You’re Invited!

AmericaSpeaks…in Second Life!

A National Discussion of the Federal Budget and the Economy

Held in the virtual world of Second Life^®

Saturday, June 26, 2010

8:30am-Noon Second Life Time / Pacific

(3.5 hours in duration)

Free!

Advance Registration Required

Co-Sponsored By

■ California NIF Network ■ Deliberative IDEAS, a Deliberative Practice group in Second Life

■ World Café ■ Center for Voter Deliberation of Northern Virginia ■ PublicDecisions ■ Texas Forums  

As national leaders work to jump-start our economy, enormous challenges loom on the horizon that threatens the long-term vitality of the United States. This national event focuses on our most prominent, long-term challenge: our immense and growing national debt. Tough choices will need to be made that will be highly contested and sometimes unpopular. If we as a nation are going to be successful at addressing this challenge, it will be necessary to educate and to engage the American people. 

AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy is a national discussion to find common ground on tough choices about our federal budget. Americans from across the country will come together to weigh-in on strategies to ensure a sustainable fiscal future and a strong economic recovery. Our Second Life conversation will exactly trace the schedule and discussion of the official AmericaSpeaks sites…and our data will be forwarded to be included in the AmericaSpeaks final report.

In 20 cities across the country thousands of citizens will participate face-to-face in this AmericaSpeaks event. Participants will be connected live via satellite video, webcast and interactive technologies. Our version of AmericaSpeaks will be connected for voice communication via MaestroConference, a dynamic environment combining the convenience of traditional conference calls, with the interactivity of a live workshop.

The week before the event, you’ll receive a confirmation that includes a link to the discussion guide for the June 26 deliberation. We'll ask you to take a few minutes to download and read this brief guide (5 pages) before the day of the deliberation.

How You’ll Participate

On the day of the deliberation, you’ll sign into Second Life.  Second Life is a virtual, immersive world where people can interact just like at a real meeting, except it’s online. You must have a Second Life account (it’s free) and an avatar, and be able to access Second Life from your computer (high speed internet is required).

Each person will be assigned to a small group at a table with a trained moderator, and you’ll participate in a dialogue with other participants about the budget and the economy.

Agenda for the June 26th Deliberation

• Welcome and self-introductions
• Deliberation about Choice 1
• Deliberation about Choice 2
• Deliberation about Choice 3
• Benefits and Tradeoffs
• Wrap-up / Reflections

New to Second Life...new to AmericaSpeaks?

Attend one of our free orientation sessions (30 minutes) to learn the basic skills for participating in Second Life…and in the AmericaSpeaks event:

• Basic skills for navigating Second Life
• Specific information about MaestroConference voice system
• Orientation to the AmericaSpeaks discussion format…Q&A on the event

Orientations will be held on Thursday, June 17th at 1:30pm Pacific/4:30pm Eastern; Monday, June 21st at 3pm Pacific/6pm Eastern; and Thursday, June 24th at 4:30pm Pacific/7:30pm Eastern.

We can give you some assistance on the day of the event, but it’s essential that every person be familiar with basic Second Life skills…please take your preparation seriously.

We'll ask you to reserve your seat as part of the registration process.

Questions?

Contact Craig Paterson, Deliberative IDEAS at craig_paterson@yahoo.com / 707 864 0419

Or Beth Offenbacker, PublicDecisions, at beth@publicdecisions.com / 571 303 9208.