The Sunshine Campaign's focus on bringing open government to the 2008 elections - from president to city council - provides great opportunities for online creativity, particularly if you're planning special online packages and pages for Sunshine Week, March 16-22. In addition to showcasing the collection of work your organization does this year, there are opportunities to re-post or link to past stories, either from earlier Sunshine Weeks or that were developed using open government resources. You also can create great graphics and interactive tools, such as FOIA letter generators, step-by-step guides to how to get information and even searchable databases.
The Sunshine Week site, www.sunshineweek.org, will host a number of online resources in its Tool Kit. There are things you can use this year, as well as links to some of the great work that was done in previous years to inspire you.
Among the online resources that will be launched in the next several weeks: an online database of news articles about where the major party candidates stand on open government, including the responses of those who replied to our survey on the issue; Web ads in English and Spanish; and other materials such as logos and opinion columns. All Sunshine Week materials posted on our Web site can be used free of charge by any participant, unless otherwise noted.
Sunshine Week and the Sunshine Campaign also have created pages in Facebook. You can show your support by joining the cause and/or becoming a fan. The main page is at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9019387811.
Let us know what you're doing so we can show others, and also consider whether your work (such as graphics or a video) might be something participants nationwide could use as well. All work is fully credited to its creators. And of course, please share your ideas with Sunshine Week the team by contacting coordinator Debra Gersh Hernandez at dghernandez@asne.org.
