Tim Erickson
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
E-Democracy.Org
Politalk

Biography:

Tim Erickson has been organizing and facilitating online political discussions, candidate debates, and events for about six years. He stumbled into the field of online deliberation as a stay-at-home dad looking for a way to be involved in his community, late at night and between diaper changes. He was immediatly drawn to the technology and convinced that the internet had the potential to change the way that we think about political discourse and debate. He launched his own website, www.politalk.org, where he facilitated a variety of local, national, and international discussions on a wide range of public policy issues.

Tim got involved in E-Democracy.Org as the volunteer coordinator of an E-Democracy.Org online candidate debate during the 2000 US Senate campaign in Minnesota. He went on to become the forum manager of the St. Paul Issues Forum for over 4 years. Recently, he edited the E-Democracy.Org "Local Issues Forum Guidebook" and was instramental in the lauch of two new Local Issues Forums in the United Kingdom.

Tim is a member of the Online working group of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium. In the winter of 2004, he represented the group at an interntional workshop in Brazil on the theme of engaging citizens in local budgeting processes. He is currently the coordinator of the "Deepening Online Deliberation" meeting, being held in Minneapolis on June 24th and 25th.

What's a recent movie you've seen and enjoyed and why?

"Hero". I was pleasantly surprised by this Chinese martial arts film/fable (subtitles) for its artistic style and simple story telling. And, in the end, the "hero" sacrifices his personal political agenda and idealistic passion and makes a VERY difficult choice that he believes is in the best interest of all of China. I very much enjoyed it.

Maybe there is a connection with "Deliberative Democracy?"

What is "community" and why is it important to you?

"Community" is a group of people with shared interests. It can be a "community of interest" or a geograpic community that share an interest in the place that they live. Community is what supports us as individuals - as we struggle to survive and thrive in whatever environment we find ourselves. I'm very excited, because this meeting brings together important folks in the geographic community in which I live with national leaders in the professional community in which I work.

Pick your favorite technology and explain how it
makes the world a better place?

Right now, I'm in love with my new iPod. A gift from my family on my 40th birthday. Music is something that can really lift my spirits and keep me going. Of course, I love my iPod not just because of its technology, but because of the simple and elegant design and user interface that makes a really complex technological device feel simple, friendly, and easy to use. When I use my iPod, I'm almost oblivious to the technology. It just makes sense and feels like a completely obvious technology for its designed purpose.

2-3 questions or issues that you hope we'll address at the "Deepening Online Deliberation" meeting?

I'm hoping that we'll talk about what our colleagues in Europe and elsewhere have figured out, that we've not yet caught on to in the United States.

I'm hoping we'll talk about how to remove the technological interface from online deliberation and envision a seemless and obvious way for citizens to use the technology, without knowing they are using it.

What role does online technology have in real "hard-core" deliberation? What have we learned about "deepening" the kinds of interactions that participants can have in an online deliberation?