So there has been a lot of excitement here at communityCOUNTS lately. We partnered with the Nation and the Washington Times to launch Ask The President, a tool for collecting public questions which preceded last week’s similarly formatted online Presidential town hall. I’d like to think we helped nudge the White House into making this happen when it did. However, never the type to rest on our laurels, we immediately announced that communityCOUNTS was making forums available to all sitting members of congress, followed by a nice little Washington Post quote.

That being said, my new focus is on getting members of Congress to come on board. Find yours here.

Additionally, Ari mentioned us on that magic glowing box.

Admittedly, I’ve been having a hard time getting the online participatory-government genie out of the bottle. However, the third time might just be the time it works. Like last year’s 10questions, and unlike last month’s general election forum, I’ve teamed up with some big guns to get things going. You can find a full list here.

That being said, here’s a little promotional video, followed by a personal call to action.

Leveraging the Internet’s Power to Change Politics
Today’s Usage Will Determine the Net’s Role, Agent of Change or Supporter of the Status Quo

We no longer question the Net’s ability to change politics. It’s helped to make this the first Billion dollar presidential campaign. The character of that change, however, is open for debate. Can it improve the dialogue, or is it destined simply to amplify the echo chamber? Working in his spare time, David Colarusso, a full-time student and former high school teacher, is trying to find out, and every American has a say in what he’ll find.

Last year Colarusso helped run a similar endeavor techPresident’s 10questions, a joint effort in cooperation with the New York Times Editorial Board, MSNBC.com, and a cross-partisan assortment of bloggers/ecommunities. Obama, Huckabee, and a smattering of other primary candidates participated, and despite concerns from many about “silly” questions rising to the top, there were no talking snowmen. Even better, the candidates were not limited to thirty-second soundbites, and they actually seemed to answer the questions. So building upon the code he wrote for 10questions, Colarusso is now offering up http://www.communityCOUNTS.US

communityCOUNTS.US is currently accepting video and text questions for the candidates as well as votes on current entries. As Colarusso notes, “It’s only a matter of participation. As one of the candidates has said, ‘nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.’ How we decide to use the Internet today is what we’ll be left with tomorrow. I just hope people tell their friends.”

If you’d like more information or to schedule an interview with Mr. Colarusso please use the Contact link below.

So we’re about to undertake a micro-media push for communityCOUNTS.US, our sister site. This is an attempt to change the way we interact with the presidential candidates. You’ll remember dot US from this great NPR interview. We’re trying to build up interest with the video below. Please, share it and communityCOUNTS.US with your friends.

So I’ve made it to Lincoln Center for this week’s Personal Democracy Forum. Later today, I will be on a panel entitled “Building a Better Debate, With and Without TV.” I’m really excited about the conference, esp. since I think communityCOUNTS has a lot to offer this crowd. I’m particularly excited about the ability of small media outlets or community organizations using communityCOUNTS to engage local politicians in a meaningful discussion around their concerns.

In preparation for this week, I’ve been doing a lot of tweaking to the site. So please share the URL with your friends. Also, if you experience any problems simply click on the icon to place a bug report.

So the cat’s out of the bag, and we’ve reached that point where we ask friends to comb it for lice. Mixed metaphors aside, communityCOUNTS is finally a publicly available web application. That’s right, let the bug/user testing begin. The next few weeks are an exciting time as we already have tentative users ready to launch major forums in early May (plans changed). Now we just need your help kicking the tires.

If you’re looking to learn more about communityCOUNTs, check out our About page. Otherwise, here’s what we need from you; be a user.

Play around with some forums and tell us what you think, not about the forum content but about the communityCOUNTS platform. What do you like? What doesn’t work? What would you like to see added. To help start things rolling, I’ve created a feedback forum. Better yet, create your own forum.

To let us know what you think, simply click on the “Contact” link found at the bottom of this or any other page.