Seat at the Table
On Friday the Obama-Biden transition team announced a new feature of their Change.gov website: Your Seat at the Table. The idea is simply to make all the documents from meetings the team takes with outside groups available for review (and comment) from the general public. As they explained in the announcement, “Talking face-to-face with advocates and experts is a vital part of the Transition. But in past transitions, meetings like these took place behind closed doors and lacked the public input and transparency we’re working hard to provide.”
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Big applause for this one to the Obama people, but it got me thinking about what a “duh” this is — how shocking it is that it didn’t exist until now.
Think back to kings sitting on their thrones, seeing emissaries for the different interest groups of their kingdom/neighbors. The court would be filled with noble loiterers, listening in on the business of the kingdom.
Don’t have a point … just thought it was an interesting parallel :)
This is yet another example of Obama & his team showing their clear understanding of the power the office of the President has. I’m specifically talking about the power to influence (or at least send a message to) our society.
This move isn’t just about being the anti-Bush/Cheney who feigned transparency on any level. Obama is sending a message that he understands our digital world, and is telling our citizens that it’s OK to be transparent online.
This transcends corporate/government behavior. On an individual level, we’ve all met people who are scared about expressing themselves online b/c it’ll be there forever & it may embarrass them at some point in the future. But if you live your life in a transparent manner, and think before you speak, you should be able to stand by your words (and actions). And if you feel that you were wrong after making certain statements, that’s OK too. Owning up to changing your mind shows a personal evolution and a high level of maturity.
I hope people take notice ;-)