Update: Unfortunately, we have to cancel the July 16th workshop due to a lack of interest in the topic (OpenGov and the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan).  We were hoping to explore how transparency, participation, and collaboration could be leveraged in response to this national crisis.

Fortunately, there will be several more open gov workshops in the fall.  Please send an email to info@opengovplaybook.org to join the mailing list if you're not already receiving announcements from us.

Original Invitation:

Background: This is the July Open Government Community Summit.  Previous summits and workshops have been hosted by the Department of Transportation, the General Services Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Department of Treasury.

Who: This workshop is open to federal, state, and local officials involved in restoring our nation's Gulf Coast.  Members of the Open Gov Community from the private sector and non-profit organizations are also welcome to participate.

What: This summit will focus on the intersection of open government and the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan which President Obama assigned to the Secretary of the Navy on June 15th.

Where: Washington, DC.  Due to the urgency of the Gulf oil spill crisis, we are convening this workshop while the location is still TBD.  Several agencies have already expressed interest, and the first agency to have space available will be the host.

When: Friday, July 16, 2010 from 9am-12:10pm EST.  This 3 hour workshop will allow us to roll our sleeves up and jump-start a powerful and ongoing conversation about the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan.  Next steps will emerge from the ideas of the participants.

Remote Participation begins after the in-person workshop ends and lasts from 1pm-2:30pm EST.  Remote participation consists of an innovative technology called Maestro Conference which enables us to separate a large conference call into small-group breakout sessions.

Online Discussions: Between now and July 16th, we'll be using GovLoop discussion forums to put some ideas on the table.  Here is the list of questions so far:
• How can the opengov ethos of transparency improve the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan?
• How can the opengov ethos of participation improve the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan?
• How can the opengov ethos of collaboration improve the Gulf Coast Restoration Plan?
• Propose another question for the online discussion to info@opengovplaybook.org.

RSVP at the top of this page by 4pm EST on July 14, 2010.

Supplemental Information

Each month's workshop lasts half a day and builds on the previous month's workshop.  These events are designed to be highly engaging so that federal managers build collaborative skills and understand how to build collaborative methods into their workplace.  Workshops occur monthly to build steady momentum for enabling culture change and implementation of each agency's open government plan.

Workshop Agenda
9:00am     Welcome and Collaborative Exercise (20 min)
9:20am     Participants create the agenda (20 min)
9:40am     Breakout Session #1 (40 min)
10:20am   Break (10 min)
10:30am   Breakout Session #2 (40 min)
11:10am   Break (10 min)
11:20am   Breakout Session #3 (30 min)
11:50am   Wrap-up (20-min)

Participant Responsibilities:
• Be authentic.  Come to share ideas.
• Take responsibility for your learning and the learning of those around you.
• Post great notes on the wiki.  If your notes are not online, then they're not shared.  If your ideas are not shared, then they're not changing the world :)

Each breakout session will have the following format: 
• Quick round of introductions
• Define the question/challenge
• List possible answers/solutions
• Build on each other's ideas
• Discuss pros and cons

Mission of the Workshop Series:
• Demonstrate how to create a collaborative environment within and across agencies
• Share knowledge across agencies and between the public, private, and non-profit sectors to address challenges and questions that span agencies.  All questions/challenges will be chosen by the participants from the public sector.
• Ensure all great ideas from the workshop are documented online for those that cannot attend.

Please feel free to contact us at info@opengovplaybook.org.  We look forward to your participation and continuing commitment.