Whoa: Code for America is launching a national Brigade Congress in Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s relationship with Code for America runs deep.

The national civic technology nonprofit put one of its first cohorts of city government fellows within the Nutter administration. Those fellows hosted one of the city’s first modern civic hackathons. Today, the all-volunteer Code for Philly brigade is among the most active in the country and a hotbed of next-wave civic engagement.

So consider this a fitting move: Code for America and the nonprofit’s National Advisory Council are hosting their inaugural Brigade Congress in Center City Philadelphia Oct. 13–15 — and Technical.ly is taking part.

Tickets are $100, though there is also a pay-what-you-can model for active brigade members. The weekend will be an unconference featuring Code for America brigade volunteers from around the world, joined by civil servants, civic technologists and other leaders in trends in citizen engagement. Sessions will be driven by you, the participants.

Organizers expect topics on civic technology and engagement ranging from preventing volunteer burnout, building consensus across public-private partnerships and engaging new communities, said CfA Brigade Manager Christopher Whitaker.

CfA wants civil servants, technologists and others organizing with civic technology in mind, he said. One of the goals of the Congress will be to build alignment around the CfA network’s core vision, mission, values and operating principles, so organizers are sharing this draft for feedback. Details on submitting sessions will come as the event date nears, Whitaker said.