I spent part of the weekend following the very smart conversation that has already begun on the listserv that is forming the core of the collaborative effort for our new Open House Project. I used to consider myself a kind of Congressional process geek (to wit I spent part o the weekend reading the many posts on this listserv), but the folks participating in this collaborative bipartisan effort to study how the House currently integrates the Internet into its operations, so it can make recommendations to the leadership on how to do it better, have an amazing breadth of knowledge.

The participants in this project are meeting online via listserv, blog and wiki. The project's being led by Matt Stoller (of MyDD.com) and John Wonderlich (lead coordinator of the Congressional Committees Project on DailyKos) with Sunlight's senior strategists Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry providing ongoing support.

The bipartisan group includes some very smart people, including renowned technologist Clay Shirky, Bush/Cheney 2004 eCampaign Director Mike Turk, Govtrack creator Joshua Tauberer, and leading blogger Markos Moulitsas-Zuniga of the Daily Kos. These folks will regularly talk with leaders in congressional process and the Internet. Citizens will be asked for their assistance in creating consensus on short-term reforms that can be implemented in the House. Our goal is to have a report ready to be present to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in March.

Here's an oportunity to take what you know (or what you think) about how Congress should make itself more transparent and get involved.