<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>I wanted to let folks on this list know about an organization I'm involved with, Open Government Chicago (aka OGC).</div><div><br></div><div>As you might guess, we're convened to advance more transparent, responsive, and efficient government by advocating for open source software and the application of internet culture to government.</div><div><br></div><div>While our stated focus is local (municipal and state) government, it seems likely that we'd have common interests with any Chicago-area folks on this list, and at least some of our members are probably equally interested in open government at the federal level as at the local.</div><div><br></div><div>I apologize for neglecting to announce the meeting we had earlier this week, but if you're interested, sign up for our Meetup and you'll know about our future events.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.meetup.com/opengovchicago">http://www.meetup.com/opengovchicago</a></div><div><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/opengovchicago">http://groups.google.com/group/opengovchicago</a></div><div><br></div><div>Joe</div><div><br></div><div>(I've tried to "create an organization" (for OGC) on the OSFA website a couple of times, but I have gotten a system error. I am not exactly sure what doing that would accomplish, but in the meantime, this'll do...)</div><div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">-- </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">Joe Germuska</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">Joe@Germuska.com * <a href="http://blog.germuska.com">http://blog.germuska.com</a> * <a href="http://twitter.com/JoeGermuska">http://twitter.com/JoeGermuska</a> </font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"Participation. That's what's gonna save the human race." --Pete Seeger</div></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br></div></body></html>