First Meeting of the Columbus Social Media Cafe

We at WOSU and COSI have been wondering how we could do more to help our community cope with some challenging issues. We asked ourselves:

What if we — your local public broadcaster and science museum — and those of you who are the local blogging experts got together and learned how to use Social Media to bring back that great American tradition of the community taking charge of its own problems?

Here’s what we’re wondering:

Could we use social media and our many talents and resources to breakthrough the bureaucratic barriers that seem to block so much local reform?

Could we gain enough support and understanding to shift our education system so that our children are equipped to face the sometime harsh realities of the world?

Could we start to make sense of what our aging population, our health care system and even our food system may mean to us?

What other issues should we be discussing with an eye toward change?

Many local bloggers have deep subject knowledge and are also part of existing communities that also care and know a lot.

We have a big megaphone—radio and web site—and some great resources—a centrally located facility with cutting-edge technology (studios and a mediaLab) that we could add to the mix.

Can you imagine what we might be able to do together?

Interested? We would like to invite you to the first meeting of the Columbus Social Media Cafe — a “Town Hall” Open Space Meeting — on Thursday, November 15 at 6:30 pm, to see if we can find an agenda that we can all get excited about and to see what will emerge if we get together.

The meeting is at WOSU@COSI inside COSI at 333 West Broad Street in downtown Columbus.