Fun at YearlyKos

Written by: David Black-Downes on Jun 11, 2006 4:30 PM EDT

Just spent a wonderful week-end attending the first YearlyKos Conference at the Riviera. It was a great way to network with like minded individuals and to meet some amazing people.

For me, the event started out on Wednesday when several DFA members volunteered to put together the welcoming packages and totes for the conference. There were DFA members from all across the country there. It was alot of hard work and my back is still killing me. But, as with the rest of the conference alot of fun.

Thursday was mainly about caucuses and training. I attended the mini DFA Training Academy taught by Arshad Hasan, DFA's Training Coordinator. Great information from a high energy instructor.

The Evening Keynote address was given by Markos Moulitsas, the man behind DailyKos. Other featured guests included Tom Tomorrow, and Laughing Liberally. A fun evening, and I got to shake hands with Gen. Wesley Clark.

Friday started the meat and potatoes of the conference with workshops, panel discussions, and roundtables all over the place. The hard part was deciding which ones to attend. The first panel I attended was Championing Science with Wesley Clark, Chris Mooney, Dr. PZ Myers, Wendy Northcutt, and moderator Stephen Darksyde. Great discussion of the failure of the current administration's failure to listen to what scientist's are telling them. Their willingness to distort what they are told for political purposes, and suggestions and ideas for combatting them.

Next I went to the panel discussion CIA Leak Investigation paneled by Ambassador Joe Wilson, ex CIA Officer Larry Johnson, WaPo pundit Dan Froomkin, National Journal's Murray Waas, Christy Hardin Smith who blogs at Firedoglake as ReddHedd, with Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake as moderator. The panel was an amazing discussion of how the Wilson's life have changed, as well as the legal and ethical consequences coming out of Plamegate.

The afternoon Keynote was given by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and was generally well received. The exception was her endorsement of Liebermann which didn't go over so well. The first panel I attended in the afternoon, was The Culture of Journalism: Getting A Story "Out There". The panel included Air America's Sam Seder, Naomi Seligman Deputy Director for CREW (Citizens for Responsibilty and Ethics in Washington), Adam Green Civic Communications Director for Moveon.org, and John Aravosis from AmericaBlog. The panel was about how to get a story out there, give it legs, and get the MSM to pay attention and report the story. John Aravosis had some great stories about his "Where's Mary" campaign during the 2004 election asking where's Mary Cheney, as well as his effort to expose Jeff Gannon as a right wing hack in the WH Press Room with a past as a gay prostitute. The panel was a blast.

The next panel I attended was The View from the Ground: Iraq Veterans on the War and Returning Home. The panel included Paul Rieckhoff Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and was in the first platoon to enter Baghdad, Perry Jeffries who served as a First Sargeant in Iraq, Abbie Picket a young woman who served in Iraq and came home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a young man currently serving in the New Hampshire National Guard. The discussion was heartfelt and very emotional and ranged from the high suicide rate of returnees, to the lack of funding for the VA.

After, the folks from Drinking Liberally set up a bar outside the conference rooms for a Las Vegas first Drinking Liberally event. Karen wants to start a chapter here in Las Vegas.

Later that evening, former Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) threw a party at the top of the Stratosphere. I'm sorry I missed it. There was four open bars, food, the Blues Brothers for entertainment, and the rides. The tab for the governor came to over $75,000, but when your the founder of Nextel, pocket change.

Saturday morning started off with a Keynote Address from Howard Dean followed by a private meeting with him for all the event volunteers. I'll post the group picture with the governor. Because of the meeting with the governor, I misswed most of my first panel discussion that morning, Building Progressive Infrastructure.

My next panel was Privacy Rights in the Conservative Era. The panel included Glenn Greenwald civil rights attorney and author of How Would a Patriot Act, Ralph Neas President of People for the American Way, the Legal Director for the ACLU, and Armando from the DailyKos as moderator. Topics included NSA wiretapping, presidential signing statements, the religious right, and the stacking of idealogues on the courts.

The next workshop I attended was How to Vote With Your Wallet: Research Corporate Political Donations and Shop Accordingly. This workshop was put on by the founders of BuyBlue.org. It's an on-line tool to allow you the consumer to decide where you want to spend your money. The site examines how much money a corporation gives to political parties, how much the top three executives give, which parties they give to, how they treat their employees, and their environmental records. The sight doesn't advocate boycotts, it just rates companies and allows you to make your own buying decisions. The folks at BuyBlue told us that if every person who voted for Kerry in 2004 shifted just $100 a year to Blue companies, that's a shift of $5 Billion. The site also provides contact information for all the companies as well as ready made form letters you can personalize and send off whether is a complaint or a praise. They are also starting a project to follow the money on bills before congress. They basically are following the money and letting you know who's getting it, and whose giving it on what bill. Check them out.

Lunch was the Progressive Superstars Lunch with Keynote Speaker Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) followed by three Fighting Dems. Eric Massa (NY-29) a 24 year Naval Veteran and former aide to Gen. Wesley Clark, Retired three star Admiral Joe Sestak (PA-7) Curt Weldon's seat, and John Laesch former Navy Seal running for Denny Hastert's seat in Illinois.

As Saturday was my birthday, that was the last event I attended. I didn't go to Harry Reid's dinner that night, but went to Hannah's for crab and garlic noodles instead. Happy birthday to me.

A few thoughts about the event. YearlyKos was an historic watershed event for the progressive blogshere. This has never happened before. There were MSM from both sides of the aisle, print, radio, TV, as well as a sea of laptops with bloggers posting right there in real time. Everyone from Maureen Dowd to Adam Nagourney to the Young Turks. Politicians from all over the country, and half the 08 Presidential contenders shaking hands and pounding flesh. Nobody knew what to expect going in, but everyone can't wait to do it again next year. YearlyKos was an amazing way to meet people you only know as a by-line on a blog face to face, as well creating network connections. You could walk up to a stranger, shake hands, and start a conversation. One NYT pundit called YearlyKos the pre-Iowa Caucus for Dems. Judging by what I saw, He's right. Check out the photos and enjoy.

David black-Downes

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Location: Las Vegas, NV 89103