Each year, Netroots Nation gathers the progressive movement. We learn from each other, influence each other, share our victories and failures. And in the process we make news, too.
That happens perhaps most famously from the big stage, where we've welcomed everyone from Barack Obama to Bill Clinton to Nancy Pelosi to Elizabeth Warren to Van Jones and Lawrence Lessig.
In 2007 all of the Democratic Presidential candidates promised that if elected they'd hire a blogger for the White House, changing the way the federal government communicates with its citizens. Elizabeth Warren has talked about the economy in ways that have changed the way we communicate about it. And Van Jones has exhibited his leadership by almost presciently predicting where things are heading each year and what our roles are to change the outcomes.
But the real action is often found in the panel rooms, and it's people like you defining that agenda. For example, we worked with immigration advocates dating back to 2008 to highlight the struggles and opportunities on the road to comprehensive immigration reform for the progressive community. This in turn led to that fight being taken very seriously as a top tier progressive issue where it was largely ignored in 2005-2007 when similar legislation brought up for consideration.
What's going to be the big story this year? We'll surely get a lot of interest in economic topics, trying to explain and understand the occupy movement, and studying the victory in Ohio and the loss in Wisconsin, to name a few. But will we see a strong showing from some topics begging for greater attention, like the struggle for women's equality, problems with the criminal justice system and our police force, or an honest discussion about foreign policy?
That's really up to you. We need committed activists trying to bring some of the brightest minds and bridge builders to the event to speak.
Our proposal process is open through January 31st and you can find everything you need to get started here.
If you're new to the process or just have a few questions you'd like to see answered you can check out one of the webinars we're doing this month. We're hosting one on January 11th at 2 p.m. eastern and on January 26th at 2 p.m. eastern.
We hope that you'll help set our agenda, and we'll see you in Providence!