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Hey everyone. I'm actually the founder & lead developer of We The Lobby. I just got home and saw this hit HN. I was planning on (and still may) posting the site asking for everyone's thoughts but... while I'm here if anyone has any suggestions, comments, questions, whatever - I'll respond right now.
Sorry for stealing any thunder. Thought the idea was worth sharing, so I did.
Thanks for sharing!
Why is a representative going to listen to our lobbyist over the MPAA's lobbyist? We can raise enough money to hire someone to work in Washington for us, but I somehow doubt we can consistently raise enough money to make matching campaign contributions so that our lobbyist is taken seriously. Even if we could, it feels fundamentally wrong that we need a self-imposed tax on citizens for their representatives to repres…
>Attacking the incentive structure of the system by not having campaigns financed by corporations and interest groups is probably a better place to invest our effort. Is it possible to attack an incentive structure so firmly ingrained in to our system? There's always some form of duplicity between governments and their people so I wouldn't expect a way to 100% defeat a poor incentive system. I think crowdsourcing is…
This group seems a little conventional but is focused on the funding issue.
Interesting concept. I've actually always envisioned a method of having a representative government that is actually representative of it's constituents by use of social networking and technology (making it easier to communicate ideas, values and put the results together to bring to the floor). Since we're not near a world that will accept that type of system as those in power are not those leading in the technology…
Once we can confirm whom we are funneling donations to, we will have an agreement in place with that group as to how we can be transparent and communicative to everyone involved. To some level, everyone that pledges will receive updates and information as to how their money is being spent.
That is to say information will be available to ALL pledgers, not just the upper levels. The upper level pledgers, however, will receive more frequent updates and some amount of input themselves.
We need to get better about communicating this on the site.
As for continual funding, we are looking into a model which funds in rounds, as you alluded to. But, again, we are waiting to meet our goal and confirm a partnership before we enter that realm.
We're extremely excited to see where this goes, and if you have any other thoughts please reach out to us! Our contact info's on the site.
Hey everyone. I'm actually the founder & lead developer of We The Lobby. I just got home and saw this hit HN. I was planning on (and still may) posting the site asking for everyone's thoughts but... while I'm here if anyone has any suggestions, comments, questions, whatever - I'll respond right now.
I think it's reasonable to say WeTheLobby needs to keep the lights on. I think I'd feel a lot better providing ongoing contributions if I knew WeTheLobby were a NonProfit and either publicly disclosed all management salaries or had a salary cap.
Anyone here from WeTheLobby willing to chime in?
I wonder if they plan to take a percentage of the funds raised. I can see this being problematic. I think it's reasonable to say WeTheLobby needs to keep the lights on. I think I'd feel a lot better providing ongoing contributions if I knew WeTheLobby were a NonProfit and either publicly disclosed all management salaries or had a salary cap. Anyone here from WeTheLobby willing to chime in?
We want to spend as much money as we can on lobbying efforts. The site itself was made completely pro bono because we all believe in the idea.
We are committed to being as financially transparent as possible. Right now our only costs are for hosting and setting up the site; a little under $100 to date. As things progress we will disclose the information on the "money" page.
As for operational costs, we've toyed with the idea of having a separate donations page to fund the site; keeping the money pledged for lobbying separate. There is also the more obvious method of taking a percentage.
Again, once decisions are made, we will fully disclose these changes. But as stated earlier we are committed to ensuring as much money as possible is spent on lobbying related to the cause.
I wonder if they plan to take a percentage of the funds raised. I can see this being problematic. I think it's reasonable to say WeTheLobby needs to keep the lights on. I think I'd feel a lot better providing ongoing contributions if I knew WeTheLobby were a NonProfit and either publicly disclosed all management salaries or had a salary cap. Anyone here from WeTheLobby willing to chime in?
I was just about to go to sleep, but this is an important question. We want to spend as much money as we can on lobbying efforts. The site itself was made completely pro bono because we all believe in the idea. We are committed to being as financially transparent as possible. Right now our only costs are for hosting and setting up the site; a little under $100 to date. As things progress we will disclose the informat…
Thanks for taking the lead here and actually shipping something.
Why is a representative going to listen to our lobbyist over the MPAA's lobbyist? We can raise enough money to hire someone to work in Washington for us, but I somehow doubt we can consistently raise enough money to make matching campaign contributions so that our lobbyist is taken seriously. Even if we could, it feels fundamentally wrong that we need a self-imposed tax on citizens for their representatives to repres…
no doubt there are successful lobbies that havent made the deals that render them useless. but playing the game is not the tactic that is working and inspiring people anymore; it is the hope of something more transcending emerging from new networks we build and connect with every day.
i hope this is not the case here but the prospect of getting a few minutes to talk in between a pig's meals isn't so appetizing.