Last weekend's Netroots Nation event was a fantastic opportunity for the Courage Campaign to convey its knowledge and leadership to the broader online progressive community. We participated on three panels, and were actively engaged in discussions and events all weekend long.

In case you missed these panels, or were unable to attend Netroots Nation, here are the live streams of two of the three panels:

California's Challenge: From "Failifornia" to Progressive Laboratory (with Robert Cruickshank): http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8443890

Organizing the Equality Movement in the Obama Era (with Rick Jacobs): http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8460661

The third panel, on "Political Persuasion," was not filmed.

Last week the annual Netroots Nation conference was held in Pittsburgh, and the Courage Campaign was there to share our knowledge of online organizing and progressive activism with bloggers from across the country.

Managing Director Eden James spoke about turning red districts blue, sharing his experiences from the successful effort to elect Jerry McNerney in California's 11th Congressional district in 2006. Online Political Director Julia Rosen spoke about applying the lessons of the 2008 presidential campaign to state and local races, as well as on where the marriage equality movement needs to go in the aftermath of Prop 8's passage.

The Courage Campaign also helped convene a meeting of bloggers to do specific work planning for the Maine marriage equality battle coming up this fall.

For my part, alongside participating in the above, I joined fellow Calitics blogger David Dayen, candidate for Assembly district 21 Kai Stinchcombe, and the incomparable Jean Ross of the California Budget Project for a panel to discuss California's economic and political crisis.

I received a lot of feedback from panel attendees that it was one of the best panels of the weekend - which, aside from being flattering, is quite a statement considering how good the other discussions had been.

Dante Atkins, an LA-based blogger and activist, transcribed our panel's discussion, and that transcript is offered below. The panel was a good opportunity to build momentum for the coming battles over taxes, public services, the state budget, and the future of our democracy. The Courage Campaign staff fully intend to continue helping our members play a central role in solving these problems.   Read More »