My former employer, the Leadership Institute, is collecting information on college commencement speakers through its Campus Reform blog. And, instead of emailing their contacts and scanning the internet looking for that information (as we used to do back in my day) they’re relying on the wisdom of crowds to help them fill in information. Users who don’t see their school or alma mater on the list can email the information, presumably to LI Worldwide Headquarters in Arlington, Va.
The list, predictably, shows a leftward bias, so LI further helps out by sharing tips on how to take action and provide a counter to the speakers.
Hopefully LI’s call to action will result in student-filmed user videos of the commencement speeches themselves. Most of the big speakers – such as President Obama and other national politicians – will have their comments on C-SPAN, of course, but that won’t be the case for everyone. Wouldn’t you be interested to see the things discussed during commencement season?
Jim Eltringham 