#CivicSummer

#CivicSummer is in Full Swing: Recap of our Friday Session Held at 1871

Smart Chicago

PageLines- civic-summer-logo.pngCivic Innovation Summer— the experimental summer jobs program for teens focused on civics, media, and technology— has been rolling all through July.  This program, funded by Smart Chicago based on a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is largely run by the Mikva Challenge, which develops the next generation of civic leaders, activists, and policy-makers and Free Spirit Media, which provides education, access, and opportunity in media production.

But on Fridays, we pull together all of the youth into one room and teach them about technology and the concept of open. We had our first such session last Friday at 1871. Smart Chicago is a founding member of the digital startup center located in the Merchandise Mart, and days like Friday are exactly we why decided to be one of its first tenants.

Here’s the complete set of photos from our day, and a quick look at some illustrative ones:

The raw space inside one of the largest commercial buildings in the world provides a great palette for teaching youth.

Before the flood: #CivicSummer at 1871

Jacqui Cheng put this entire program together, including arranging for a tour of the space and lining up all of the speakers:

Jacqui Cheng Speaking at #CivicSummer at 1871

It was quite an experience to run 150 youth through a space where hundreds of people are running businesses. We appreciate everyone’s patience!

Tour of 1871 at #CivicSummer

That’s a lotta people.

Youth at #CivicSummer @ 1871

Mari Huertas of Mozilla talked about her path to a career in technology

Mari Huertas Talks About Her Career in Technology at #CivicSummer at 1871

Rayid Ghani showed a video about self-driving cars. Teaching computers how to do things is hard.

Rayid Ghani Talks About How to Teach Computers at #CivicSummer at 1871

Jason Kunesh talked about the importance of designing technology to meet the needs of humans.

Jason Kunesh Talks About Designing for Humans Youth at #CivicSummer @ 1871

Is there anything more important than lunch?

Marlene Ho Works the Lunch SituationYouth at #CivicSummer @ 1871

Gene Leynes spoke of his business, Yolobe

Gene Leynes Speaks About Yolobe at #CivicSummer at 1871

We went ahead and got limbered up over lunch

Lunch Activity! Youth at #CivicSummer @ 1871

Jeff McCarter of Free Spirit Media got everyone fired up about what we’re doing.

Jeff McCarter Fires Everyone Up About #CivicSummer

Dirk McCoy talked about Spendbot and his path to starting the company.

Jimmy Odom of WeDeliver talked about starting a business.

Jimmy Odom from WeDeliver Talks About His Business #CivicSummer at 1871

I talked about the importance of real Twitter accounts and having an authentic voice all day, every day.

DXO @ #CivicSummer at 1871

Lastly, here’s the curriculum we used to guide our day:

Next up: our Friday session this week will be at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy and will have lots of special guests!

Free Spirit Media Documakers Technology Session at Tribeca Flashpoint

Smart Chicago

Today Jacqui Cheng and I talked with the #CivicSummer youth working as Documakers for Free Spirit Media about open technology as it pertains to the media industry. We talked about the building blocks of the web and some specific technologies and standards that help media makers do their jobs.

Here’s a complete set of photos and some representative images:

Jacqui talked about different social networks and how they can be used to spread messages and find content:

Jacqui Cheng speaking to Free Spirit Media DocuMakers at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy for #civicsummer

The huge monitors and great equipment at Tribeca provides a great basis for the youth as they make their media pieces:

Free Spirit Media DocuMakers at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy for Smart Chicago Collaborative's #civicsummer

#CivicSummer Custom Session on Open Technology with the Mikva Aldermanic Fellows

Smart Chicago

Today Jacqui Cheng and I hosted the Mikva Aldermanic Fellows (“30 youth interning in Chicago aldermanic offices this summer. We are working to bring a larger voice to youth across the city.”) at the Chicago Community Trust.

Here’s a complete set of photos and some highlights of what we covered:

Jacqui reviewed the basics of the Internet, including TCP/IP, as a platform for talking about how open technology and standards can pave the way for innovation:

#CivicSummer Session with Mikva Challenge Aldermanic Fellows

The Trust board room, with its nearly 100-year history of Chicago leadership, provided a great setting for our session:

#CivicSummer Session with Mikva Challenge Aldermanic Fellows

The Aldermanic Fellows are staffed all across the city and come together periodically to share experiences:

#CivicSummer Session with Mikva Challenge Aldermanic Fellows

Vint Cerf looks on as Jacqui enlightens:

#CivicSummer Session with Mikva Challenge Aldermanic Fellows

I covered lots of examples of civic technology that helps Aldermen serve constituents, including Open311 and the yet-to-be published Chicago Works For You.

DXO and the Mikva Aldermanic Fellows

Here’s the presentation we used to guide our time together:

Civic Innovation Summer Aldermanic Interns Curriculum from Daniel X. O’Neil