Self-Organizing Sessions

At the core of every movement is a set of values. Filmmakers Edwin Rutsch and Joan Kuenz will lead a discussion on the question, "What are Progressive Values?" We'll go through some brainstorming exercises and discussions that will prepare you for being interviewed on the topic. You can tell your personal story of how those values became important to you.

Over the course of the conference, each attendee will have the opportunity to have their stories, thoughts and feelings video taped for a documentary about Progressive Values. For more see;
http://ProgressiveSpirit.com and click on the Discuss link below.

Sure Conservative ideas and policies have failed, but the failures go even deeper to the very heart and essence of the conservative movement, to their Failed Conservative Values. If we have time, in this session, we will also pull back the mask of Family Values, Traditional Values, individual freedom, individual responsibility, individual liberty, compassionate conservativism to the underlying Failed Conservative Values of fear, authoritarianism, secrecy, greed, Indifference, self righteousness, hypocrisy, etc.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles are coming. Come learn how electricity can replace oil, how renewable energy can replace fossil fuels, and how electric cars can help solve America's oil dependence and global warming challenges.

Speakers:
Deron Lovaas, Vehicles Campaign Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
David Lake, Manager Advanced Technology Policy, General Motors
David Sandalow, Energy and Environment Scholar, The Brookings Institution
Tom Z. Collina, Executive Director, 2020 Vision (moderator)

Sponsored by 2020 Vision Education Fund, a non-partisan, public education organization promoting realistic solutions to America’s dependence on oil and to global climate change.

Join Rev. Ray Dubuque and Robert McElvaine for this session to discuss themes common to Bob's new book, Grand Theft Jesus and Ray's web site Liberals Like Christ: how the wolves in sheep's clothing of our day--James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Joel Osteen, Tim LaHaye, Ann Coulter, et. al.--have kidnapped Jesus and how progressives can free him to be again the champion of our causes.

The Jesus Thieves continue to be taken by most of the media as actual spokesmen for Christianity. Yet what they preach is precisely the opposite of what Jesus taught. They sell an "Easy Jesus," which is similar to plans that tell us we can "lose weight without diet or exercise." This one, "ChristianityLite," tells us that we can "be saved without sacrifice or good works." By their current test of authentic Christian faith, i.e. opposition to abortion and gay marriage, Jesus wasn't a genuine "Christian," because he didn't condemn either practice, though both were common in his day. What he did talk about, constantly, was helping the poor and nonviolence.

Former Republican African American Congressman J.C. Watts' father used to say, "A black man voting for a Republican is like a chicken voting for Col. Sander's." The same is true of "Christians." Conservative Republicans are going to rue the day that they turned Christians on to politics, as more and more of the 75% of American voters who identify themselves as "Christians" come to the conclusion that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was right when he said that "Jesus Christ was one of the greatest liberal leaders of all time." Progressives need to enlist Jesus Followers in the war for justice and equality and against oppression of the poor and the weak, against immoral government policies at home and immoral wars abroad.

Among the subtopics to be explored in this session is how biblical literalism (which actually takes literally almost nothing Jesus said--what it reduces to the "Suggestions on the Mount") is a legacy of slavery. However, there is in a South a very different form of Christianity, one that inspired slaves, abolitionists, and the Civil Rights Movement. It is those progressive Christians who can be won--and are being won--back to progressive causes.

Description of your session. Rep. John Conyers, Courtney Farr of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, and Miles Mogulescu of the Huffington Post will lead a discussion on building a mass movement for Universal Health Care.
Many progressives believe that the only solution to America's health care crisis is a single payer/Medicare-For All system like H.R. 676 which has been introduced in Congress by John Conyers with 76 Congressional Co-Sponsors and the endorsement of over 200 union locals. Other progressives, including the Campaign for America's Future and the leading Democratic Presidential candidates support health reform which builds on the current privave insurance system and adds a public alternative that people can buy into. This session will discuss how supporters of single payer can use the fact that the Democrats have put health care reform at the center of the national agenda to build a mass movement for Medicare-For-All that goes beyond the specific proposals of the Democratic candidates.

As the presidential campaign comes to Pennsylvania, is there a chance that the candidates - and the media - will address the issues that actually concern Pennsylvanians?

America's post-industrial Midwest is fast becoming the Resurgent Rust Belt through innovative economic development, community organizing and progressive political networks. Many of these states also happen to be key swing states every few years, when the attention of both coasts and the Beltway is suddenly drawn to the heartland. Ever wonder why it seems that in spite of that, so few of the real issues effecting our region's cities and states ever get discussed in the course of the election cycle?

A group of organizers from Iowa to Pennsylvania are working together to start building a shared, progressive policy agenda that can change this. We'd like you to join us with your deep thoughts, 2 cents-worth and general complaints -- and a commitment to being a part of the solution.

Sneak preview of some of today's topics on this week's edition of The 3rd Round.

There is now clear expert consensus that the American Dream is spinning us towards environmental and social catastrophe. Leading scientists report that the impact of industrial-consumerist culture is threatening to overwhelm our planet's ability to support life, while core American values of care, community, and international leadership have collapsed. Yet America's history is characterized by an impressive national capacity to re-write the human story for the better.

This session will take an in-depth look at the challenges arising from this dysfunctional model, and the traditional American values of ingenuity, community, individualism, and egalitarian democratic principals which can turn this off-course Titanic in a new direction, towards a technologically innovative, environmentally sustainable and socially just future that can serve as a model for developed and developing nations alike.

Panel and Audience will brainstorm on the most effective activism techniques for awakening our fellow citizens and influencing our "less-than-reponsive" government.

Stories use the language that touches the head AND the heart. Reaching both head and heart is what it takes to create a loyal supporter.

Any talk that has stories included in them will hold attention and touch the listener far more powerfully than a talk that is just about facts and issues.

This presentation will show you how to find the most powerful, most heart-touching stories in your life or organization and then work them into your presentations and weave your issues with the stories.

We'll discuss how to dig up, identify and analyze the stories in your life and other techniques for finding aspects of your or your group's identity, character and stories so you can use them to reach people by connecting with them through story, rather than just reaching them with words, talking to just the head.

You must be 18 or over to attend this session.
Enjoy a little spicy intercourse (conversation) with your breakfast croissant at this early morning session.
Along with a provocative on- the- spot survey to start us off, we'll explore the current influence of media, the Internet, government, corporate and even mom- and- pop America on your sexual speech and behavior. How important is sex to you and society ? Be surprised and expect to add controversy.

other panelists and multi-media ideas are welcome-- (this description willl be more fully expanded as the session more fully develops)

What happens when volunteers take charge. Grow your list, increase membership, elect a candidate, build a movement by providing an online house party program for your most passionate supporters. Engage your members and supporters to devise and take ownership of ideas and campaigns to grow your organization and effect change.

Discuss with David Salie best practices in developing and deploying a house party strategy for fundraising, listbuilding, member engagement, and media cultivation.

—
David Salie

Invited by Governor Howard Dean to work on his presidential campaign in 2002, David Salie became Dean for America's Director for House Party Fundraising. Over the course of the campaign, David built relationships with grassroots leaders nationwide, and developed a new outreach strategy for political campaigns.

Under David's leadership, the Dean House Party program engaged more than 80,000 participants and taught more than 3,500 supporters how to become grassroots leaders, and it raised more than $2 million for Governor Dean's campaign. "National House Party Days" became the signature events of the House Party program, with simultaneous nationwide gatherings, each featuring some form of live interaction with the candidate himself. The "New Year for America" event, for example, raised more than $850,000 and brought together 1,400+ separate house parties nationwide; an unprecedented feat.

David works with clients to replicate aspects of this grassroots outreach and fundraising model. Political campaigns, non-profit groups and businesses are all exploring how this outreach model can work for them. A key element of David's approach is to remind clients that success still comes from building relationships with people. Technological innovations are powerful indeed, but they are only part of a successful engagement strategy. By learning to balance the use of state-of-the-art technology and good old- fashioned personal engagement, David's clients learn to connect with more people, at a deeper level, in shorter time-frames.

As co-founder of Party2Win, Inc., David has used his party expertise to build a powerful party portal for organizations of all sizes. The site allows you to set up your party and guides you through creation and management of your party program.

Communicating successfully with mainstream Americans about progressive issues is our biggest challenge. We need to use language that can evoke the ideal American values we too share. In this session, we'll start with a brief overview of what The Metaphor Project provides free of charge online, to help progressives do this. Then we'll move on to best ways to use the MP's tested steps and tools (see http://www.metaphorproject.org) via a sample issue. We'll finish up by talking about what "speaking American" could do for your issue. (The Metaphor Project has been building progressive capacity to reach mainstream audiences since 1997.)

Please send any advance questions you might have about this demonstration mini-workshop to: sstrong@metaphorproject.org