Good day and welcome to DKos Asheville. This is the weekly DKos Asheville open thread where we try to get together every weekend to share with everyone what we're all up to in Western North Carolina and beyond. We hope this group serves to invigorate us locally and regionally here on Daily Kos, building on the sense of community that's grown through our online engagement. DKos Asheville can give us all a better sense of connection, a better understanding of who we stand with, work with, and share with. We hope this community can help leverage our orange passion for progressive politics to elect more and better Democrats.
Greetings and welcome to the final Asheville Open Thread of 2014!
I love Asheville. It's hard to believe it's been ten years since SteelerDude and I wove our U-Haul over the North Carolina border late one night in November 2004. Asheville was the first city in North Carolina we laid eyes upon as permanent residents. I still remember its lights sparkling through the rolling hills, the whole-body relief that a move two years in the making was at last a done deal.
The next summer, we took a day trip to Asheville just to explore a little. 2.5 hours each way, mostly open highway, very pretty drive. Between Downtown, the Farmer's Market, and the hiking trails alone, we concluded it would take at least a week's stay to scratch the surface. Since that wasn't practical, we just started doing long weekend trips. In 2006 we got a puppy and discovered Asheville's amazing dog friendliness.
As we enter a new year, I'm so thankful to be a part of DKos Asheville. Y'all are amazing! Love, peace, and a very happy 2015 to all!
Added by Randall
We are pleased to announce that DKos Asheville and Progress NC have joined forces and will be hosting a bloggers conference as part of our January 17th meet up. Following is information about Progress NC from their web site.
Progress NC is a 501-C3 organization dedicated to being a voice for forward-thinking North Carolinians who want to protect the balanced approach to government that made our state great.
We are proud of our legacy as a southern state capable of adapting to change and embracing new opportunities. We are also determined to retain our national status as a great place to work, live and raise a family. To that end, Progress NC raises the visibility of issues that affect the quality of life in our state. We monitor the statewide political landscape on your behalf, identifying extreme legislative actions and other policy changes that could affect your life. We tell you about them quickly and let you know what you can do about them.
http://www.progressncaction.org/....
Anyone can start a political blog, but not everyone can maintain a good one. On Saturday, January 17, Progress North Carolina and DKos Asheville will host an afternoon seminar to help established bloggers sharpen their skills and build their networks, and show prospective bloggers what they need to get started.
Guest speakers such as Asheville City Council Member Gordon Smith and hopefully, Scrutiny Hooligans and Hullabaloo blogger Tom Sullivan, will talk about what makes a political blog successful, and share some best practices for finding and following a good story. Look for addional speakers in the coming weeks.
Topics are developing but will include titles like these:
What Just Happened? The “short” session and election 2014
Building and maintaining a blog that will best reach your audience
A look at the other guys, from Civitas down to the Twitter trolls
Finding and Following a Good Story: Don’t just comment on the news cycle… Capture it!
Reaching your audience and driving home your message.
January 17 and 18 will mark DKos Asheville's seventh meet up over the last few years. Over this time we have developed rich relationships, been inspired to register voters, have driven people to the polls, canvassed neighborhoods, and spent endless hours at phone banks. And we have built ourselves a network of like minded brothers and sisters who are in this fight for life. A place we can come to find inspiration, power, solace and community.
So please mark your calendars and plan on joining us for a wonderful weekend of camaraderie, inspiration, networking, fun, food and entertainment.
What A DKos Asheville meet up in Asheville, North Carolina.
When Saturday and Sunday, January 17-18, 2015. 1:00 pm Saturday till 1:00 pm Sunday.
Where Crown Plaza Resort Asheville, One Resort Drive • Asheville, NC 28806. tel:800-733-3211, tel:828-254-3211.
Accomodations Pet friendly, Vegetarian and Vegan friendly, lunch, dinner and breakfast provided, five double rooms have been booked for attendees, extra rooms provided if we need them. Private patio or balcony, deluxe bathroom, complimentary high-speed wireless internet access, Cable / Satellite TV, much more. Excellent open meeting spaces. Easy access to downtown Asheville for fun and frivolity. From their website: Located in Asheville, North Carolina and only one mile from the stylish and eclectic downtown area, the Asheville Crowne Plaza features accommodations that offer more than just a good night’s sleep. Inside this hotel, you will find towering stone walls and a grand stone fireplace with a newly renovated lobby perfect for relaxing with a good book or before your night out on the town.
Why After this election season we obviously need to regroup, get charged back up and start focusing our orange passion on how to turn this whole thing around. And we need some well deserved rest and relaxation with good friends. Grow our network, grow our community.
Goals Promote this meet up vigorously through local blogging, progressive radio, and arrange for local Democratic movers and shakers to attend for speaking and discussion. We will be building a schedule going forward and will update every Saturday as usual on DKos Asheville Open Thread.
Cost The gas it takes to get there and of course, the beer, wine and drinks. As one of our event organizers has noted - we are providing five double rooms with meals, etc, etc, etc at no cost to anyone who'd like to attend from out of town. If more rooms are needed we can add them to the package.
Details Please Kosmail randallt if you would like to attend and whether or not you will need a room. Let's get local, build this community and help win this next election.
Even though we have to check out by 1:00 PM on Sunday, we will still be welcome to hang out and watch some playoff football!
RSVPs:
1. randallt
2. davehouck
3. Joieau
4. Gordon20024
5. SteelerGrrl
6. SteelerGuy
7. LamontCranston
8. Otteray Scribe
9. Joy of Fishes
10. Burns Lass
11. Mary Beth
12. Raincrow with five guests
13. NBBooks With guest
Maybees:
IamGumby
smiley7