So I was talking with Peter Corbett at SxSW last week about how cool it was that the Government 2.0 Club gave us a shout out for what we have been trying to do with Social Media Club as a bit of inspiration for them, when he asked if I was able to get to DC for Government 2.0 Camp.  With our upcoming Social Media Workshop series, I really didn’t want to fly, but then realized, it was a chance for my prior public service (at the US Mint as the Chief of eBusiness [actual title was much longer and more bureaucratic]) and my current community organizing experiences to help make a difference… so I cashed in some miles, arranged to sleep on couches and am getting on the flight now.  Right now, so I have to make this short.

I am hoping to get on the calendar to do a session on “lessons learned from association 2.0: building an open social organization that serves the community”, but honestly dont know if I will make it early enough in the morning (is anyone coming in from near IAD in the morning? ping me here).

Then on Saturday morning, I am going to lead a World Cafe session that will help us focus the lessons learned on Friday into collaborative, positive action in the most efficient way possible.  If you have never experienced a world cafe, you are in for a treat – it is one of the best ways to tap into the collective wisdom of any large group of people and so much more.

It is going to be 3 rounds of small group conversations with no more then 4 or 5 people in each group.  After each round, one person from each table will report out to the rest of the group (and to a video recorder in each classroom which will be shared online for those who could not make it).  After the reporting is done, everyone but the individual who has chosen to act as a table host goes to a different classroom and a different group of people – at this time, we will ask a new question for you to consider and explore. And we do it again, until we are done with the 3rd round of conversation and we will then have a session in the main room (I think) to continue the rest of the day. (Peter Corbett please correct as needed for our logistics as this is still in flux)

Of course, I have to plug the fact that I am trying to pay for this trip by auctioning off my time on ebay.  So right now you can bid on a 1/2 day of my time, Monday afternoon 3/30/2009 in the DC Metro area, where I will help you develop a strategic social media plan.  Sorry to be a bit spammy instead of eloquent on this, but my plane is now boarding!

See you on the east coast!