Keynoters Include:

Frank Rich, Vivek Kundra, danah boyd, Craig Newmark, Jack Dorsey, Esther Dyson, Mark McKinnon, Susan Crawford, Nate Silver, Todd Herman, Jeff Jarvis, Joe Rospars and Many More

Sponsors Include:

AT&T, Google, Meetup, The Bivings Group, Mobile Commons and EchoDitto

New York, NY – June 2009 – On Monday, June 29th, and Tuesday, June 30th, 2009, America’s foremost leaders and luminaries from all segments of the Internet, new media and political arenas will converge in New York at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, for the 6th annual Personal Democracy Forum (www.personaldemocracy.com/conference). Personal Democracy Forum is the world’s largest conference examining how technological advances and Internet trends are reinventing politics, democracy, society and government.

Now in its sixth year, the two day event will be the most comprehensive to date, as an unprecedented cross-partisan roster of more than 1,000 opinion makers, political practitioners, technologists, journalists and bloggers converge to network, exchange ideas and explore the explosion of voter-generated content in 2008; the prospects for a new kind of e-democracy and collaborative governance; and all the ways the Internet, social networks, and mobile communications are fostering more transparency, accountability and innovation. This year’s theme is “We.gov,” focusing attention on how people are using the Internet and interactive communications technologies to transform governance through political campaigns, media, and civic action. Individuals can receive conference updates and share ideas with the organizers thru twitter.com/pdf2009.

“The Obama campaign and the election of 2008 ended the argument as to whether the Internet matters in politics. Now the political and media establishments are rushing to catch up to and define what democracy in the 21st century will be,” said Andrew Rasiej, founder and executive producer of the Personal Democracy Forum. “Technology is changing civic society in ways that are challenging politicians, advocates, and organizations across the political spectrum to rethink their entire strategy for success.”

“The new question we’re tackling this year is ‘Can we .gov, and how?’,” added Micah Sifry, PdF’s curator and the editor of techPresident.com. “After an election that saw an explosion of mass participation in all aspects of the process, now net-powered citizens expect to engage similarly with their government-how is Washington responding? We’re going to hear from top public officials from both sides of the aisle, as well as top activists, who are all at the leading edge of answering this question.”

The five main thematic tracks to be covered at PdF 2009, include:

• State-of-the-art online politics and advocacy.
  
• Exploring and defining government 2.0
  
• New organizing opportunities, tools and challenges.
  
• How to best build community and raise money online with social media
  
• The future of political journalism, blogging and networked media.

Participants of the 2009 PdF include:

David All, David All GroupJim Gilliam, WhiteHouse2.orgDavid Almacy, Bush White HouseDan Gillmor, Center for Citizen MediaDavar Ardalan, NPR Weekend EditionKeli Goff, author, Party-CrashingJames Assey, NCTAHeather Gold, comedian/activistJason Barnett, TheUptake.orgScott Goodstein, Obama ’08Michael Bassik, Air AmericaPeter Greenberger, GoogleGina Bianchini, Ning.comSteve Grove, YouTubeEric Boehlert, author, The Bloggers on the BusMax Harper, Obama ’08Becky Bond, CREDO MobileTristan Harris, Apturedanah boyd, Microsoft ResearchTodd Herman, Republican National CommitteeDavid Burch, TubeMogulJames Heywood, Patients Like MeSheila Campbell, USA.govIlyse Hogue, MoveOn.orgAndy Carvin, NPR social media deskJeanne Holm, NASA.govSteven Clift, e-democracy.orgSara Holoubek, TEMPOMike Connery, Future MajorityAndrew Hoppin, NYSenate.govCheryl Contee, Fission StrategiesTara Hunt, author, The Whuffie FactorAna Marie Cox, Air AmericaSujatha Jahagirdar, USPIRGSusan Crawford, White House National Economic CouncilJeff Jarvis, BuzzmachineKen Deutsch, Morningside AnalyticsClay Johnson, Sunlight LabsJack Dorsey, TwitterDave Karpf, University of PennsylvaniaVincent Ducrey, Government of FranceKate Kaye, ClickZEsther DysonAbby Kirigin, TipJoyDr. Mark Elliott, CollabforgeJosh Koster, Chong DesignsKety Esquivel, National Council of La RazaGwynne Kostin, Dept. of Homeland SecurityAli Felski, Sunlight LabsCyrus Krohn, Republican National CommitteeAllison Fine, author, MomentumVivek Kundra, CIO, U.S. GovtMindy Finn, Romney ‘08Heather Lauer, The Pickens PlanFabrice Florin, NewsTrust.netRoz Lemieux, Fission StrategiesSusannah Fox, Pew Internet CenterStan Magniant, LinkfluenceJudith Freeman, New Organizing InstituteLiz Mair, Republican National CommitteeEric Frenchman, McCain ’08Mark McKinnon,McCain ‘08Ari Melber, The NationAmanda Michel, ProPublicaJosh Silver, Free PressEllen Miller, Sunlight FoundationScott Simon, NPR Weekend EditionGreg Miller, Open Source Digital Voting FoundationRachel Sklar, Abrams ResearchDavid Moore, OpenCongress.orgBrian Stelter, The New York TimesJanice Nall, Centers for Disease ControlJed Sundwall, Captura GroupCraig Newmark, CraigslistTanya Tarr, AFSCMERasmus Nielsen, Columbia UniversitySean Tevis, candidate for Kansas state repBeth Noveck, WH Office of Science and Technology PolicyBaratunde Thurston, The OnionMark Pesce, digital anthropologistDave Troy, TwitterVisionMaria Teresa Peterson, Voto LatinoKaren Tumulty, TimeFrank Rich, The New York TimesMichael Turk, NCTADiane Rinaldo, TPM MediaAndrew Turner, geoCommonsAmanda Rose, TwestivalJose Vargas, The Washington PostScott Rosenberg, author, Say EverythingDavid Weinberger, Berkman CenterJoe Rospars, Obama ’08Nicola Wells, Center for Community ChangeAlec Ross, U.S. State DepartmentMichael Wesch, Kansas State UniversityPatrick Ruffini, The Next RightMarcy Wheeler, FireDogLake.comDouglas Rushkoff, author, Life Inc.Deanna Zandt, digital activistBlake Rutherford, Blake’s Think TankTodd Ziegler, Bivings GroupLeslie Sanchez, CNNRandi Zuckerberg, FacebookNancy Scola, techPresidentSurprise Guests, TBAClay Shirky, New York UniversityNate Silver, Fivethirtyeight.com