In a diary on Friday, BFSkinner was thrilled to announce he was coming to Netroots Nation 2011 (and many of us thrilled to read it), but then a commenter asked, What is NN 2011?
And I realized we've now been doing this for so long that we've been taking it for granted that everyone already knows. So let me explain.
Back in November 2004, a group of this site's users started to organize for a "dKos National Convention." Wouldn't it be neat, many thought, if we could all meet up in person somewhere. And so Gina Cooper and others led the way until, in June 2006, about 1200 people showed up for the first YearlyKos conference in Las Vegas, Nevada for a series of panels on progressive issues and social events (including a rather memorable ice sculpture -- thanks, Mark!) bringing together grassroots online activists with leaders like Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer and Howard Dean.
It kept getting bigger. In 2007, we moved to Chicago and all the Democratic contenders (save one, Biden) showed up for a Presidential Leadership Forum, and changed our name to Netroots Nation reflecting the breadth of our participants. In 2008, Al Gore surprised us with an appearance during Nancy Pelosi's "Ask the Speaker" session in Austin, and in 2009 President Clinton keynoted our festivities in Pittsburgh -- a conference which highlighted the city's green-labor coalition. Last year in Las Vegas, both Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi joined us for in-depth Q&A sessions, with the emotional highlight being Reid's promise to Lt. Dan Choi to return his West Point ring once DADT was repealed.
In our first five years, we've been joined by Senators, Governors, and countless Members of Congress, plus a future President (at least one) and a past President. We've gone from 1200 attendees to over 2000, and from a single annual national conference to a series of regional and international events. We've become a mandatory stop for any candidate serious about wooing the netroots, and have gotten so big that an astroturf conservative conference now follows us wherever we go. But with all these changes, the core of Netroots Nation is always us, the netroots, a diverse coalition uniting and reuniting, from the front-pagers of this site and other leading progressive sites all the way to the lurkers.
During the conference, there are scores of blogger-generated panel discussions bringing together grassroots activists with leaders and experts in their fields. Simultaneously, it's a social conference -- putting faces to names you've only seen only, an annual reunion of this large and dispersed community taking place at parties, in the exhibit hall and hotel lobby, all over the place. We've had pub quizzes and karaoke contests, batting practice at PNC Park and raucous concerts, dance parties and a Teamsters-led barbecue. It is fun.
This year, Russ Feingold will be our Thursday night keynote speaker, and we'll be rolling out more big names in the next few weeks. (Yes, Sen. Franken will be back.) What we need is you.
If you've never been before, well, we've all been first-time participants. Don't be afraid. We take care of first-timers and lurkers, and within your first hour in the Twin Cities you will find your friends. As always, we'll hold regional and affinity caucuses to make sure you find the communities where your friends are. And you should strongly consider helping Netroots for the Troops, a group of dedicated volunteers we're honored to have with us who dedicate their time towards fundraising for, and at our conference packing hundreds of care packages for our armed forces around the globe.
It has been my honor for the past three years to serve as Chairman of the Netroots Nation Board of Directors, and to help guide our full-time staff to delivering for you an incredible experience. We will not let you down.
If you've joined us before, now is the time to sign up to join us in the Twin Cities in June. If you've never been, what's stopping you?
Please register today, and book your hotel, and we'll see you in Minneapolis June 16-19. If you have any questions, ask away.