I stepped outside last night for the first time in days, to grab a cab to the Daily Kos party at House of Blues. It was hot. I stepped outside again this morning to grab a cab to the airport. It was still hot.
Fortunately, next year’s Netroots Nation promises to be much more comfortable, and much more interesting in terms of the local setting. Near the end of his funny, passionate and energizing keynote address last night, Sen. Al Franken had the honor of announcing that NN 2011 will be held in his home town of Minneapolis. Not your typical tourist destination, but then neither was Pittsburgh, and we all had a lot of fun there. Plus, there are several nonstop flights a day between SEA and MSP, and that always makes for a much less annoying trip. (Well, except on US Airways; they can pretty much fuck up anything.)
So if I’m still blogging this time next year, I’m planning on being there.
As for this year’s NN, I’d say it was worth the trip, even if it wasn’t necessarily the most fun I’ve had at one of these confabs. (I don’t gamble, I done patronize hookers or strippers, and I can’t afford the extravagant shows, so Vegas isn’t really my kinda place.) Gatherings like this are all about making and reinforcing relationships, and the close connections I have to other bloggers nationwide, both national and local, make me a better and more influential blogger. It’s the community aspect of the Netroots movement that has always been its not-so-secret weapon, and nothing builds community like meeting face to face.
And while there certainly wasn’t the same energy and buzz as there was in the heady summer of 2008, I can safely report that the alleged death of progressive enthusiasm has been greatly exaggerated. When the final attendance numbers are tallied, NN 2010 may turn out to be the best attended NN ever. Indeed, there were considerably more first-time attendees at NN, than total attendees at the shadow “Right Online” conference down the street. Doesn’t exactly fit with the media narrative, but then, the facts often don’t.
As for me, I’m coming back to Seattle fired up for perhaps one last burst of personal advocacy on an issue that most Americans tend to ignore, but which threatens to undermine the ability of our nation to maintain a functioning democracy. But much more on that later.
Good for you Goldy. Butt, how many of your NutRoots friends went to partake a little or a lot of all those activities?
Functioning Democracy Commentary… Through the eyes of a progressive… Puddy can’t wait…
Remember those 2009 town halls in DUMMOCRAPTIC districts surely defined a functioning democracy. It was very special when the nutzo tearful progressive Nancy Stretch Pelosi defined Tea Pary people as Nazis and thugs, etc. and then the America’s Future Now conference meeting she attended last month used worse Nazi thug attack tactics on her and they were “stand up people”. Just look at the who’s who of attendees last month to keep the functioning democracy going under the guise of a “future”…
HA favrit 9/11 Truther, and self-avowed commie Van Jones – – Did he attend NutRoots Goldy?
Communist Party USA Peeps William McNary and Barbara Lee along with Robert Kuttner, Ron Ruggiero, and Deepak Bhargava. – Did they attend NutRoots Goldy?
Campaign for America’s Future, part of the wonderful Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). – Did they attend NutRoots Goldy?
Code Pinkos – Did they attend NutRoots Goldy?
Did the whackjob congresspeeps Donna Edwards (Dummy-MD) and Alan Grayson (Dunce-FL) attend NutRoots Goldy?
Since many Americans want one thing (anyone check the polls lately) and Congress votes the other way, especially these last 18 months, this ought to be very interesting diatribe.
Write in small words so the arschloch can comprehend!
I’ll bet Minneapolis has hookers, too, but you have to dig through a dozen layers of sweaters before you come to anything worth feeling up.
It was toooooo hot for the tea baggers..
I’ll bet the right wing idiots at the other confab blogged about that one.
But then maybe the minnow Sharansky blogged about the weather.. maybe..
You libs don’t know awesome weather when you are in it, Vegas is awesome! By the way, did you pick up a few bottles of liquor while you were there to save on the extraordinary Washington taxes? Do not forget the smokes as well.
Hookers and Minnesota. Why am I thinking of a scene from Fargo all of a sudden?
does joel do hookers?
Seattle would be a great place for NetworksNation, except that it doesn’t have much of a nightlife, and hotel capacity here is rather limited in the summer. We’ve got guys flying here from Japan this week, and it took half a day to find a hotel room for them. I guess Seafair might have had something to do with it.
” When the final attendance numbers are tallied, NN 2010 may turn out to be the best attended NN ever.”
Mostly curiosity-seekers who came to see the NN corpse!
Besides, who the hell wants to see Seattle???