John Bowes, of BelowBoston did a great job on Netroots 101. This was by far the most popular of the three breakouts. For those in the blog community, it highlights the need for us to get the word out, especially on how to get started. Ryan Adams, assisted by Michael Wilcox, ran the “Tech Stuff”, a session on more advanced blogging technical skills. David Eisenthal, Bruce, John Tehan, Greg from Somerville, Lynne, sco, Mat Helman, shiltone, Lance from “No Drumlins” and a few others all took part in the Blogger Round Table. It was a good size and there was some interesting discussion. I was very pleased with the number of people who took part given the limitations, the heat and the length of the day. I personally found it very worthwhile and I hope that participants did as well.
I have heard good reports on the workshops. I’d love to hear people’s comments, especially on the workshops, and concerns. The MDP has worked to have a convention that gives a number of people the opportunity to serve as delegates. The affordable venues that can accommodate a convention of this size are Worcester, Springfield and Lowell and they all have limits that the MDP can not control. One of the results of the outreach to the disabled and the growing number of people with disabilities who take part is that many delegations have delegates who use wheel chairs. It would not surprise me if every delegation on the floor had a delegate in a wheelchair. We had two in my delegation and because of that we were seated on the floor, but that has not always been an option.
If people could take a minute to comment on what you liked that would be helpful! If there are things that the MDP can change (assuming for this purpose that we do not decrease the number of delegates) please let us know. For example one delegate told me that the workshop he went to was more introductory than he expected. A takeaway from that is that we can keep that in mind when writing descriptions for workshops.
Just a side note from a personal perspective. Over the years that I have been writing what is now the Democratic Dispatch, I’ve become accustomed to meeting people, especially at conventions, who say “You’re Kate Donaghue! I get your e-mail.” Increasingly, people say “Oh you’re Kate from Blue Mass Group.” Similarly, as people make the round of parties on Friday evening, I am used to people waving a piece of paper and saying, “I’ve got your list right here.” Last night people were waving their blackberries letting me know that they had the schedule there.
Thanks again!
Before I post on anything important, I have to talk about the food. There was hardly any of it available.
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p>The AFL/CIO breakfast which officially started at 9:00 am had run entirely out of food by 9:01 am. That was ridiculous! Especially since they were there to support John Kerry.
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p>The concession stands were also out of all food except pretzels by the time I got there for my lunch.
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p>Then off to the Lowell High School. Since I had no food I went to the cafeteria to check out the vending machines. These also were almost completely empty of all choices, but I did manage to purchase a small bag of Sun Chips.
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p>I know someone who brought a sandwich, who was asked by security to throw it away because they couldn’t allow outside food in.
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p>I do understand that venues have food agreements that require you to use their food vendors and not allow people to bring in their own food…but if they are going to enforce that rule, then please make them have enough food to feed the people at the venue.
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p>Okay the food thing isn’t exactly political, but it did make for a number of hungry, faint, grumpy delegates.
Things are pretty bad when I can’t even buy a Pepsi at 1 pm because the soda fountain is broken and there are no more cans or bottles left.
Limited choices and many items ran out.
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p>Kudos to whoever thought to at least include the bottled water in the convention bag.
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p>It was also uncomfortably cold in the upper benches.
…that I wasn’t the only one freezing in the upper benches!
There was water in the convention bag? I wouldn’t know, because they ran out of those, too!
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p>I hurried from the hotel where I chose not to eat to get to the breakfast where I found no food. (Thank goodness there was still coffee!) After listening to various speeches, I entered the convention center to find there were no delegate bags left.
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p>I stood in line for half an hour for a (very) lousy steamed hot dog and a $3 bottle of water.
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p>After the convention and workshops, I hurried to the block party, where I spent $16. (yes, that’s sixteen) on a Margarita and 2 (canned) lemonades. A friend bought sandwiches; I don’t know how much they cost, only that she was in sticker price shock. Another friend, a vegetarian, just went home.
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p>Otherwise, I (REALLY!) thought the day was splendid!
I was quite bummed to see all the campaign schwag – really, how many bags does one need. Unfortunately, most everything else will end up in landfills…
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p>At least we can wear the t-shirts…
I brought my 15 year old daughter with me – my local Drinking Liberally chapter had a table at the convention, and she volunteered to staff it while we were off being delegates.
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p>
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p>We got invited to the SEIU Local 509 breakfast, which had food at it, but when it came time for lunch, we left the arena and hit a nearby Subway sub shop. A bit of a hassle, but at least we had something to eat before the breakouts!
I had the opportunity to be introduced to the General Manager of Tsongas Arena after the convention and expressed the exact same sentiments about the food service. He was “extremely regretful” for what that is worth!
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p>I also will be in contact with memebrs of the Host Committee, most of whom are also members of the state democratic committee, within the next two weeks and will bring the issue up to them for what that’s worth. I am VERY upset that we delegates had to pay $75 and all we got were (donated) goody-bags (with almost nothing inside) and a cheap paper credential tag with a cheap elastic lanyard. My wife volunteered for late registration and told me that lanyards for the late registrants ran out VERY quickly and there were many upset delegates and I don’t blame them considering late registrants paid $25 more than others. This will also be brought to the attention of the Host Committee members.
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p>I can understand the venues needing the revenue from concessions otherwise the cost of rental would be much increased but why can’t the venue be contracted by MassDems to provide a box lunch for each delegate and alternate? Would seem thats the least they should do for our $75!! Heck, the alternates paid the same $75 and didn’t even get the privilege of voting (unless they replaced a missing delegate)!
hope that the MADems continue to scrimp on the credential tags and lanyards and goodie bags. Most of it is crap, most of it will end up in the trash or at the bottom of a closet for years on end, and I’d rather the MADems spend the money on something, anything that helps us get more Dems elected locally, statewide, and nationally.
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p>As for food, I snuck in three bananas and a handful of snack bars.
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p>P.S. I don’t share the grateful sentiments about the bottled water. What’s progressive about draining a natural aquifer in Maine, using oil to create plastic, and using oil to ship the water to Massachusetts?
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p>I prefer my water from reservoirs in Mass and delivered by pipeline, thankyouverymuch.
so much of our water comes from the Quabbin reservoir, which consistently ranks as one of the best water sources in the entire country.
I agree with Paul.
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p>Too cold…
Given the hot weather prediction and the warning “Because of the number of people present it can get quite warm.” (see page 3, MS Word) in the party’s pamphlet What to expect at the 2008 State Convention , I showed up in long slacks and a short-sleeved button-down shirt. Needless to say, I was totally under-prepared, I really should have brought my winter coat. It did not get warm in the arena, but rather freezing cold from constant full-power A/C. I was shivering in my seat by time the endorsement speeches started. Even DSC Chair John Walsh made a snarky comment about the A/C at one point during the proceedings. My question is how did that arctic blast make any sense from the perspective of human comfort, economics, or in terms of saving energy and protecting the environment? Clearly, none. The people with whom I walked outside after the morning session shared my sense of happiness as we thawed in the warm afternoon air.
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p>Low food quantity and quality…
The crappy $10 bag lunches at last year’s convention were still much better than the dismal dietary options we were treated to this year. This time, attendees were presented with long lines at the concession stands, an assortment of unhealthy overpriced menu options (greasy pizza and hot dogs), and the double whammy of a prohibition on carried-in food and a lack of alternative food establishments in the immediate walkable vicinity. I was especially impressed with the high prices at one concession stand that, having sold out of all its other food, began selling plain Portuguese rolls for $2 each.
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p>I had also attended the AFL-CIO breakfast around 9am and found no food there other than coffee. Good thing I ate some breakfast at home before I came.
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p>Too expensive…
On Feb 9th, 2008 I sent the following letter to Chairman John Walsh and did not get a satisfying response. The message remains relevant:
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p>
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p>His response email said he would be happy to discuss this issue with me on the phone (meaning he wasn’t comfortable putting anything in writing in an email)
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p>Lack of public transportation…
For a convention that made so much of protecting the environment, there were zero accommodations for busing people from the arena to the local commuter rail station which was over a mile away (yes, probably walkable for most people, but definitely a burden for the disabled and elderly in the hot weather).
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p>Too many awkward breaks in the program…
On multiple occasions, one segment of the morning proceedings would end, to be immediately followed by an empty stage, silence, and no signal of what would come next. That’s just poor execution and invites absenteeism as people leave their seats to wander around or use the bathroom.
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p>We all deserve an apology from the party and from the facilities management at the Tsongas Arena for these mistakes and a commitment that they’ll do better next year!
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p>On the bright side…
I was very impressed with O’Reilly’s fiery speech and glad to see him get on the primary ballot with almost 22% of the votes. Kerry’s speech was also very good. The singer for the Star Spangled Banner was phenomenal as was the motivational speech by Van Jones. Props to the party for at least staying mostly on schedule.
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p>Workshop
I attended the “Ideas in Action” workshop which provided many valuable ideas for grassroots organizing. I thought it would have been better if we had a facilitator to run the session, because our wonderful panel of speakers sometimes seemed unorganized about who should speak when. But in general, it was very interesting and informative.
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p>-Barry in Somerville
but it may have been the only one — and it was out of nearly everything by 1 pm.
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p>And yes, I’m another delegate who froze. Knowing that the weather outside was going to scorch, I wore short pants and didn’t bring a sweater. Not the best decision.
It was so hot I thought I was going to collapse!
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p>I agree it was cold in the arena, but the AC was a definite plus. As my mother always says when she goes into buildings with an AC, “bring a jacket.” Going to something like the movies, it doesn’t matter if it’s 95, she never goes inside without something in case she gets the AC shivers. Remember, it’s always easy to warm yourself up… never easy to cool yourself down. Be thankful the arena was cool instead of hot – cool is an inconvenience, hot is a public health danger.
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p>Also, $75 is expensive – I agree – but you have to consider the even greater expense of leasing out an entire building like the Tsongas arena. It probably cost the state tens of thousands of dollars – and almost assuredly more than the cost of your fee. Furthermore, there are fee waivers that I bet the state is generous in granting.
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p>On the food, you’re absolutely right. It was expensive; there was a clear lack of choices and none of it was really good. The soda I drank was very watery – and I didn’t really want soda to begin with.
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p>Over all, I thought the Tsongas arena was a great choice. There will never be a perfect choice, but it was clean, there was plenty of room, plenty of space for booths, a good speaker/tv-feed system and maybe even a tad too much AC, which is sure better than none. Next time, they need to put a little more thought into handicap access and food, but those were really the only two serious improvements they need to make for next time.
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p>It makes engineering sense to overcool the building. The problem is that they (i) don’t know how many people will show up within an order of 500, (ii) don’t know the outside temperature with perfect precision 4 hours ahead of time, (iii) don’t know the cloud cover with perfect precision 4 hours ahead of time, and (iv) can’t guarantee that all of the fans, air handling units, and chillers will be fully operational 100% of the time.
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p>Given these four factors, all large spaces must always remain “overcooled”. The reality is that it’s always easier to let the building move upward a degree or two or even five. Simply turning off the chillers will do it, or if you really want to crank up the heat open up the dampers and run on the economizer cycle, bringing in more outside air than under normal operations.
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p>Conversely, once the building hits a critical temperature, it’s impossible to cool it back down. I don’t know what that temperature would be in Tsongas [a function of the building, the equipment, the outside temperature and sunlight and time of day, the number of people inside the building], but I do know that once you hit that point, running all the AC on full blast can’t bring it back down.
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p>So, if your job is to ensure comfort, which is a better gamble? Overcool by a few degrees, knowing you can always warm the building quickly and cheaply, or undercool by a few degrees, which could very likely result in a runaway building where the temperature continues to climb even with the AC on full blast, and resulting in far greater discomfort and a health hazard? I’m not arguing that the building couldn’t have stood to be a degree or two warmer and still been in a safe zone; I have no idea since I don’t know the layout of the ventilation, nor do I know the CFMs of their fans or the BTUs of their chillers. I’m simply arguing that climate control is complicated, and all buildings must err on the side of too cool in the cooling season.
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p>
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p>This isn’t some academic theoretical problem. There have been documented recent cases where a building went runaway for the summer. An entire American skyscraper not able to get the temperature back below 72 degrees, in spite of the AC running full blast 24/7. The problem wasn’t the heat per se — other buildings were still 70 degrees. The problem was that once you hit the critical temperature, you just can’t recover. Because of this, every HVAC manager always errs on the side of overcooling. You just never know when the confluence of a sudden increase in temperature happens at the same time as your chiller goes down and the same time as an extra 1000 people show up bringing their own heat and door opening with them.
…I knew this was your work, stomv. You have some of the most interesting and practical knowledge on this site, and I wanted to take a sec to tell you that there’s few from whom I learn so much online as you.
Next time I will write, “Dress in layers. Temperatures in a large arena with a potentially large number of people can vary tremendously.” It’s always a challenge to be concise yet get the meaning across. Any other suggestions for “What to Expect at the State Convention” guide? It’s gone through a number of incarnations, starting with my own district, and eventually was the basis for the Deval Patrick Delegate Guide in 2006. This was the first time it was used as an MDP document. It was actually very well received and I hope that we continue this effort.
I do like it that the conventions have been including these workshop sessions in the past few years. I think it adds a lot of value to the convention for those who stay for them.
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p>I attended
Turning Democratic Ideas into Democratic Action, Now!
The Ideas in Action How to Guide
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p>The workshop wasn’t exactly what I was expecting based on the description (although I can’t exactly seem to describe what I was expecting either), however I do think the presenters shared some really good ideas on how to get people to understand why they should join the Democratic Party and how to get people’s attention with limited resources. For example they have created a really good brochure that anyone can edit for their district to distribute and recruit people to our party.
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p>It bothers me that so many delegates don’t bother to show up at the convention. They get elected and then find something “better” to do with their time. I understand that sometimes things come up in June that you might not have foreseen in February, but I think a lot of it is that they just don’t want to bother. Unexpected events or illness can not possibly account for the number of people who don’t come. Why do they bother to run? Sure they all show up every four years for the Governor’s race convention, but don’t think it is necessary to come to the other three years. It is important! Either run and come or don’t run and let someone else go.
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p>I really liked the free John Kerry reusable cloth shopping bag. Better than just the regular tote bag we usually get at conventions. Something anyone who buys groceries needs. A great environmentally conscious idea for campaign bling.
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p>I got some good pins, some good literature on issues, signed a few petitions and postcards to my legislators, chatted with friends from other districts. As always I enjoyed everything except the food.
the reason that many people don’t show up is the sheer chaos the convention has been at times. People mean well; they go to the caucuses and plan to participate, but after decades of madness – well, it takes its toll. And then, they change their minds. But I can’t blame them totally; I’ve been at the convention when it has dragged on for hours…with candidates’campaign staff begging us not to go home…no air conditioning….no water….no food and lines at the ladies room that rival the Tower of Terror ride at Disney World.
Between the costs (registration, lunch, gas, time), the general chaos and food (quality, lack thereof), I decided not to even run as a delegate this year. I contributed the money I would have spent directly to candidates. I wasn’t the only one. We only had half as many people running for delegates as our town was alloted. Most of those elected were union members.
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p>Whereas, lots of the union people are reimbursed for their costs and get invited to private events (with food) hosted by their unions, us non-insider, non-union delegates just wander around in limbo.
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p>Until recently, when my state senator became senate president, the seats for my delegation were way up in a balcony, where we could hardly hear or be heard.
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p>I will go to nominating conventions, if I’m needed, but I feel the most of the time the party gets more money from these conventions than it gives back. This should not be a fundraiser. Who is on this convention organizing committee? They don’t seem to put much effort or thought into making it delegate-friendly.
to the fact that $75/per person even covers the cost of booking the Tsongas arena. I’m sure others kick in more than $75 and they at least break even, but I really don’t think it’s a big money maker for the state party. They’d be better off sending out a mailing! It’s more bang for your buck…
The convention itself was as good as can be expected. In terms of logistics, from where I was it went decently smoothly. One thing I’d like that would save lots of people time and trouble is a big sign above the registration table that reads “If you have your credentials, you don’t need to register”. I end up spending 10 minutes in that line every year.
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p>Every two years, though, I find myself wondering if it would really be that expensive to equip tellers with PDAs on which to record votes, then transfer the data onto a computer or two in the back to crunch the numbers. The teller would also keep a paper copy for any challenges, but this would at least speed up the process. Heck, put the results of each person’s vote on the MDP website if you want. Or failing that, give the tellers bullhorns as the party seems to select friendly efficient people for the job…who have incredibly soft voices.
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p>Per an earlier point, I’ve never seen enough food at a state convention…I guess that arena people just don’t figure it’s worth getting in the supplies and personnel that would meet our needs. At least the a/c was on, and the facilities were reasonably hygienic. The convention itself was pretty well on time…I was pleasantly surprised at how well they kept schedule, and it’s no easy task limiting some of those folks to shorter remarks. Good call getting such a close, accessible site for the workshops.
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p>And plus ça change, plus ça même chose. I think John Walsh is doing a pretty good job as state cte chair, but the party system is bigger than any one man and the demands clearly haven’t much changed. John Walsh acted just like Phil Johnston up there, hearing the votes he wanted to hear, not hearing the ones he didn’t. Playing games on behalf of the candidate the party machinery favors and being trite about it afterward. I don’t blame John per se — it’s the nature of the job. Four, eight years from now when a new new campaign arises and grumbles about Walsh the Hack in the process, I hope they’ll remember 2007-2008.
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p>I ended up going to the education forum rather than the blogging one, and joined about 35 others in a discussion about necessary and desired steps for Deval Patrick to take on education. The panel (consisting of a union rep from Boston, a member of Deval’s Readiness Project*, and a “readiness rep”, moderated by a teacher) offered useful and brief introductory remarks, and it really turned into a discussion. There was a good sense of community as people gave their reactions and suggestions, which were noted by the panel. It was a good mix of stakeholders and interested delegates in the room, and it a good discussion that kept almost all members until the final end. It’s great to be talking about education in a room full of people interested in education, and it was good to see the issue at least somewhat recognized by the party. It’s a shame that nobody in an official government capacity stopped by or participated, however.
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p>I will admit that at the discussion that I did express surprise that this “readiness project” is tied so directly to Deval Patrick as an individual rather than his administration, his party, or his state. Tying a ten-year plan so strongly to one person isn’t the best idea, especially if that man isn’t the most popular in the state at the moment and is a good candidate to be working in Washington, DC in a year’s time (and, oh the gnashing of teeth that accompanied that point!)
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p>*The person who decided to promote an educational policy drive with t-shirts reading “are you ready? i am” should be slapped.
You probably missed it when the speakers were introduced–the room was noisy at the time–but Michele Norman, the panelist who you describe as a member of the Readiness Project is actually “official government.” She is the Policy Director in the Office of the Governor’s Special Advisor for Education.
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p>Thanks for commenting on the workshop! (Disclosure: I was one of the workshop planners.)
from David Eisenthal here.
Kate, you did a great job managing our senate district and Keeping Jamie Eldrige close so you could get his vote :-). Also thanks for getting my credentials straight. I never realized you were a blogger here. I used to be a regular (you can read some of my old posts) but once I started my business, I had to give up the writing.
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p>I do come back occasionally to get the blue view of things along with depth and insight well beyond the local press.
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p>Smart Mass
(Mark)
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p>(BTW the name Smart Mass comes from a blog I used to run called “Smart Mass, Dumb Mass, Which “M” is silent?)
Mark, I was glad that both you and Jamie were able to vote. We have a good delegation. I’ve been blogging here for a while, usually focusing on MDP issues, and campaigns in our area, and occasionally elsewhere. Thanks for your kind words. Kate
…over here at DailyKos:
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p>http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
I have them posted on BlogLeft Mass, in the file section. I think people will have to join the group to get access to the files, but all you need is a yahoo account.
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p>There’s a general overview on blogging, as well as my “tech stuff” presentation – which includes detailed instructions on creating a free podcast, and on various tools to make your blog even better. As time goes by, I’ll improve the Tech Stuff presentation to include even more detailed instructions on how to do certain things, but for now if there’s something on there anyone needs help with, just send me an email. Finally, we’ll get the Netroots 101 presentation up there as well.
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p>To get a yahoo account.
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p>Go to yahoo.com
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p>Press “sign in” on the right-hand side of the page.
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p>It’ll take you to the sign-in page. Below where it says sign it, it says “Don’t have a Yahoo ID? Signing up is easy.” Click the “Sign Up” button.
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p>Fill out the page, then click “create account.”
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p>You’ll get a confirmation email to your primary email account that you have to open up and press “Important. Click here to activate your new account.”
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p>Then, to sign up to BlogLeft Mass, just click on the link at the top of this page and press “Join this Group” and fill out that page, then press “Join.”
Thanks for posting this!
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p>I was the one who joined the group late yesterday, and I didn’t take any notes, so I appreciate your post.
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p>I’m sorry I missed part of the session, but was happy to catch as much of it as I did.
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p>Very worthwhile!
to see the similarities and differences between yahoo and google groups. The podcasting info was interesting too. Looks like fun. I dont think I will have time to try it for a while but hopefully can give it a look next weekend.
I think one of the reasons the food ran out so early at the breakfast is confusion about the time. The “call to convention” had the time listed as 9:00, but the schedule that the welcome committee emailed Wednesday night had the start time as 8:30. There were already a couple hundred people there when I got to the breakfast around 8:40.
The first train from Boston arrived in Lowell at 8:43. Add in the time to get out of the station, ride my bike to Tsongas Arena, lock it up, and walk to the breakfast, and …. there was no breakfast left. Just coffee.
By the time vote totals were finally announced, many delegates had long left the convention hall. It should not take 90+ minutes to total two columns of 40 rows.
is done in 5% of the time. The remaining 95% of the time? Contesting individual votes, auditing, that sort of thing. I have no idea; I wasn’t in the room. That’s my guess though.
Having sat through the Shannon O’Brien endorsement fiasco, and some other long boring conventions, this bugs me more and more every convention. I simply cannot believe that there is not some technology that can address this issue. Barcode anyone? Handheld devices? Anything is better than some poor teller trying hear, and be heard, in a noisy convention hall. This isn’t 1956 for god’s sake.
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p>Why do we need to vote in senate districts anyway? Don’t we trust the town chairs to count their own votes?
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p>The bigger issue is why we just sit there while the counting going on? We have other business, let’s move on and get it done. Let the counters do whatever it is they do (technology, technology, technology) but bring on the next speaker, or whatever.
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p>
Thanks all for your input in so many areas. This is a great way to get information.
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p>I’m especially looking for feedback on workshops. Knowing what interests people and where we can improve is very helpful.
Given that so many conventions and meetings are in locations where food and other necessities are not available to purchase, I think that logistics should get more consideration. Folk crab about delegates who are no shows – I think a reasonable focus on basic human needs [food, water, access] would lead to fewer no-shows.
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p>There should be some level of food/water available for the post-convention work shops.
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p>Delegates should be able to bring in simple food like peanut butter sandwiches. There has not been “enough” food at any convention I have been to – vendors who stock good food at a reasonable price will sell out even if delegates can bring in peanut butter sandwichs! I promise!!
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p>I also ate a stale, bitter lettuce ham sandwhich which cost $6.00 and was the nastest ham sandwich I have ever eaten.
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p>Like many others, I cannot stand in line for an extended period. I won’t bore you with my health issues, but “cannot” is accurate.
This year, for the first time, the State Party’s Youth Services Committee asked each Democratic Town or Ward Committee Chair to select one male and one female high school student delegate to attend the convention (with a chaperone) and the students watched the Convention and participated in special youth programming.
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p>Senator Kerry, Congressman Tierney and several other elected officials and activists greeted the students during the convention and the youth programming included three speakers–Sen. Benjamin Downing, Lt. Governor Murray and Van Jones–as well as a panel of youth who are already active and four break-out sessions lead by young panelists/organized groups.
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p>Any feedback from youth delegates?