Netroots Nation 20 this year is...interesting to be sure.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Netroots Nation did not meet this year in Denver, as scheduled.
Instead, all of the panels, keynotes, trainings, and whatnot were held online.
Truthfully, I had forgotten all about Netroots this year until my swag box arrived in the mail. A t-shirt, a Planned Parenthood facemask, a small bottle of sanitizer, and a few other things that I can’t remember at the moment.
At that moment, I really missed Netroots the old-fashioned way.
90% of the fun in working with the swag bags in the two years that I have gone to the conference is actually putting them together with so many other Netroots participants every year. I missed going around loading those bags and seeing faces that have since become familiar to be IRL as well as on Daily Kos and beyond.
Then we had THE DERECHO across the Midwest Monday night and, as a result, the wifi in my building went on the wild side for a few days; basically until late last night.
There were also some technical glitches on NN’s end, I believe and they seem to have done a good job at improvising.
More on the other side after I tell you who we are and what we do here at Top Comments.
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So I could not attend the virtual get-together that Neeta had planned for Wednesday night and I was only able to do one near-complete training session Thursday before signing off for the night.
It was a really, really good session titled “Open Call: Best Practices for Using Data and Models” that was not at all math heavy (which...was an unexpected disappointment) and more about using data to construct models.
Solid.
Today I attended two more sessions and both were really, really good and informative; a session on storytelling through data and a late afternoon session on waging war against misinformation and disinformation.
In fact, I ‘ve learned more sheer material out of the sessions that I’ve attended than at any other Netroots, to be honest.
I suspect that’s the case because the presenters were good and, more importantly, I wasn’t distracted by all of the people-watching that I love to do; the people watching is my absolute favorite thing about Netroots.
(And...dammit, I had to miss out on joining the Top Comments team for the Pub Quiz because I was working!)
This year, I’ve been more of an eager student absorbing the information.
The thing I miss more than anything about not being in Denver this year; not meeting people that I consider my friends, making new friends, the dinners, the cigarette breaks, the gossip, the occasional bit of drama. All of that is a very important part of attending Netroots Nation.
One other thing that I miss: in the two Netroots Nation conferences that I attended in New Orleans and Philadelphia, I also had family members that lived not too far from the conference site.
So after the conference was over, I visited my niece in Baton Rouge in 2018 and my cousin in Washington D.C. in 2019. (I had planned on visiting NYC on a daytrip in 2019 but it was too hot!)
There was no possibility of taking such an extended trip this year even if NN had convened in Denver because (other than Los Angeles) I have no friends or family out west...well, that I know of anyway.
Overall Grade (to this point) C+/B-: Informative conference, to this point, but I miss everyone!
Comments below the fold.
TOP COMMENTS
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From elenacarlena:
I'd like to nominate The Ancient Aspie's comment in Angmar's Thursday evening RCAP diary, "Wave of silence had spread around the world during coronavirus pandemic." I asked what we can do to keep the benefits of the lockdown going, and TAA had a big answer that really ought to be on the FP every day.
Highlighted by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing:
This comment by dannobee in AJP’s own recommended post on Black Voices for Trump where only one or two actual Black people showed up.
Highlighted by Dunvegan:
This comment by Joe Pac in his own post on the Lincoln Project’s new ad.
Highlighted by zenvegan:
This comment by Sam Sara in davidck’s post on Florida vote by mail.
Highlighted by proginoskes:
This comment by NepentheRising in skyounkin’s recommended post on Susan Collin’s letter of concern to the Postmaster G
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, August 13, 2020, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, August 13, 2020. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!
