I have designed and demonstrated a process called Advanced Dotmocracy to help large groups of people find agreement when they don't have the luxery of a professional facilitator, audience polling systems or ubiquitous Internet usage.

http://dotmocracy.org

If you are familiar with traditional dot-voting using stickers then you would be interested to learn how Advanced Dotmocracy is an upgrade http://dotmocracy.org/compare_tr aditional

For those new to the idea, its quite simple. In a big meeting...

1. An issue is presented with questions.
2. Discuss potential solutions, ideally in mixed break-out groups.

3. Write ideas on seperate Dotmocracy Idea Sheets. Download a copy at http://dotmocracy.org/sheets

4. Fill dots to record opinions. Write comments. This is where the magic comes in. On each sheet dots record levels of agreement or confusion, comments give feedback and signatures provide validation. See an example of a sheet in dotting process at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jas on_diceman/404943937/

5. Formulate a common solution. The visual results among the many posted ideas makes it easy to find an ideal solution that is acceptable for everyone.

The full details of the process, its rules, guidelines and best practices are in the free PDF handbook http://dotmocracy.org/handbook

Case studies, mailing lists, FAQs, pictures and more at http://dotmocracy.org

If you think it could work for you, let me know.

Pass it on :-)

-jd

I have been in the town of Cumaná on the eastern coast of Venezuela for four months now. Growing up in Toronto, Canada, I'm far away from home and everything I knew. While the climate and exchange rate are obvious pluses, I have had many a friend and stranger ask why Venezuela? Why go to a "developing" country known for its violent cities? Isn't that where Hugo Chavez, the president, is a crazy dictator?

My answer is quite simple: I think a better future is dependent on participatory democracy, and there is no country in the world that has more of it than here.

Read full article with pictures at http://get.cooptools.ca/why_vene zuela