I flew into Philly early Wednesday. I always attend Netroots Nation 2019 a day early to volunteer and to set up for Politics Done Right. I flew in a bit earlier than usual to optimize on the points I had, read, the first leg of my ticket was free by taking a near, red-eye.
I got in at 12:05 AM on Wednesday. My thirty-one-year-old Uber driver asked what I was doing in town and what I did. I explained that to her that Netroots Nation was the largest Progressive Conference in the country. I told her many presidential candidates, senators, congresspersons, and other politicians along with community activists, bloggers, and writers would be here. She said that she was not into politics and many of her peers aren’t but that she felt that she needed to be doing something. After we got to the hotel, she had so many questions, she turned her engine off and just kept talking and asking questions. I think there is a new activist in our fold.
I got to the hotel, and of course, was told my check-in would not be until that afternoon. I expected that. I did not want to purchase another hotel day for just a few hours. Frugality is the name of the game now. No problem since I could work in the lobby, skip sleep for the night and go to bed earlier than normal on Wednesday night. After having some good conversation with attendant including talking about Panama which she was fond of likely because she said a Panamanian friend gave her an everlasting leather bag, she told me to hold tight and checked me in by 5 AM after the computer updated or something like that. Just being respectful and nice elicits reciprocity many times. It is upsetting to see how many of these very important workers are treated with disdain or with invisibility.
Netroots Nation 2019
I got three hours sleep as I wanted to scope out the convention center as I knew I would not set up Politics Done Right until after volunteering.
We busted our butts to get the tables set up for an army of volunteers who would stuff the swag bags. It took several hours to build several thousand bags.
After helping build and stack thousands of SWAG bags I set up the Politics Done Right booth. I was so tired I forgot to take a picture. I will have one for Day 1.
I was very late to the Daily Kos meetup and party. As walked there with a friend we kinda got lost after we put the wrong info in Google maps. Suffice it to say it was great seeing dozens of friends at the party and throughout the day.
This is a hell of a group doing a lot to make a change. If there is any doubt, there are over 300 media folks that are going to be here beginning tomorrow. Radio Row is huge this year and Pacifica Network’s KPFT 90.1 FM Houston via Politics Done Right is well represented in a coveted position on the floor. The interviews start tomorrow and will be immediately available to our subscribers and supporters. If you are a subscriber or donor and did not get a notification, please drop me a line.