This past weekend, we were thrilled to attend the 2015 Personal Democracy Forum (PDF), a venture combining some of the brightest and most motivated minds in civic technology. Throughout the course of two days, we heard talks on community work, government progress, and social justice all being propelled forward by the work of civic tech. Best of all, we got to see the community engaged both inside and out of PDF through the use of social media, as Civicist hosted a live stream of main stage talks and Twitter users worldwide joined in the conversation using #PDF15.
We’ve gathered some of our favorite moments from the conference in tweets below. Thank you to everyone who shared the power of civic technology with us!
Love how @andrewslack is reminding us of our core values by bringing back classic narratives of good vs. evil – what an incentive #PDF15
— Cathy Wissink (@cathywissink) June 5, 2015
Six basic shapes of social media networks – interesting stuff from @marc_smith #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/dM7z4LyMix
— Lisa Abeyta (@LisaAbeyta) June 5, 2015
The Internet's Undersea World http://t.co/cG76dw8pby #pdf15 pic.twitter.com/h1L6u507ui
— Hiroyasu Ichikawa (@SocialCompany) June 4, 2015
An Anne-Marie / Annmarie love fest w @SlaughterAM and @AnnmarieLevins thinking about rethinking think tanks. #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/K2qIIYybK5
— Richard Robbins (@rich1) June 5, 2015
Cities as the spot for civic innovation; urgent, immediate policies without the luxury of partisanship @MSNewEngland #PDF15
— Hollie Russon Gilman (@hrgilman) June 5, 2015
"The [most well] known 404 page in America." –@haleyvandyck #pdf15 pic.twitter.com/Ifrg8qrotn
— (((DavidColarusso))) (@Colarusso) June 5, 2015
"I want to be a positive disrupter on Capitol Hill." @cathymcmorris. #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/MAVZUyWfsN
— HKS Comm. Program (@HKSCommProg) June 5, 2015
"Does digital threaten representative democracy. For me, I think it does." @hubmum #PDF15
— Rewired State (@rewiredstate) June 5, 2015
"We've stopped spying on 300 million Americans. That just leaves 6 billion people in the world the NSA is spying on" -Danny O'Brien #PDF15
— Jay Cassano (@jcassano) June 4, 2015
Who is the customer whose problem you are going to solve? asks @storybellows Decision-maker not always customer in govt procurement. #PDF15
— Annmarie Levins (@AnnmarieLevins) June 4, 2015
Powerful movements require powerful platforms. The open Internet is the most powerful platform yet. —@dantebarry #PDF15
— Suchita Mandavilli (@SSMandavilli) June 4, 2015
#'s are used to start something. What follows is a community, a movement, something that matters #TIIMR #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/K0FYozL3VS
— TIIMR (@TIIMR) June 4, 2015
Why do other countries have leading high speed trains & internet? Publicly owned utility! Privatization is the problem. #ReaganIsDead #pdf15
— Daniel Latorre (@danlatorre) June 4, 2015
#SocialMedia is about storytelling, connecting members of the same communities, creating together #PDF15 twitter chat brings that together
— Juan Vasquez (@JuanSVas) June 4, 2015
"How much does our attention reflect what we care about"? Every "like," "tag," "follow," costs precious minutes. @troyharris #PDF15
— Anne-Marie Slaughter (@SlaughterAM) June 4, 2015
Social media can often present a dissonance between the public and private self. @deanna #PDF15
— Sarah Stern (@SternSaid) June 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/azymiacord/status/606490234457583616
The very concept of public utility is under attack in US – @haroldfeld cites water in Detroit, crumbling electrical grid #PDF15
— Nilagia McCoy (@nilagia) June 4, 2015
Hmmm mapping people based on social media data of followers of police departments @davetroy #pdf15 pic.twitter.com/jsPQ9rc3sw
— Joseph Phelan (@JTPspeaks) June 4, 2015
#Civictech creates community. Don't let it be content-neutral. "Re-write the story of now." @ericpliu #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/GC4En75DEW
— Thea Smith Nilsson (@theanilsson) June 4, 2015
Civic tech = any technology used for the good of the many not the few #PDF15
— Ben Rowswell (@benrowswell) June 4, 2015
Get the research on #civictech engagement on 'interested bystanders' #pdf15 cc @PatrickMeier -for all communities pic.twitter.com/AsdQjGalCg
— HeatherLeson (@HeatherLeson) June 4, 2015
Placemaking isn't about making a place, it's about making connections. #PDF15 @merelyanode
— Jessica Silverman (@jsilz911) June 4, 2015
"Peacemaking is not about making places, it's about making relationships." #PDF15
— Mark Headd (@mheadd) June 4, 2015
"Redesigning the public meeting"…great start to a much needed convo. #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/XcyXiwZPXb
— Lauren Skowronski (@Skowrola) June 4, 2015
"#civictech is excellent at creating a sense of community." @ericpliu #PDF15
— Code for Princeton (@codeprinceton) June 4, 2015
We need "a willingness to reckon with power": where those of us w/a voice make it available to the traditionally voiceless #pdf15 @ericpliu
— Cathy Wissink (@cathywissink) June 4, 2015
.@ericpliu at #PDF15: Stop focusing tools and start focusing on goals.
— ShiftSpark (@sh1ftspark) June 4, 2015
“Tools are but tools, we have greater ends now – upend the ways in which decision making happens” – @ericpliu at #pdf15
— Julie Bennett (@JulieBennett100) June 4, 2015
In the era of the on-demand economy, some people never clock out -Palak Shah #PDF15
— Lauren Mobertz (@moMobertz) June 4, 2015
"Where domestic workers have been is where the future of work is going" <- darkside of freelancification of the economy. #PDF15
— Jay Cassano (@jcassano) June 4, 2015
.@palaknshah: tech is dramatically reshaping the future of work & the combo of tech & social movements can be the great equalizer #PDF15
— Ben Epstein (@benepstein55) June 4, 2015
Clear tension: domestic work moves online, #labor that previous stayed in the shadows as #immigrants, moving online & visible #PDF15
— Diana Enriquez (@denrsch) June 4, 2015
#PDF15 go Fair Care Labs. We need 21st century "trade unions" to rebalance workers' commoditization
— Nicolas Miailhe (@n_miailhe) June 4, 2015
"40% increase in temp jobs" #PDF15
— Frank La Vigne (@Tableteer) June 4, 2015
"Nearly half of college graduates are un- or under employed." @theworkerslab's @crojasphd #PDF15
— Kayt Racz (@Kayyyt) June 4, 2015
.@PayMySitter check out @faircarelabs. Great thoughts about how tech and business can advance social issues with mindfulness. #PDF15
— amy chiou (@amychiou) June 4, 2015
/@crojasphd runs an accelerator to help build tech that improves outcomes for American workers #PDF15http://t.co/tAlKGhCFnA
— Spanish California (@_danilo) June 4, 2015
So important to understand this interconnectedness worldwide. Impacts net neutrality, free speech, privacy #pdf15 https://t.co/6BOEAm2RYP
— Cathy Wissink (@cathywissink) June 4, 2015
Linking the dots of #PDF15: interested bystanders + tech + engagement + workers = the stronger political force in any country
— Alberto Fernández (@gibajaalberto) June 4, 2015
Carmen Rojas: put workers at the center of your value proposition #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/yhQImGu3CM
— Francesca De Chiara (@Lebowskiana) June 4, 2015
.@jess_kutch of @teamcoworker recounts an amazing story of Starbucks baristas organizing globally to get the tattoo ban rescinded. #PDF15
— Tyler S. Bugg (@tylersbugg) June 4, 2015
#pdf15 pic.twitter.com/1zlbSeI7lS
— Francesca De Chiara (@Lebowskiana) June 4, 2015
"We have turned the tide, but we have very far to go." — @haroldfeld #PDF15
— Microsoft New York (@MicrosoftNY) June 4, 2015
.@haroldfeld just dropped the mic on #NetNeutrality for 45 minutes at #PDF15. Nice work.
— ShiftSpark (@sh1ftspark) June 4, 2015
The designers of social networks are "inadvertent urban planners for the city of attention." Says @tristanharris at #PDF15
— Josh Stearns (@jcstearns) June 4, 2015
We design based on how we define success. Imagine if apps and #civictech measured based on net postive impact — @tristanharris #PDF15
— Diana Enriquez (@denrsch) June 4, 2015
“The Internet is My Religion” is a book coming out July 12 – http://t.co/LScdHvAGAS #PDF15 #TIIMR
— Juan Vasquez (@JuanSVas) June 4, 2015
" @facebook feed is like how #TV used to be, where you tune in and whatever is on is on" – @snjacobs #PDF15 #civictech
— greg jeske (@gregjeske) June 5, 2015
Thanks to our great panel for closing out #PDF15: @seamuskraft, @BenKallos, @ppolitics, @hubmum & @mmsandgren! pic.twitter.com/pXNwP70OxV
— OpenGov Foundation (@OpenGovFdn) June 5, 2015
So easy for us to forget that libraries are great social equalizers + knowledge providers, and that tech must help that continue #PDF15
— Cathy Wissink (@cathywissink) June 5, 2015
.@johnpaulfarmer showcases the civic graph at #pdf15 pic.twitter.com/idgRSq4xbW
— Samantha Grassle (@samgrassle) June 5, 2015
@andrewslack explains the cutting edge of culture through fandom. #PDF15 pic.twitter.com/dCpLSLsKxK
— Diana Enriquez (@denrsch) June 5, 2015
Fantasy is not an escape from reality, it is an invitation — @andrewslack #HarryPotterAlliance #pdf15
— Jo Ladzinski (@JoEatsFood) June 5, 2015
The best way to end #PDF15 @andrewslack @MSNewEngland pic.twitter.com/wV1dJfVPj6
— Jackie L (@jackie_lender) June 5, 2015
We’ll be quoting this one for a while. #PDF15 https://t.co/2knJInpc8F
— Jake Brewer (@jakebrewer) June 5, 2015
At #PDF15, @johnpaulfarmer demonstrates the "Civic Graph" http://t.co/tgLkwRFPQO #civictech #dataviz pic.twitter.com/4fBTRXwPmU
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) June 5, 2015
I did a brainstorm once with @andrewslack where we were supposed to bring 3 big ideas each. Andrew brought 19. Not joking. #PDF15
— Jake Brewer (@jakebrewer) June 5, 2015
Harry Potter Alliance Cofounder @andrewslack on hacking civic imagination at #PDF15. Utterly mind-blowing. pic.twitter.com/ZuX5jD5wj1
— Sam Gustin (@samgustin) June 5, 2015
Tags: #PDF15, CIvic Hall, Civic Tech, Civicist, PDF, Personal Democracy Forum