Hundreds of Conservative Online Activists from Coast-to-Coast, Oct. 10-11

Bloggers and online activists from around the country will be gathering at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA tomorrow for RightOnline, a training conference where they will learn how to use online resources more effectively to change the political landscape on free-market issues such as taxes, spending, and pro-growth economic policies. RightOnline kicks off Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s 2nd national Defending the American Dream Summit – the 1,800-plus crowd of citizens from 38 states around the country make the event the largest gathering in the nation of free-market activists and leaders.

Any bloggers or new media activists interested in attending should e-mail newmedia@afphq.org for free blogger credentials.

Friday Schedule
RightOnline – Internet Training Seminars - 9:00am – 1:45pm

Samsphere (Presented by the Sam Adams Alliance)
9:00-11:30am – Salon K
EM Zanotti & Eric Odom
Samsphere is a new media forum for existing bloggers and e-activists. This provides the opportunity for online advocates from across the country to gather, network, and share ideas.

Online Identity Management Bootcamp (Presented by the Lucy Burns Institute)
9:00-11:30am - Lee
Leslie Graves
A seminar for bloggers, e-activists, and representatives from conservative organizations, with a focus on improving your online presence.

Online Activism Workshops (Presented by the Leadership Institute)
9:00-10:00am - Blogging 101: If You Blog It, They Will Come – Robert Bluey, The Heritage Foundation

10:00-11:00pm - Online Video – “YouTubing” Compelling Videos – Mary Katharine Ham, The Weekly Standard / HamNation

11:00-12:00am - New Media – Social Networking: Getting Tapped In – Christopher Malagisi, Leadership Institute

12:00-12:45pm - Lunch

12:45-1:45pm - Wikipedia – Total Reputation Management – William Beutler, New Media Strategies

You may remember a couple of months ago when Sen. Barack Obama lectured Americans that "we can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."

So imagine our surprise yesterday when we saw a large crowd gathered around two large Chevy Suburban SUVs outside the Mayflower Hotel in Washington and learned that none other than Sen. Obama was there and about to depart in one of the SUVs. Of course, we quickly called back to the office, which is only a block away, and got our trusty video camera so we could document the event.

Turns out Sen. Obama was at the Mayflower for a $10,000-a-photo fundraising lunch, according to the Washington Post. So while he recently chided Americans to give up their SUVs, not eat as much as they want and turn off the AC, it appears that he yesterday enjoyed a fancy lunch with fat cat donors, then rode away in an air-conditioned SUV. (Which, in fairness, we point out is probably encouraged by the Secret Service because it's so much safer than compact cars like the Prius. Which is precisely why Sen. Obama shouldn't support policies that lead to higher gas prices and make it harder for average American families to own SUVs if they want the safety they provide.)

In any case, here's our video from the scene:

[Blog post cross-posted from Ed Frank @ Americans for Prosperity.]

I'm on my way to Austin, TX for American for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream Summit.

I'm not alone.

Countless others are making the trek to train local Texas activists and bloggers to be effective:

David All, Joe Mansour, Matt Sheffield, Sendhil Panchadsaram, David Almacy, Vincent Harris, Steve Stapleton, William Beutler, Danny Glover and Robert Bluey are all traveling to make a difference for the conservative movement.

All of these people (and many more) are engaged in Leadership Institute New Media training tomorrow.

Look forward to live updates from the event and please feel free to offer comments & to suggest prime locations to hang out in Austin.

The Leadership Institute is working with Americans for Prosperity's Erik Telford to put together top-notch Internet training for local conservative activists and bloggers at AFP's RightOnline, Defending the American Dream Summit on July 18th & 19th in Austin, TX.

The result is a cutting-edge program and a step in the right direction for the conservative movement.  This is the first of many more opportunities for online trainers to go where our local activists are -- to train them on the ground to be more effective online. 

I'm so grateful to the speakers who are a part of this important training on July 18th:

David All (Slatecard.com), Sendhil Panchadsaram(Slatecard.com), Joe Mansour (David All Group), Robert Bluey (Heritage Foundation), David Almacy (Waggener Edstrom), William Beutler (New Media Strategies), Steve Stapleton (KMA Communications), Vincent Harris (Senator John Cornyn), Danny Glover (Eyeblast.tv) and Matt Sheffield (Newsbusters) and so many other prominent conservative voices.

 You can check out the entire program and register at Rightonline.