#Digicitz 9: Politics and Digital Activism in the Social Age

In the lead up to the NSW Election, Digital Citizens' next event takes a deep dive into Politics and Digital Activism in the Social Age.

The event, moderated by one of Australia's leading digital marketers and communicators Kate Carruthers, will be hosted at the Shelbourne Hotel in Sydney on 22nd March at 7pm.

The latest Digital Citizens event will include Labor Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Roads Penny Sharpe, John Bergin, Director of Digital News for Sky News, Steve Hopkins from Ai-Media and Thomas Tudehope, Director of Engagement and Strategy for SR7.

"With social media helping shape events around the globe in 2011 we wanted to start the first Digital Citizens session of the year with a strong topic," said James Fridley, one of the Digital Citizens founders.

"The panel will discuss how activists and politicians create campaigns, how the audience engage with them and how news media investigate and report on the outcomes using social media."

With over 12 million Australians now online, engaging with your constituency online is no longer a might do but a must-have for politicians and policy makers alike. 

Decentralised networks and speed of mobilisation means grassroots activists using networked technologies can achieve an unprecedented amount of support and harness individual actions on a mass level with social and political change campaigns.

The venue for this event is the Shelbourne Hotel, 200 Sussex Street, Sydney, doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Tickets are $10 with 50% of the price going to charity Sydney Cats and Dogs Home - who shelter over 4,000 lost and unwanted animals each year. The organization is running Parched March to help raise funds.

More information here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=351368174178

Contact Heather Snodgrass on 0429 649 189 or heather@likeomg.org for sponsorship opportunities and if you are a not for profit organisation, please contact us if you want to be involved in this, or future events throughout the year.

Digital Citizens can be found on Twitter - @ecitizens

Speaker bios:

Penny Sharpe: Penny has been a Member of the NSW Legislative Council since October 2005. She is currently the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Roads and Assists the Premier on Social Inclusion. She has served on a number of committees including the NSW Privacy Advisory Committee, Legislation Review, Privileges, Electoral Matters and the Joint Committee for Children and Young People.

John Bergin: Director of Digital News, Sky News. Bergin has been helping keep the nation up-to-date on breaking news, sport and showbiz since 2007. Prior to working for Sky News he worked for the Oroton Group.

Steve Hopkins: Currently works at Ai-Media on Ai-Live, which involves delivering access and inclusion to deaf children in education across Australia. He is also a founder of Trampoline and serves on the Business Development and Marketing Committee for the mental health services provider, Lantern.

Thomas Tudehope: Director of Engagement and Strategy for SR7 and is responsible for the management of issues based social media campaigns. Thomas was Digital Director for Malcolm Turnbull for five years from 2004-2009. He worked with Malcolm Turnbull when he was a backbencher, a Cabinet Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Thomas has also spent time working with Sky News and in the USA with Republicans and Democrats on digital outreach.

Want to help?

Sponsorship opportunities: Please contact us Heather Ann Snodgrass (heather@likeomg.org) for an information package on how your business or organisation can get involved.

Not-for-profits: Digital Citizens donates 50% of all ticket sales to a different charity each event. If you have a charity or NFP you'd like to nominate, please contact us at contact@digital-citizens.org.

About Digital Citizens:

We are an inclusive, informal organisation dedicated to knowledge sharing and discussion of social, political, ethical and professional issues related to new technologies and the social web.

The format of our events may change depending on the subject under discussion, but the intention is always to enable free, frank and respectful debate. Digital Citizens is agency-neutral, transparent and open.