The National Freedom of Information Coalition and the New England First Amendment Coalition bring you the 2011 FOI Summit on Friday, May 20, and Saturday, May 21, from the Providence Biltmore in Providence, Rhode Island.
Columbia, MO and Providence, RI — Access to information is protected and expanded by a vibrant FOI community at all levels.
The FOI Summit helps promote that, and your participation is vital.
This is your best opportunity to get a clear view of the state of disclosure and access laws, state by state. The conference brings together access advocates from all over the country to share ideas, highlight successes, and head off the latest tricks in the secrecy trade.
Registration for the two-day event at the Providence Biltmore hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, will commence at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 20. The opening night reception will begin at 5:45 p.m.
On Saturday, May 21, registration will get underway at 8:00 a.m. and our annual membership breakfast will begin at 8:15 a.m.
In addition to an important address, the Saturday keynote luncheon will also feature the induction of a worthy individual into the State Open Government Hall of Fame, a tradition NFOIC launched in collaboration with the Society of Professional Journalists in 2003.
As always, you can expect the Summit to include stimulating presentations and panels featuring experts, advocates and champions of transparency and open government.
We’ll convene for an “off-again-to-the-battles” closing reception following Saturday’s final panels.
Expect more program and schedule details in the coming weeks, but for the time being, please note that:
Scheduled panelists for this year’s conference include:
- Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Jonathan Donnellan, Deputy General Counsel for Hearst Corporation
- Frank Gibson, Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government
- Thomas Heslin, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of the Providence Journal
- David Herzog, Associate Professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and founder of Open Missouri
- Karen Kaiser, Assistant General Counsel for News Governance at The Associated Press
- Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org
- Michael Morisy, Co-founder of MuckRock.com
- Barbara Petersen, President of the Florida First Amendment Foundation
- Linda Steckley, Senior Major Gifts Officer at Chautauqua Foundation
- Chip Stewart, Assistant Professor of the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University
Scheduled panels include:
- Cutting-edge Tools for Transparency: Better Access to Data and Documents
- WikiLeaks: What are the implications and aftereffects for open government?
- Creation and Evolution: How equal are state access and disclosure laws?
- Building and Sustaining Strong Coalitions
Meanwhile, plan to join us in Providence on May 20!