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 Many people don’t know this about Netroots Nation – so we're sharing the tea. When you get 3,000+ leaders, activists and candidates together in one space for a few days, ideas start flowing. Plans get hatched; connections are made; careers are born and new initiatives are launched. And as an attendee, you get in on all of it.
My now business partner, Vicki Roush, and I had an unusual idea, and we wanted to see if it would fly. So where did we launch it? Netroots Nation, of course.
We’d both been attending Netroots since its earliest days, each in different capacities. I’ve been a political professional my entire career, and Netroots Nation was a great place to network and learn new skills. Vicki had been an activist for many years, especially in abortion access, starting when she helped women get abortions before Roe. For her, Netroots was a place to connect with like-minded activists, get a front row seat to the biggest names in Democratic politics, and preview progressive rising stars.
We met and bonded over our love of the social justice movement and the socializing at the many happy hours that pop up after sessions. We noticed something about the movement –too many of our leaders lacked the ability to convey their vision and values in a way that made an impact.
Vicki had been performing as an actor and singer since she was two years old, and I was a rising executive. In our own ways, we analyzed the same problem. Our leaders deserve to be heard, so we combined our experience and launched a new organization to help them do just that – dedicated communications coaching for the movement. But we wondered: Would it work? And where would we start?
We launched Convey Communications at Netroots Nation, taught a couple of training sessions, and right away signed our first non-profit. And then another, and then another.
Now, we attend every year. And every year we reach more people, provide more coaching, and renew old friendships. As Vicki says, “Netroots Nation is kind of like an annual pilgrimage."
Join me at Netroots Nation in New Orleans this year. Come to connect, to learn, to launch, to witness, and to dive in. The movement needs you, and all that you have to offer.
I hope Vicki and I get to meet you there.
Arshad Hasan
Convey Communications
PS: You can register for the conference (August 7-9) at this link.
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