OpenMaine Monthly Meetup @ Portland Webworks

Once a month we gather to discuss and build civic technology at Portland Webworks. This month we'll have a short presentation (5-10 min) from Homeless Voices for Justice, who are looking to make their newsletter digital.

Current active projects:

• Maine Ballot (maineballot.org)- Visual designer needed! We were asked to design a poster to use at college campuses. The info is there: all that is needed is a poster design.
• Library Assistance: We are in the early stages of digitizing a health resources binder in partnership with the Portland Public Library.
• Legislative Scorecard. A site that shows how legislators voted and whether they match with your values. We need help looking at what APIs are available for this project.

Ready to dive in? Find an issue to work on here: https://github.com/orgs/OpenMaine/projects/7

What is civic technology?
Civic technology is the practice of applying rapid prototyping and user centered design to solve civic problems such as voting, budgeting, parking, transit, community engagement, etc., (to name just a few). Civic technologists believe that government services can be efficient, equitable, and open.

We are a Code for America brigade. Learn about Code for America's brigade program here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYzMl_HnEZU

Everyone is welcome from all backgrounds and skill levels. We suggest bringing a laptop (encouraged, but not required) if you think you'd like to dive in on a project. We share what we are working on at the beginning of each Meetup and introduce all attendees to our Code of Conduct and meeting style. We then have a short featured speaker and a discussion. Project teams are invited to work after the featured speaker, if they like.

Food? Yes. We will provide vegetarian and non-veg food. You are more than welcome to bring snacks to share.

So, come hack your city! Everyone is welcome.

To connect with us outside of the meetings:
From our website: http://openmaine.org
You can find info to sign up with us on Slack, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and get to our GitHub repository.