Yearly Kos

Tonight I'm blogging this week's edition of Kossacks Under 35 (obviously over at Daily Kos). The post will go live around 9pm Eastern and will recap the panel I moderated on Building the Progressive Youth Movement at this year's Yearly Kos Convention. Stop by and give it a recommend.

We're live.

Kossacks Under 35: Building a Progressive Youth Movement

Update: I killed the video embed since Ustream apparently automatically plays every time the site loads. That's annoying. Direct link below.
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Here's the entire video of Dean's speech to the Yearly Kos Convention. I haven't had time to watch it yet, so I'm taking it on faith that it's as good as everyone says w/r/t the need to reach out to young people. So here it is sans critical commentary. Attached is a transcript of the speech courtesy of Howard Empowered.

See Howard Speak

I'm back from Yearly Kos. Sorry we had no content for a few days. I thought maybe I had something arranged for Sunday but that didn't pan out, and it was impossible to post from the conference itself.

This was my first time at the conference having missed Vegas last year. My impressions:

• Yearly Kos is white.
• Average age = 35+.

From what I hear, this year was actually an improvement over last year (on both counts), which is slightly disturbing. I've talked at length about the lack of overlap between the new progressive youth movement and the netroots, which both developed at the same time. This was evident in Chicago this weekend in the aggregate, although there were a decent amount of smart young folk running around. Campus Progress and Young People For both put in a good showing. I met numerous Student PIRG folk, a couple Young Dems and a number of Future Majority readers (great to meet y'all, btw), and the Obama student team was ably represented at the conference by James Hannaway, who I was fortunate enough to be on a panel with (Technology and Politics: The Next Generation).

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. There could have been more young folks - particularly of color - but it's a well known criticism of the conference, and maybe we'll do better next year when the conference will be less about Daily Kos and more about the Netroots. A lot of immigration blogs and blogs by people of color are starting to pick up steam, getting organized, and increase their presence in the netroots. Hopefully they will push for greater representation next year, and I'd like to see a contingent of young people of color "crash the Yearly Kos gates" as well.

I got there a day late, so I missed most of the panels I wanted to see, and my Friday was packed with three panels - Framing from the Top, Building the Progressive Youth Movement, and Technology and Politics: The Next Generation. Needles to say, all I did on Friday was run around prepping and presenting - not a lot of spare time to see what others had to say.

All in all, it went well. At the framing panel people seemed to respond to my statements about the need to think less abstractly about framing and more about the nuts and bolts of consensus building and practical application (even though I was less than articulate on this point) and even more so to my suggestion that Millennials are believers in the power of government and ready to ditch Bush's conception of the Unitary Executive if progressives just started to articulate a competing vision. The technology panel was fun as we hashed out the emerging software, hardware, and user trends that might change politics and technology in 2012. I knew three of the panelists already, and with a lot of audience participation, it was a great bull session on where we're going with this poli-tech thing.

The youth panel had me most nervous as I was the moderator and the session got picked by C-SPAN as one of ten panels to be recorded and rebroadcasted.

It was decently attended as folks trickled in throughout, and I think it went down really well. In particular I was thrilled with Matt Singer's presentation about how youth politics lost the cool factor, and the challenges facing new organizations. Adam Connor spoke about my favorite new topic - the netroots/youth movement divide, and Alexis McGill gave us a rundown on the challenges in reaching communities of color and pulling them into electoral politics. Ivan Frishberg also gave a brief history of the youth vote, and Shauna Thomas discussed developing new progressive leaders. I had hoped to have some time to follow-up on the presentations - particularly those by Alexis and Adam - but we ran over on time and I opted to go directly to the audience Q&A.

We've gotten decent reviews on the Young People For and Campus Progress blogs. And lots of folks told me they thought it was a good panel, afterwards. As soon as the C-SPAN video is available I will post it. I have no idea if I'm going to be the organizer for this panel again next year, but I'd love to hear thoughts on how it could be better from anyone who attended.

So I'm finally at Yearly Kos. Sitting around waiting for General Wesley Clark to speak, stewing in my juices and waiting for my panels. I hate public speaking, and yet that's basically all I"m doing today.

The word is that yesterday Howard Dean delivered a keynote address in which he talked about the importance of engaging the youth vote.

Ben Adler from Campus Progress has the goods. I particularly like that last bit. Yay on you for brining up the topic Howard, but not exactly the best way to talk about demographic diversity and tolerance among Millennials:

DNC Chair Howard Dean just gave a rousing address here at Yearly Kos to the 1400 minions and hundreds of members of the media. He focused in large part on the importance of progressives appealing to young people. He noted the 20% increase in youth turnout between the last two midterms and noted that voting patterns get locked in for life at a young age. He admonished activists to always focus on the young as an investment in the future. He also rather comically pointed out that "there are white kids running around malls with pants around their ankles" as evidence that the hopes of the civil rights movement have been achieved. And Dean pointed to the long enduracne of civil rights leaders as a reminder that activism is a lifelong commitment.

The words are a bit indelicate (as Dean is often want to do), but the point is sound, and Republicans are getting scared.

After the repeated attacks on bloggers that we’ve seen on FoxNews shown to us on BraveNewFilms and what they’ve spent the week leading up to YearlyKos talking about on O’Reily (which I’ve been subject to by some nutbar who changes the station at my gym).

I’ve also been watching something else going on all week. Something very contradictory the “Liberal Bloggers” and “Liberal Media” accusations that Bill and his buddies at Fox seem to throw around so freely.

For the next few days I'll be in Chicago attending the Second Annual Yearly Kos Convention. Last year I had a great time at the convention, but I didn't really get to sit in on many panels or blog much, as I was there on behalf of the Iraq War documentary The War Tapes. This year I'm working for myself, and so while I be spending some time networking to try and sell my "wares" (web/Drupal development and tech/outreach consulting), but mostly I'll be trying to sit in on as many panels as I can and blog about the convention here and on Young Philly Politics.

Currently, I'm sitting in on the "Connecting Major Donors the the Netroots", featuring Rob Stein, Chris Bowers, Lisa Seitz Gruwell, Mike Lux, and Dave Johnson (pictured). Rob Stein is giving his famous presentation on Right Wing infrastructure, to which he recently added a piece on the growth of right-wing internet assets. The presentation definitely lived up to the hype, and it really is incredible how many resources right-wing activists and movement players have at their disposal.

Anyway, I have to get back to enjoying the conference. I'll put updates below the fold as the day goes on.

When I read Mike's post last week on his Yearly Kos panels, I nearly cried. Last year, I was working for the movie The War Tapes and got to go to the conference and screen the movie as part of my job, and had one of the best times of my life. Sure, the chocolate fondue fountain atop the space needle is the aspect that I talk/joke about the most, but the people I met and the connections I made while there were what really stuck with me. Given the diffuse nature of this networked world, getting to meet in person with people whom you work with and talk to online is invaluable. There is no better way to build the trust and friendships that these networks depend upon than teaching, learning, and getting pandered to together in person.

But, alas, the unemployment that came after my last campaign left me broker than broke (and completely turned off to working directly for a candidate again, but that's a whole other story), and so there just didn't seem to be anyway that it would be possible for me to fly to Chicago and spend a few nights in a hotel, despite how useful the conference might be. But thanks to a large financial turn for the better (I really don't know why I didn't think of doing Drupal/Web/Tech work before this month), and a generous donation of a ticket from a fellow politico who couldn't make it, I'm heading out to Yearly Kos this afternoon.

But please don't worry, I'm not on any panels, and I'm easy to spot in a crowd and thus easy to avoid. But if you do want to meet in person--and I'm sure there are some masochists out there--just look for the guy with the pimping hats, which I wear anytime I'm not asleep or under water. Or just ask for the "Hebrew Hammer" (As the saying goes: Half man. Half streets. 100% Kosher) Someone will point you in the right direction. But please don't mistake me for Hunter S. Thompson "Outlandish" Josh Koenig, or he will get really really mad (besides we look nothing alike).

I'll try and do some live blogging while I'm there, and if you want to join up with a bunch of us youth/culture focused folks, please head over to the Living Liberally Caucus, where you're sure to find a decent sized contingent of us.

First a meta note. Sorry traffic is slow the last day or two. As I mentioned, I've got book deadlines and Yearly Kos this week, so posting will be slow or come in sharp staccato blasts like this and the previous post. Normal blogging will resume on Sunday.

Also, apologies for the comment spam lately. Those crafty spammers have outwitted our filter and I'm trying to keep them off the site as best I can. If you see a comment called "people," stay away. (Unless you are into online gambling and natural male enhancement, in which case, dive in).

Now, onto the real stuff.

Check out this cool little new FaceBook App: Razoo Speed Granting.

From what I can tell, it's sort of Digg.com meets the Causes App. Razoo sets up mini "granting periods." The first (and current) granting period is open, later grants will have themes. Anyone can submit a proposal. Once a certain number of folks vote for, or "validate," a proposal, it becomes visible on the site for public voting. At the end of the granting period, votes are tallied and the winner is awarded the prize.

I can't quite figure out Razoo's angle. They say they are doing this to promote social entrepreneurship, but are they funded by a philanthropic angel? A Foundation? Will they try to make money off this some way, or is it truly altruistic? What counts as a "legitimate" project? Lot's of questions, but potentially a cool little App to help folks bootstrap something small or contribute more money to a cause than you and your social network (coordinating voting) might be able to give out of pocket.

Worth checking out. I just voted for the Youth Policy Action Network.

Over at Left in the West, Matt Singer reminds me of my duties. I've neglected to mention that I'm going to be speaking on a number of panels at this year's Yearly Kos Convention.

• Building the Progressing Youth Movement: I'm the moderator for this panel, which will feature the aforementioned Matt Singer, founder and CEO of Forward Montana (who I'm sure will have more wisdom than misinformation), Shauna Thomas of Young People For, Alexis McGill of Citizen Change (aka "Vote or Die!"), Jane Flemming Kleeb of Young Voter PAC and formerly YDA, and Adam Conner, blogger, Roosevelt Institution co-founder, YP4 Fellow, and former member of CDA.
  
  It's a packed panel, but I'm hoping to keep everyone on task, talking about how their various organizations (and similar orgs) are linking up to form a coherent, strategic progressive youth movement, how they can better work together, and most importantly where our budding movement is still failing. Stop by if you are at the convention.
• Framing From the Top: Some how I ended up as a participant in the framing panel. I think maybe it's because I slipped something into Jeff Feldman's drink at RootsCamp NYC. Featuring giants like George Lakoff and Rick Perlstein, my main objective will be to not look dumb.
• Technology and Politics: The Next Generation: Finally, I'll be on a panel where we gaze into our techno-crystal ball to see what's in store for technology and politics in the year 2012. It's kinda like that old Conan O'Brian skit, only dorkier. Should be a lot of fun.

After a redonkulous Friday filled with three panels and what will surely be large amounts of drinking (courtesy of the Drinking Liberally folks), I'm taking a day of vacation and spending my Saturday at Lollapalooza. It's been a while since I've been to a big outdoor festival like that, so I'll be chillin', listing to some music, and maybe checking out the merch/booth area to see if there's any kind of music activism going down. Right now I know I'll be checking out Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, The Hold Steady, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Spoon. Don't know who else. Maybe the Roots, but I've already seen them like three times. I'll be the guy in the old-school Music for America T-shirt.