I had the pleasure of being a Change Agent at ChangeCamp Ottawa yesterday. It was a great experience.

Taking notes at ChangeCamp session
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/crangulabford/3537017342/

I went to the first meeting, but decided not to participate on the planning committee.  I didn’t want to stretch myself too thin.  If I did, I’d lose steam and be too tired to enjoy, and help out, on the day of the event.  The benefits of participating in social media  - reading blogs & online forums, learning and sharing knowledge with my tweeps on Twitter - has had a huge impact on my work and personal life. 

I wanted to contribute something back to the cause.  It was my pleasure to be able to help the people who have taken the time to organize this conference and others who have taught me through their openness and use of social media.

I’ve been inspired by so many people and events lately.  Working with McCoy, Gwen, Morgen and Richard is enriching my life enough already but hearing them talk about StimulusWatch.ca yesterday was re-energizing.  Senator McCoy proposed the session to the changecampers first thing in the morning and facilitated it as well.  Gwen live videostreamed all day. Morgen and Richard explained some advantages of community participation and open data. I bounced around with the audio recorder. Everyone shared their ideas and asked thoughtful questions.

I ran out of steam early in the day but left with a whole list of people to follow on Twitter, ideas to blog about, and new items on my to do list that I can’t wait to get started on.