TransparencyCamp was awesome, but rather than my just writing about just how great it was -- what we all learned, heard, and what we will do about it --  I thought you ought to hear from the crowd itself. So I've randomly selected tweets from the some who attended, and some who didn't who talk about the event and some of what they learned. Here's just a sample of what folks had to say:

justgrimes: I wish transparency camp was monthly; maybe we could do something like CopyNight, a monthly social gathering http://bit.ly/sz4p5 (expand) #tcamp09

Jillfoster: Good to be here at #tcamp09

robertdoyal: Reading a lot of great tweets from #tcamp09. It feels as if I'm there! Transparency is a top priority for Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.

quepol: @Rasiej TransparencyCamp: transformational, connective, invigorating #tcamp09

Tcamp09: RT: @merici transparency camp community resources: transparencycamp.org/community #tcamp09

johnbreslin: Seeing lots of interesting posts from #tcamp09 - http://tinyurl.com/b7t9hp (expand) and @valdiskrebs is speaking...

kmcurry: I haven't been able to tweet out of #tcamp09 b/c too in the moment of the conversation; will have to brain dump later

sitting side by side w/ passionate govies plotting improvements #tcamp09

sharontb: Will transparency and recovery.gov be the stimulus for the next revolution in business, it and world? How fast will it happen? #tcamp09

uigimontanez: This #tcamp09 session really helped me see the practical aspects of the Semantic Web. No longer just theoretical...

jroo: #tcamp09 show us the data! (and we'll give you a beer)

justgrimes: One thing I've learned during transparency camp is the policy problems with procurement, it comes up almost everything session #tcamp09

joebird: Catching the tweets but wishing I was at Transparency Camp in D.C.: https://barcamp.pbwiki.com/transparencycamp | #tcamp09

DavidStephenson: #tcamp09 oops: will have to spend next 2 wks. learning about all apps @chrismessina has mentioned

atomiota: learning about the components of the social web from citizen agency/diso's chris messina. i like when things get broken down for me #tcamp09

corbett3000: @brianbehlendorf: Hill staffers just shown version tracking at http://opencongress.org & http://govtrack.us; "blew their minds" #tcamp09

bashley: Transparency too often conflated as gov visibility. But transparency demands no less than full-frontal gov nudity. #tcamp09

kpkfusion: It is the citizen exchange "in network" that creates transparency - not the mere act of publication and search. #tcamp09

jedmiller: RT @bashley: Transparency is zero without compassion, surrender, confession, humility. Opacity is all too human. #tcamp09

Silona: this crowd has more EEEPC and netbooks than I have even seen before... #tcamp09

laurelatoreilly: Apps for Democracy: This is what democracy looks like! Check out Apps for America competition (http://bit.ly/HoeTx (expand)) #tcamp09

javaun: I wish I could've joined all of you at #tcamp09 . Wife went into labor Thursday night and our daughter was born Friday at 7.

sliqviq: Information and transparency helps alleviate unaccountable power structures standing in the way of change #tcamp09

sarahebourne: Wishing I were in DC for Transparency Camp #tcamp09 but glad I can follow on Twitter + that I won't have to travel in snowstorm to get back

brianbehlendorf: #tcamp09 @cjoh Transparency is a neutralizer of apathy. [brilliant]

craignewmark: Home after Washington; listening to the rain, and over the drops dropping; a robin sings. (not #tcamp09)

Tcamp09: #tcamp09 sticker postcards didn't arrive in time. We would love to mail you some... just ask! http://transparencycamp.org/stickers/

cheeky_geeky: Already saw @davidstephenson @valdiskrebs @leslieann44 @peteodell @ellnmllr @clayjohnson at #tcamp09

GregElin: #tcamp09 wrapping up. It was an amazing event, awesome people, conversations.

rmfretz: Thanks to all that put this together #tcamp09

bashley: Gratitude to #tcamp09 organizers, presenters, tweeters. You kept a Nova Scotian entertained, informed!

stereogab: Personally thrilled abt excitement, new ideas, knowledge sharing, connections being made to open gov, make info usable, efficient #tcamp09

Mlsif: RT @merici: RT @cjoh: @stereogab for MVP of TransparencyCamp. Truly the unsung hero of this event. #tcamp09

Back in July, I wrote about Show Us a Better Way, a contest set up by the United Kingdom's Power of Information Task Force, that asks citizens to identify what they would like to see done with public information. If they like the idea they will help fund it, to the tune of £20,000 to develop the idea to the next level. Here are some examples of ideas they are looking for. The deadline for the submission of ideas ended on September 30^th, and they will announce the winners imminently. By the way, Sunlight friend, U.K. Cabinet Office Minister and Member of Parliament Tom Watson was a leading visionary behind the Power of Information Task Force.

David Stephenson, in a post on the Open House Project's Google group, compared favorably Show Us a Better Way to the Citywide Data Warehouse (CityDW) here in the District of Columbia. CityDW provides a centralized access point for online data about the District's government operations. It focuses on providing real-time data from multiple agencies and sources, all in an effort at greater transparency. David wrote, "The DC project is, to my knowledge, the first US one to copy the incredibly creative UK "Show Us a Better Way" contest (the humility of the title alone speaks volumes!)." David also gave CityDW some love in his speech at this summer's Netroots Nation.

As a longtime DC resident, it's shocking to see any aspect of the District's government receive any praise. That alone shows the transformative powers of online tools.

Blogger, e-government guru and fellow panelist at PDF, David Stephenson, writing at The Huffington Post profiles a speech he's to give at this week's Netroots Nation Conference in Austin. David makes the case that government should free up its vast stores of information to the Web 2.0 revolution. This would allow citizens to create "data visualizations," cool graphics that also help to make information understandable for the rest of us. He quotes Edward Tufte, the so called da Vinci of Data (who's thinking of Italy?) "Often the most effective way to describe, explore and summarize a set of numbers -- even a very large set -- is to look at pictures of those numbers." David says that such graphics "highlight inefficiencies, break down barriers between programs and agencies, and (potentially) leverage "the wisdom of crowds" both within agencies and among the general public to find creative new approaches."

David highlights Everyblock Chicago, Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles and the District of Columbia's Citywide Data Warehouse as examples of local governments freeing their data to the public.

Sunlight couldn't agree more that's why many of our analyses also rely on strong visualizations to bring the story home.

Lastly, my blogging and that of other Sunlighters will be light for the next few weeks as we all seek some  summertime  R and R.