, please contact me at
<email obscured>

---DIGITAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLES---
The City of St. Paul is moving forward with its Community Broadband initiative.
In order to ensure that citizens are part of this process, the City of St. Paul
and SPNN are hosting monthly Digital Inclusion Roundtables, at 11:30am on the
third Thursday of every month, at SPNN.  The next meeting in this series will
be March 20.  For more information, or for the minutes from the last meeting,
please contact me at <email obscured>

Thanks for reading.  I look forward to seeing you at Monday's workshop, and at
Tuesday's Frogtown Neighborhood Forum meeting.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

St. Paul Public Libraries will be closed for Presidents' Day, so there will be
no workshop next week.  Continue reading for a recap of this week's workshop,
our recent committee meeting, and information about how you can get involved in
the planning process for our new Frogtown Neighborhood Forum.  Specifically, we
need volunteers to help get the word out about our February 26th planning
meeting; if you think you can help, keep reading, or contact
<email obscured>

---BLOGS AND BLOGGING WORKSHOP A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS---
Monday's Blogs and Blogging workshop attracted 14 participants, which is the
largest attendance since we started keeping track in September.  Kevin Marshall
led the workshop (with some help from myself and Tim), and it seemed like
everyone left satisfied.  For those of you who were there,
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED_Blogging_Workshop was the page with all the
links.  Also, anyone interested in attending a future workshop should check out
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach, which contains a complete schedule
of upcoming workshops, as well as other useful information.

---ST. PAUL E-DEMOCRACY TO LAUNCH FROGTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD FORUM---
St. Paul E-Democracy is currently planning the launch of a neighborhood forum
in the Frogtown area of St. Paul.  As part of this planning process, we are
convening a community meeting to discuss the potential design of the forum.
The meeting will take place on February 26th, at Rondo Library, from 10:30 to
Noon.  More information can be found at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Frogtown_Neighborhood_Forum.  In preparation for
the 26th, we need people to help get the word out about the meeting and the
forum.  We will be having a lit day on February 19th from 9am to Noon, with the
Outreach office at Selby and Dale being used as a base of operations.  We need
a few volunteers to help with this, so if you want to help make our Frogtown
Forum a success, or if you just want to learn more about our plans, please come
to the lit day, or contact <email obscured>.

---OUTREACH COMMITTEE MOVING FORWARD WITH "ST. PAUL 23 THINGS"---
Librarians around the country have been using the "23 Things" curriculum to
learn about internet tools, to very positive reviews.  (One version of this
program can be found here:
http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com/2007/02/23-things_27.html)  The St.
Paul E-Democracy Outreach committee has been working on developing a version of
this program for the general public of St. Paul, to be piloted in the summer or
possibly fall, complete with technical support for participants and rewards for
those who complete all 23 tasks.  If you are interested in helping with the
development of this exciting new program, please contact me at
<email obscured>, or come to our next committee meeting.

---"OUTREACH TOOLS" PAGE, NOW WITH MORE TOOLS---
The "tools" section of the Outreach webpage,
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach, now contains an extended list of
helpful and informative links.

---TAKE OUR SURVEY---
If you haven't yet, please go to the St. Paul Public Library website
(http://www.sppl.org), scroll down to the "Community Computer Use Survey" and
select your preferred language.  This survey is being administered by several
organizations that we partner with for our programming, and the information
gathered will be used to inform the discussion around community broadband in
St. Paul.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you at one of our events around St. Paul.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Our upcoming workshop (February 11th) will be on Blogs and Blogging; it will
introduce participants to blogs and their uses, as well as RSS and the more
technical aspects of running a blog.  We are also looking for volunteers for
our upcoming tabling sessions and workshops, so I encourage you to pick a day
(or more) that fits your schedule.  Finally, we have an Outreach committee
meeting coming up on Monday as well, and I would like to see as many of you
there as possible.  Keep reading for information about these topics and more.

--OUTREACH COMMITTEE MEETING THIS MONDAY--
St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach Committee will be having our monthly meeting
this Monday, February 11th, at 5:30 at Rondo Library in St. Paul.  We would be
delighted to see you there and get your input on our upcoming activities and
ongoing projects, so please stop by.

--PREVIOUS WORKSHOP--
This past Monday, Robbie LaFleur presented on the Minnesota Legislative Website
and the extensive array of resources that legislature has made available
online.  We do not have a copy of this presentation at this time, however I
encourage anyone with questions to contact the Minnesota Legislative Reference
Library directly (http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/), as Robbie assured us that
the legislative librarians are more than happy to help members of the general
public find whatever information they need.  Also, I would like to recognize
the volunteers who helped us with the workshop and our tabling this past week,
including Rosa Maria, Chip, and, of course, Robbie.  Thanks to all of you.

--NEXT WORKSHOP [FEBRUARY 11TH]--
Our next workshop will focus on Blogs and Blogging.  This workshop will
introduce participants to blogs and their uses, as well as RSS and the more
technical aspects of running a blog.  If you've ever been curious about blogs,
if you're familiar with the basics and want to learn a little more, or if you
have no idea what a blog is, then come to Rondo Library this Monday to have
your questions answered.

Blogs and Blogging
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, Feb. 11th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no registration
is needed.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

--VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES--
E-Democracy is a volunteer-powered organization.  Without help from people like
you, we can't host workshops or help community members during tabling.  We are
currently looking for volunteers for February 11th and 25th, as well as March
3rd.  Volunteers help table at Rondo Library from 4-6pm and assist with our
workshops from 6:50 to 8:45.  Volunteers provide one-on-one assistance to
community members and may also help with setup and demonstrations.  Please
contact <email obscured> to volunteer, and thanks in advance.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events, particularly this
Monday's committee meeting.
-Jonathan
Hi, and if you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St.
Paul Updates.

Our upcoming workshop (February 4th) features guest presenter Robbie LaFleur,
who will demonstrate how to follow issues, track bills and connect with
legislators during the upcoming session of the Minnesota legislature (session
begins February 12th).  We are also looking for volunteers for our upcoming
tabling sessions and workshops, so I encourage you to pick a day (or more) that
fits your schedule.  Finally, we have an Outreach committee meeting coming up
on February 11th.  Keep reading for more information about all these topics.

--PREVIOUS WORKSHOP--
This week, Cathi presented a workshop on Internet Safety.  A draft outline of
this workshop is still available at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Internet_Safety and we will try to get the
complete PowerPoint online soon; if you want it sooner please email
<email obscured>.

--NEXT WORKSHOP [FEBRUARY 4TH]--
Our next workshop will focus on the upcoming session of the Minnesota
Legislature, which begins February 12.  Guest presenter Robbie Lafleur,
director of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, will prepare you to be
involved and informed by showing you how to follow issues, track bills and
connect with legislators using Minnesota's nationally recognized legislative
website. She will help you explore the wealth of resources posted by many
legislative offices, and will introduce you to the newest website features and
plans for the future. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions, and
refreshments will be provided. This should be an informative workshop; whether
you’re an experienced legislature-watcher or new to state politics, I
encourage you to come.

Follow the Minnesota Legislature Online
FREE WORKSHOP

Date : Monday, Feb. 4th
Time : 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location : Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 North Dale
University & Dale, St. Paul

As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no registration
is needed.

Full workshop schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule
Contact <email obscured> with questions.

--VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES--
E-Democracy is a volunteer-powered organization.  Without help from people like
you, we can't host workshops or help community members during tabling.  We are
currently looking for volunteers for February 4th, 11th and 25th.  Volunteers
can help table at Rondo Library from 4-6pm, or they can assist with our
workshops from 6:50 to 8:45.  In both cases, volunteers will mainly provide
one-on-one assistance to community members, although workshop assistants may
also help with setup and demonstrations.  Please contact
<email obscured> to volunteer, and thanks in advance.

--OUTREACH COMMITTEE MEETING--
St. Paul E-Democracy's Outreach Committee meets monthly at Rondo Library in St.
Paul.  The next meeting will take place on February 11 at 5:30.  We would be
delighted to see you there and get your input on our upcoming activities, so
mark your calendar.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events.
-Jonathan
Hello friends.

If you are receiving this newsletter for the first time, welcome to St. Paul
Updates.

If you spend any time online (so that's all of you), or have kids who do, then
please come to our Internet Safety workshop this coming Monday, January 28th.
It will feature discussions of protective software, phishing, and being "street
smart" online.  This workshop is essential for anyone who owns a computer with
an internet connection, uses email, or has ever wondered about how to stay safe
while using sites like MySpace or Craigslist.  A draft outline of topics that
may be covered in this workshop is available at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Internet_Safety

Our workshops take place Mondays at Rondo Library in St. Paul, from 7:00pm to
8:30.  Upcoming workshops include:

-- Internet Safety (January 28)
-- The State Legislature Online (February 4)
-- Blogging (February 11)
-- New Tools for Public Participation (February 25)
A complete list of upcoming workshops can be found at
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule

Please direct any questions about the workshops, St. Paul E-Democracy or this
newsletter to <email obscured>

I look forward to seeing you this Monday.
-Jonathan
Hello all.

Thank you for joining St. Paul Updates, our new weekly email newletter about
St. Paul E-Democracy's activities around St. Paul.  This will be the easiest
way to follow our Rondo Library workshop schedule, particularly in the event of
a last minute change.

This past Monday we held a workshop on podcasting, which featured an overview
of podcasting basics and an introduction to the free audio-editing software
Audacity.  Much of  the content from this workshop, including links to online
tutorials, can be found at the following location:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Podcasting:_Telling_the_World.  We are considering
holding this workshop again sometime in March or April; we will be sure to tell
you when we pick a date.

Next week's workshop will discuss recording and posting video online, with a
particular focus on the popular website YouTube.  It will also include a
significant hands-on portion, which will give participants the opportunity to
film, edit and possibly upload their own video project.  This workshop will
take place Monday, January 14, 2008, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm at the Rondo Library
in St. Paul (located at the intersection of University and Dale).  As with all
our workshops, our video workshop is free and open to all.  No registration is
required, but you are welcome to direct any questions to
<email obscured>.

Other upcoming workshops at Rondo include Keeping Kids Safe Online on January
28th, The State Legislature Online on February 4th, and Blogging on February
11th.  For more information, please visit
http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED-Outreach, or email
<email obscured>.

St. Paul E-Democracy and St. Paul E-Democracy Outreach depend on the
contributions of volunteers to continue providing these and other services to
our community.  If you would like to help us, please contact
<email obscured>, or come visit us Monday evenings at the Rondo
Library.

I look forward to seeing you at Rondo, or elsewhere around St. Paul.
-Jonathan

Welcome to St. Paul Updates.