This was third year attending Netroots Nation, and it is not only the number of attendees that has grown. Here are some impressions I took home with me.
I tried, as some of you may remember, to put together a panel for last year's conference, which would have Jews and Palestinians sharing the stage, discussing the I/P situation. No Arab, let alone Palestinian, was willing to come and risk anonymity. J Street had also submitted a panel idea, and neither had been selected. A discussion group for I/P matters was scheduled at the conference. Not a single Arab or Muslim showed up.
This year, though, this opened up. There were two panels addressing Arab/Muslim issues, one on the Arab Spring, which featured panelists of great courage from Iraq, East Jerusalem, Morocco, and Bahrain, and the other on anti-Muslim prejudice in this country. I attended both; both were impressive.
There were a couple of incidents. A number of women attending the conference wore the hijab, and there was some unpleasantness outside the conference, and a show of solidarity from others at the conference. Una Spenser wrote about this here.
But we are still learning how to be more diverse. As we include a wider group of attendees, it might be good for those who arrange such things to remember that a bourbon and bacon event might also include some other goodies for those who cannot eat bacon or drink alcohol.
I had asked a question at the Arab Spring panel, relating some of my experience tryinng to get a panel together. The next day Phil Weiss (yes, that Phil Weiss) said he had been looking for me, and he interviewed me about that experience. Totally amazing. But it is meaningful that he was at the conference.
In general, I was impressed with the depth of the panels I attended. These are the best yet for me.
I also attended my first Pub Quiz and had a blast though my team didn't come close to winning anything. We laughed a lot and made lots of noise. "Burma, Burma!"
I put together the service this year, and want to thank everyone who sent in words of inspiration.
And I wouldn't have been there at all were it not for loggersbrat, linkage, and allensl. Special thanks to them.