Friday Q&A: Gwen Shaffer, One Web Day organizer

On September 22, Philadelphia will celebrate its first One Web Day. Maybe celebrate isn’t the right word for it—this year’s event is about digital inclusion, or the lack thereof.

Modeled after Earth Day, One Web is an international event meant to raise the public’s awareness of Web issues. No, not the Facebook redesign. We’re talking issues like estimates that 50 percent Philadelphia does not have access to the Internet.

This year, organizer Gwen Shaffer is helping bring the event to Philly for the first time. “It’s an opportunity to demonstrate the positive impact broadband can have on people’s lives,” Shaffer says. She hopes to have a week of service built around the main event, a day filled with speakers, multimedia and stories about the Net’s impact.

“We will probably collect testimonials from either people who don’t have Internet and talk about how it would change their lives, and then get stories from people about how their lives were different before they had broadband,” she says. “Put a human face on what many of us take for granted.”

The organizers need your help. Shaffer says she is confident that the City will participate with the event, but the search for volunteers, corporate sponsors and additional partners has only begun. After the jump, it’s hard not to be persuaded into lending a hand.

Read more