The 2012 Open Data Day organizers are seeking suggestions for participatory workshops and panels for the conference scheduled on October 16, 2012, at the US Cellular Center in Asheville, NC. Open Data Day is a program that highlights the problems behind a lack of easily accessed government data, and how solutions can help your community in multiple ways.

We seek topics that tell personal stories, or relate real world work or impact to our attendees. While vendors are encouraged to participate, any vendor submission should clearly outline what information will be shared, other than a product pitch (which is strictly forbidden, as you might expect).

We encourage collaboration, since open data problems are rarely solvable by individuals. Get a panel together and tell us how you are working to solve a problem! Or, collect a group to analyze several facets of an issue from different viewpoints.

Workshop/Panel topic areas include, but are not limited to:

• Turning open data into apps that make a difference
• How to open up government data (legal and technical considerations)
• Case studies of how open data improves citizen services
• Getting started… practical first steps to opening government data
• Open Data Journalism
• Innovative Ways to Collect Data
• Platforms and Technology for Releasing Open Data
• Making Open Data Useful: Standards and Accessibility

OR even better... plan a Hackathon to put existing open government data into use!

Workshops/Panels should be 30 minutes in length. If you have an idea that needs more time, let us know and we will try to accommodate.

Submission deadline is Friday, September 21st.