cross-posted at The Albany Project
The first-ever New York MEGA Meetup was held on Wednesday night, and by all accounts, it was a MEGA success.
Join me below the fold for an overview and photos of the NYC netroots and grassroots communities.
First, I want to send out a MEGA thank you to Justin Krebs of Drinking Liberally and The Tank for being an amazing host and and charismatic emcee, and to Kerry Trueman, Matt Rosenberg and Eating Liberally for providing delicious food for us. Thank you all so much!
Here's Justin giving a shoutout to yours truly, as I play photographer.
And here's Kerry talking about Eating Liberally and the great things they are doing.
The idea behind the MEGA Meetup was that progressive groups and bloggers don't communicate or coordinate with each other very well, and that we need to get better at doing both. This event was just a first step: an opportunity for all of us to meet, exchange ideas and brainstorm about issues of concern to us all.
It was interesting to talk to people who have been involved in progressive politics for decades, but have no connection at all with the progressive blogosphere. I'm coming from the opposite place: I was only marginally involved in politics prior to my involvement with DailyKos. The MEGA Meetup was a good start at bridging the gaps, but we need to build on this if we're going to influence the Democratic Party in the longrun. I'm not sure how we get there from here, and would love suggestions for how to keep this effort moving.
After the meetup, a group of us went out for a bite to eat. The conversation was great and reminded me how much I love being around smart, well-informed, articulate and passionate progressives.
And now, here are the rest of the photos.
A few group shots. Some of you will recognize people you met at YearlyKos or at NY meetups.
Speakers from some of the groups and blogs attending included:
Tracey Denton from DFNYC
Bob Fertik of democrats.com
Frances Anderson of Progressive Democrats of America
Elana Levin from Drum Major Institute
Michael Bouldin from The Daily Gotham
Jeffrey Feldman agreed to speak on behalf of NYC Kossacks (thanks again, Jeffrey)
Al Benninghoff from Manhattan Young Democrats
And Dave Pollack, New York State Democratic Party Co-Chair said a few words about upcoming elections and reminded us that we need to get involved now.