[EU-lobby-data] Meeting with Tactical Tech

Mon Oct 8 19:03:14 UTC 2012

Hi all,

Re: domain name: we have lobbytransparency.eu

I thought of some alternatives

- lobbyfacts.eu
- moneyandinfluence.eu
- lobbyinfluence.eu
- knowthelobbies.eu

(all available domain names)

I think lobbyfacts.eu could be a quite effective name. I can claim one
or more of these domain names  (only 8 euro per domain). Let me know!

As to the website:

I think we should keep it rather neutral, like opensecrets.org
<http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php>.

On the front page there should be a big teaser that makes visitors want
to explore the lobbying database. On opensecrets.org the teaser is just
a table showing the increase in spending on lobbying in Washington DC
over the past 14 years.
For our website it could be some striking statistic derived from the
register, eg how much different categories spend (eg corporate vs
non-corporate). Or it could be a nicely laid out list of the top 10
spenders.

Another idea: the flawed registration of the week (or month probably
more realistic), inviting site visitors to nominate candidates for that
category.

I would be in favour of finding a cartoonist who could regularly (eg
once a month, if not too expensive) contribute to the website. Not
Khalil Bendib (of Worst EU Lobbying Awards fame), but a European
political cartoonist.

First priority is to have the basic rankings as defined in our Google
docs fully mplemented (as is already the case to quite some extent on
Friedrich's testing site <http://lobbydemo.pudo.org/>), with everything
working as it should and up-to-date data.
We should decide how often the data are refreshed (probably once a day).
Also it would be nice to have some kind of "way back machine" that
allows visitors to see what registrants declared previously.

The blog/news items should be prominently announced on the front page.
Via clever tagging, the records of registrants and also the ranking
pages could have "related/relevant blog posts" displayed in a side bar.

Timo and Friedrich, I hope you can make some concrete steps forward
tomorrow.

Erik

On 04/10/12 15:32, Timo Lange, LobbyControl wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I will probably be meeting Marek from TTC early next week. He seems to
> be a very busy guy....
>
> What I need to know beforehand is, what budget is available. I remember
> something like 6k? Is that alright if LC contributes one third of that?
>
> Additionally, if you have some ideas or even a clear vision of what you
> want the website to look like, it'd be good to send me some notes.
>
> Another issue is the name issue. We should settle this soon!
>
> Best, Timo
>

-- 
email:   erik at corporateeurope.org

phone:   +31-(0)30-2364422
mobile:  +32-(0)476-901587 (only when I'm in Belgium)
skype:   zilverling
twitter: erikwesselius

website: http://www.corporateeurope.org

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