Joe Trippi's story is pretty amazing. During the Howard Dean campaign, he used a simple grass-roots Internet fundraising concept - an infectious collection blog, forum, and list appeals generated by thousands of Internet users writing their own content - to raise a record-setting total of over $13 million in the last quarter of 2003, much of which were small donations of $100 each contributed through the Internet. The Dean camp accuses the television media with sinking his campaign through a deluge of negative video footage, but the point had been made - the Internet appeared to be a grass-roots movement that operated on an infectious level, where small voices could join together to make a big noise. Like Scott-Heron before him, Trippi was confident that the big mass media players - the TV networks - would never predict its own demise, but the first steps of that demise were already happening.

Regardless of your opinion of Dean, Trippi, the "demise of mass media," or the political nature of the Internet, his methods were eventually adopted by the Bush campaign itself, and dozens of marketing schemes after that. There's a lesson here which is in the process of unfolding in Lexington. Beginning May 9, Fayette County Schools will host a series of community summits called "2020 Vision." Everyone is invited - and that really means everyone: "...We believe the first step in building a true community vision is a huge county-wide event with an open invitation to everyone: parents, educators, community leaders, grandparents, business leaders, faith organizations and civic leaders..." (http://www.2020vision.fcps.net/Default.asp?mainContent=0004). This unprecedented opportunity will provide interested individuals with the ability to voice their opinion, and come together to contribute, on a wide range of educational goals: curriculum foci, technology use, attendance area boundaries, magnet programs, to name a few.

The "revolution" in Fayette County education will begin May 9th, and you need not wait for the media coverage - you can participate and contribute directly. Like Joe Trippi's vision, the future of our schools will be won $100 at a time through a direct connection to the community it serves. See you there!

[For more information on the community summit, see http://2020vision.fcps.net/.]

        --Jeffrey L. Jones, Editor