By Griff Wigley, on July 30th, 2006
 Christoforos Korakas is a Project Manager at Access2Democracy and an expert on eVote/eDemocracy for the Research & Academic Computer Technology Institute of Greece. We had a chance to talk after his session and there may some areas of collaboration, especially regarding web forums.
Left photo (click to enlarge): Christoforos was one of the panelists for Friday’s Day 3 session: From e-Voting to e-Participation: Connecting Governments, Parliaments and Civil Society in Europe.
Right photo (click to enlarge): Christoforos is in the center. On the left: Lasse Berntzen, Vestfold University College, Norway (Lasse has both a research page and a blog on e-Government and e-Democracy where he posted about the Budapest symposium); and on the right, Daniel van Leberghe, Politech Institute, Belgium.
9 minutes, 51 seconds
By Griff Wigley, on July 30th, 2006

In today’s New York Times: All the Internet’s a Stage. Why Don’t C.E.O.’s Use It? by Randall Stross.
(That link should work, even if you’re not logged in with a username.)
The headline’s a bit deceiving. The article is all about the lack of CEO’s blogging, not about their general lack of use of the internet.
He focuses much of the piece on Jonathan Schwartz, the blogging CEO of Sun Microsystems:
When Mr. Schwartz was promoted to the top job at Sun this spring, he automatically became a member of an elite group: Fortune 500 C.E.O. bloggers. He is the only active member. Where is everyone else? Capital markets function as they should when the flow of information is strong and unimpeded. Mr. Schwartz has shown ably that for the chief executive sincerely interested in increasing information flow to the fullest range of stakeholders, a blog is a hydraulic wonder.
I blogged about Schwartz a couple of weeks ago as part of my ongoing Leaders Who Blog series. But Stross’ article shows why he’s a journalist and I’m not. To wit:
Assuming that other chief executives are willing to make their thoughts just as visible as Mr. Schwartz’s, the blog provides a highly efficient medium of publication. Mr. Schwartz, for instance, simultaneously reaches shareholders, software developers and current and prospective customers. With posted responses, these groups easily reach him as well as one another.
and…
WHEN an employee of a publicly traded company publishes regularly on a business blog, something valuable for outside observers is created: a firsthand chronicle. This deserves to be called something special, a primary blog – that is, a primary source, created by a participant or eyewitness – that distinguishes it from all the other blogs (and, yes, from all other newspaper columns, too) that are written at a remove by commentators. Primary blogs maintained by Fortune 500 C.E.O.’s would provide the most vital information to investors.
I didn’t know about this, but Stross notes that Schwartz wrote a one-page piece titled If you want to lead, blog for the Harvard Business Review last Nov. It’s available for $6 online. This blogger has a summary.
Stross cites Debbie Weil (author of The Corporate Blogging Book – to be released this week) as trying to make the case for blogging by persuading “reluctant executives with the argument that blogging would save the time they now spend on hundreds of daily e-mail exchanges.”
I cite this as well, though as one of the strategies in the How to blog effectively section of my Leadership Blogging Guide. I don’t think of this as a reason to blog. CEO’s and other leaders need more rationale than that. I’ve ordered Weil’s book to see if she addresses the Why, but if I had to sum up why more CEO’s don’t blog, it would be:
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lack of knowledge of the leadership benefits
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fear of the time comittment
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fear of the interaction
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lack of confidence in how to convey the transparency and authenticity required
- a reluctance to undermine/ruffle the feathers of the corporate communications and legal departments
A good weblog coach can help address all these concerns.
By Griff Wigley, on July 29th, 2006
 Jože Gricar is Professor & eCenter Director, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, at the University of Maribor in Slovenia. He’s also Chair of the Annual Bled eConference. His presentation was part of the Friday eGovernment Connections and Challenges panel here in Budapest. Click the photos to enlarge.
When he attended my blogging session, we chatted afterwards and discovered our Minnesota-Slovenia connection. I include a subsequent email from him below in which he provides background on it.
Continue reading Jože Gricar: eGovernment Connections and Challenges
By Griff Wigley, on July 28th, 2006

During his closing remarks, Dylan put up a slideshow of the 100+ photos I took during the socializing parts of this week’s Budapest Symposium. He chose to end with this one (click to enlarge) so likewise, I’m putting it up here.
By Griff Wigley, on July 28th, 2006
By Griff Wigley, on July 28th, 2006
 Tonight’s reception was an inclusive family affair. Click the photos to enlarge. Left: DCLG‘s Peter Blair and family Center, L to R: University of Maribor professor Jože Gricar, Julia Glidden (21c) and Alexander, and (I’ll find out the other two) Right: DCLG‘s Julian Bowrey, IDeA‘s Jane Ratford and their new little one named (I’ll find out)
By Griff Wigley, on July 28th, 2006
 At tonight’s reception here in Budapest, I had the honor of meeting Etienne Chouard (left – click photo to enlarge), a French citizen who has a very influential, anti-EU Constitution referendum weblog. See this BBC News article from last year for some background: Bloggers take on European elites.
I couldn’t attend his panel session today (“One Man, One Blog, One Constitutional Crisis”) because I had my afternoon presentation at the same time. But he attended my morning session and told me that, unlike most everyone else at the conference, he could understand my English. Another plus for How to Talk Minnesotan.
Griff: “So, Etienne, do you think a lotta guys could learn to blog like you, then?” Etienne: “You betcha.”
By Griff Wigley, on July 27th, 2006
From tonight’s reception, 3 video clips of Hungarian music and dancing and a 4th of the audience in a line dance.
24 seconds.
28 seconds.
40 seconds.
52 seconds.
By Griff Wigley, on July 27th, 2006

I’ve added five dozen photos from tonight’s reception to the ICELE Budapest photo set.
By Griff Wigley, on July 26th, 2006

The first afternoon session was followed by a coffee break. A wine reception followed the later session.
I took several dozen photos of the socializing and have added them to the ICELE Budapest photo set.
By Griff Wigley, on July 26th, 2006
 Left photo: Today’s plenary opened at 3 PM with remarks from Symposium Director Dylan Jeffrey, DCLG.
Left Center: Keynote speeches were next: Andrew Pinder CBE, Symposium Chair and Former UK e-Envoy; and Julian Bowrey, Head of Sustainable Communities Summit and Former Head of Local eGovernment.
Right Center: Partner speeches were made by:
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Guido Bertucci, Director for Public Administration & Development Management, UNDESA
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Najat Rochdi, UNDP Representative in the Arab Region
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Michael Remmert, Head of Good Governance in the Information Society, Council of Europe
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Hon. Deb Markowitz, President of NASS
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Jonathan Ortmans, President of Public Forum Institute
Right: Reseach findings were presented by Lawrence Pratchett, Professor of Local Democracy, De Montfort University and Don Norris, Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Click photos to enlarge.
I have audio clips of several of these presentations posted on the ICELE weblog.
By Griff Wigley, on July 26th, 2006
The Cow Parade is in Budapest until September. Click photos to enlarge.
 It’s generating some controversy here. A couple weeks ago, one of them was removed. See this story and a photo of the melting blue cow in this Budapest Sun article: CowParade turns heads in the city. This Budapest blogger wrote about it, too.
By Griff Wigley, on July 26th, 2006
By Griff Wigley, on July 26th, 2006
 Of all the sites I took photos of yesterday, this water fountain on the Buda side near the Castle was one of the more intriguing. If you can translate the words, please attach a comment. And yes, the fountain does remind me of the same thing that you’re thinking. Click the photos to enlarge.
By Griff Wigley, on July 26th, 2006

I’ve started an ICELE Budapest photo set on Flickr where I’ve placed my photos from yesterday afternoon and last night.
I’m using the tag “ICELE Budapest” which has this RSS feed. The photo set can be viewed in a variety of ways, including a slideshow.
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