Almost every year after Netroots Nation, I do a writeup to share. It’s usually full of pictures of the host city, of new friends, dKos/NN family, and the rare shot of me not being all shy about asking Big Names for a photo.
This year is different, and I almost wasn’t going to write up this year’s event. But then I saw BeninSC’s Saturday Night Top Comments and, coupled with my four day experience attending Netroots Nation at Home, here we are. Grab a beverage and hop across the story break please!
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I truly wasn’t sure that this year’s virtual conference was going to have the same effect on me that an in-person trip to Denver would have. But I have attended every conference since 2006. In order, that would be ::deep breath:: Vegas - Chicago - Austin - Pittsburgh - Vegas (never again!) - Minneapolis - Providence - San Jose - Detroit - Phoenix - Saint Louis - Atlanta - New Orleans - Philadelphia Denver Virtual. There was NO way a small thing like a global pandemic was going to break a streak, so Casa Brillig registered, got our swag boxes (without having to pack them!), and both K1 and I signed up to volunteer because, well, that’s what we do.
Wednesday night before NN gets going officially is always the Cheers and Jeers dinner, ever since that first Yearly Kos when a bunch of us thought that simply crossing the street to go get food would be easy. It is and forever will be known as the C&J Death March. This year was no exception, when at least 40 of us gathered thanks to Common Sense Mainer getting the ball rolling and Navajo providing us a Zoom room. With cocktails, orange feather boas, and everyone trying to talk at once, I nearly cried with joy seeing my Daily Kos friends! I was going to post a picture I took of my screen, but I don’t have permission from everyone who was present and a whole lot of real names are shown. Imagine smiling happy people (including our own BeninSC and gloriana, and several other TC irregulars!) and you’ll be seeing my picture. This was my first inkling that while NN@Home wasn’t going to be like any other, it was going to be special.
Thursday morning was the official conference start, and while my first volunteer shift wasn’t at the Reg Desk (honestly, that is my favorite couple of hours of frenetic organized chaos every year. I live for that session!), I was hosting a panel. More on that in a little bit. Right now, I want anyone who’s ever been able to attend a NN in person to think of the Hallway. You know, where you run into old friends, make new ones, and chat while trying to find an outlet to charge your phone/tablet. Virtual NN had a Hallway too!! You could go and chat with folks, and even do private chats with up to six people, akin to going to find coffee and chat after the session let out.
All you needed to do was click the link in the NN20 app and there you were, in the hallway. I was not expecting this bit of detail and it was much appreciated!
K1 snapped this while I hosted one of a bunch of panels
So what exactly did Volunteering mean this year? Every session needed a Zoom host to open up the webinar a half hour before the session start, get panelists set up and tested for sound and to make sure screen sharing or videos played correctly, and in a last-minute addition, turn on the closed captioning! Once each panel started, we kept an eye on the chat & gave time updates to panelists so they wouldn’t have the zoom room suddenly shut down mid-sentence! I admit I was really nervous, but our volunteer coordinator made it so simple this boomer only needed K1’s help a couple of times :-).
But what about Pub Quiz, you ask. How could there be a Pub Quiz when we’re not all together? Well… Adam B is a resilient man, and he found us a way. Thanks to the miracle of pre-existing online trivia organizations, nine teams took part. Honestly though, I suspect many of us took part not only because tradition, but also because we knew that unlike the webinar format used in panel sessions, this would be in a format where we could see and talk to each other. And we did. Ohhh, did we. Adam had to threaten to mute us all :).
Yes, Sea Org won… was that even a question?
Casa Brillig gathered around our television and streamed the closing keynote where we could all watch and be together comfortably… after several days sitting in whatever chair our laptops were near, the couch was a much-needed change! The keynote was one of the best I’ve seen in all of our keynotes — even if we didn’t get a city named for next year… yet.
To sum up my NN20 experience… what I learned is that the energy, vitality, friendship, and general feeling of being in a community of likeminded folks can and does transfer to virtual. It reminded me a great deal of that very first Netroots Nation Yearly Kos, when a thousand bloggers and friends descended on a Vegas hotel not knowing what the hell they signed on for. What would it be like? Would those people whose real names we don’t even know but whose writing we like be people we actually get along with? What if we don’t have anything to talk about? Will there be a next time? As the years have shown, yes we’ll gather, and talk, and share food and (occasionally very expensive, looking at you Chicago) drinks and then do it again.
I am grateful beyond words to the staff of Netroots Nation, who pivoted from Denver to virtual in mere months, and pulled off a spectacular event. They built the plane while it was speeding down the runway, and it flew without glitches… or if there were, we didn’t notice them.
I’m about to queue this and go watch tonight’s DNC, where they showed last night that YES, we can bring hope and vitality and energy to a virtual setting. I would have doubted it before last night except that I’d been at NN20, and knew it was possible.
I know you’re paying attention to the DNC… but please peruse the Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures brought to us tonight by my dear friend and TC collaborator BeninSC. In person or via pixels, he is one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.
Top Comments
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers, Barack Obama or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
From FindingMyVoice:
In Laura Clawson's diary about consequences he’ll face for the Postal Service attacks, DoctorWho and knowdaboom posted nearly identical -and witty- comments within seconds of each other!
From belinda ridgewood:
There was a Top Comment in BeninSC's Top Comments diary on Monday night, so obviously it has to go to Tuesday's Top Comments, right? It seems that ontheleftcoast finds his life has somehow turned into a Steely Dan song, and my well-meaning suggestion just made it worse. He blames Rod Serling.
From Paul A:
I am nominating officebss's comment to Aldous J Pennyfarthing's post on Trump commemorating suffrage gives the history of Susan B. Anthony's statement to her sentencing judge. (He took the case away from the jury, directed a guilty verdict, and imposed a $100 fine, which she refused to pay. Then he refused to jail her because of nonpayment, thus frustrating her ability to appeal.) I had known of the case but not the statement. From her statement, one can easily conclude that she would never accept a pardon and doubtless would tell Trump where to stick it.
From thesphynx:
From Christopher, this accurate and funny summing up of how all Trump Administration officials handle being caught doing anything wrong seems to me deserving of special praise!
Highlighted by Stolibien09:
Comes this comment by Deafstef about Joe’s quality transcending a perception.
Highlighted by WolverineForTJatAW:
Comes this comment by leisler featuring a Lincoln Project tweet.
Highlighted by jbmsurfs:
Comes this fine comment by Andrew F Cockburn, about one of Trump’s more important limitations as a human being.
And in a first for nested highlights, Pogoatty highlighted this comment by Franks Human that added humorous insight into a video posted in this comment by samanthab! #webelongtoamutualadmirationsociety
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, August 17th, 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 August 17, 2020! Thanks so much, jotter!
