We are pleased to announce that Sen. Hillary Clinton confirmed her participation in the Presidential Leadership Forum to be held August 4 in Chicago.
Sen. Clinton, New York's Senator since 2000 and former First Lady, joins Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Sen. Christopher Dodd as a participant in the event—the first ever collaborative presidential forum with both a respected blogger and a leading member of the traditional media as moderators. Confirmations from other candidates are forthcoming.
We'd like to remind potential attendees that registration for this event closes on July 14th at midnight pacific time.
We'd like to remind organizations interested in sponsoring the YearlyKos Convention that a sponsorship opportunity is still available for this event. Please contact Linda Lee at linda@yearlykosconvention.org if you are interested in learning more.
You'll find the full press release below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Second annual convention invites candidates to answer questions from the blogosphere and engage netroots participants in unscripted citizen dialogue.
JULY 12, 2007—YearlyKos Convention organizers announced today that Sen. Hillary Clinton confirmed her participation in the Presidential Leadership Forum to be held August 4 in Chicago.
Sen. Clinton, New York's Senator since 2000 and former First Lady, joins Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Sen. Christopher Dodd as a participant in the event—the first ever collaborative presidential forum with both a respected blogger and a leading member of the traditional media as moderators. Confirmations from other candidates are forthcoming.
Organizers say the forum is an opportunity to use technology to empower citizens to engage and evaluate America's potential leaders, both face-to-face and online. Many candidates already frequently use sites such as Daily Kos to dialogue with the public.
Matt Bai, writer for The New York Times Magazine and author of a book on Democratic politics to be released in August, and Joan McCarter, contributing editor at Daily Kos, will moderate. Author and blogger Dr. Jeffrey Feldman will facilitate questions from convention attendees and those submitted in advance from tens of thousands of blog readers.
"Our goal is to provide a citizen-driven forum by truly democratizing the discussion and providing a meaningful role for regular citizens and grassroots movements to engage, vet and judge our country's potential leaders," said YearlyKos Convention Executive Director Gina Cooper.
Organizers are asking candidates to spend time in intimate, unscripted citizen dialogues with attendees, encouraging substantive discussions that transcend the competitive nature of most joint appearances on the campaign trail.
"We live in an Internet age with an abundance of information, and while we can visit a website to read about a candidate's policies or hear the latest speech, there is still no substitute for real live answers to real life questions," said Cooper. "The forum is an opportunity to have a discussion about the issues that matter and hear detailed responses to the questions America needs answered."
YearlyKos Convention 2007 will take place August 2–5, 2007 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to the forum, the conference will include panels and caucuses led by national and international experts; prominent nationally recognized political, issue and policy-oriented speakers; a progressive film screening series; and the most concentrated gathering of high-profile progressive bloggers to date.
The forum and convention are open to media coverage. For more information about the YearlyKos Convention or for credentials, visit www.yearlykosconvention.org/press.
ABOUT YEARLYKOS CONVENTION
The YearlyKos Convention is an annual convention gathering people from all walks of life who belong to the Netroots community, the US-based (but globally focused and inclusive) non-partisan grassroots community that uses the internet and blogs as primary tools for expressing viewpoints; building consensus; acting to change the status quo; mobilizing huge numbers of people and informing each other and the world about current events, grassroots actions, networks, meetings, policy and more.
