RightOnline 2009: Pictures, Tweets, C-SPAN, and Comments

Many activists from both the political left and political right met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last week to discuss political matters, and the way “new media” affects communicating with the public.

Four years ago the left started YearlyKos, which was later renamed NetRoots.  Last year they held their third annual convention in Austin, Texas in August.  The now 4th annual NetRoots Nation 2009 was held last week in the convention center in downtown Pittsburgh.  Portions of NetRoots Nation 2009 could be viewed online courtesy of SEIU TV and online or via cable TV on C-SPAN.

Two years after the left started YearlyKos, the political right started a convention last year and held it in Austin, Texas to discuss similar issues.  The right called their convention RightOnline 2008.  Following the left again, the right held their RightOnline 2009 convention on Thursday and Friday across the Monongahela river from downtown Pittsburgh and Netroots Nation. The two groups were separated only by a mile or so but there was little interaction between the groups.

The pictures, tweets, and comments below are from my visit to RightOnline. See the RightOnline agenda online for brief information about all the sessions. You could see parts of RightOnline on C-SPAN.

RightOnline Opening Panel: Winning in a Web 2.0 World

Opening Panel: Winning in a Web 2.0 World

Tweets (I have “protected” Tweets @efg2)

• 12:36 RightOnline meeting in Pittsburgh starting: Winning in a Web 2.0 World
• 12:48 #Righton hash tag being explained

360 Integration: How the Internet Affects Every Aspect of Your Organization

Tweets

• 13:31 @MelissaTweets Good to see Melissa again. She won the “Sammie” in Chicago in April for microblogging #RightOn
• 13:47 Next to local Pittsburgh reporter in session about Internet affecting organization. He visited NetRoots yesterday, #RightOnline today.
• 14:01 #RightOn speaker claims Brownback for President campaign helped shoot Romney down in Iowa primary via a targeted E-mail list.
• 14:12 Ballotpedia credited with helping folks find info about local ballot issues at #RightOn
• 14:29 #RightOn Pittsburgh Post Gazette blogger’s story that he just posted http://bit.ly/GL3xR

Session: Protecting Patients' Rights: The Threat of Government Run Health Care

Tweets

• 14:46 Next #RightOn session for me is about health care reform
• 14:55 #RightOn If profit on health care is bad, is profit by farmers on food bad?
• 15:30 Folks at #RightOn in Pitt. PA not enthusiastic about health care policy being set by HHS Kathleen Sebelius
• 15:44 #RightOn Is health care debate really about shifting 17 percent of economy to government?

“More Websites” shown in slide above:

• http://healthcare.cato.org/
• http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/
• http://www.cprights.org/
• http://joinpatientsfirst.com/
• http://patientsunitednow.com/
• http://healthcarehorserace.com/
• http://www.cahi.org
• http://www.galen.org/
• http://www.chcchoices.org/
• http://www.ncpa.org/

Session: YouTubing Activism: Utilizing Online Video

I found out I “should” have a better camera.  But cheaper cameras, including Flip cameras, still have a place in communicating to the public, especially events not covered by the mainstream press.

"Keep Your Hands Off My Organs"

I’ve attended outdoor rallies from Feb. through August, in 22 to nearly 100-degree weather, but this is the first rally I’ve attended that was held indoors.  A nice change.

I probably should not nitpick, but the American flag was not on its own right at the dinner or during Saturday sessions.  The #12 item on the list of Flag Rules and Regulations should be studied before next year’s RightOnline.

See speeches at this dinner on C-SPAN.

RightOnline 2009 General Session

Erik Telford, AFP’s Deputy Director of Communications, appeared on C-SPAN via Skype before the general session.

Erik Telford prepares to appear on C-Span

C-SPAN showed a good view of the audience from the back of the room:

C-Span at RightOnline 2009 General Session

See this general session on C-SPAN.  Look for the AM Session link here.

The RightOnline agenda shows most of the names of those giving brief talks on Saturday. There were a few TV appearances too, for example, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann from Minnesota spoke via video.

Here are some who addressed the general session:

Joe the Plumber

John Fund, Wall Street Journal

Erick Erickson, Red State

Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform

I was not thinking clearly and forgot to record audio from all the sessions, so I don’t have quotes from most of them.  In the middle of Jim Pinkerton’s talk I remembered to start recording, so I have a quote from him:

Jim Pinkerton, Fox News Contributor

“Fox isn’t conservative. It just looks conservative compared to the rest of the media.”

Jim Pinkerton pointed out an article by Phil Longman in the August Washington Monthly magazine, How software companies could screw up Obama’s health care reform.

Pinkerton said he feels so strongly about this issue he started his own web site:  Serious Medicine Strategy.

Maggie Thurber, AFP 2008 Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the Year and SamSphere Chicago friend from Toledo, Ohio introduced Michelle Malkin.

Michelle Malkin, Conservative columnist and author

Michelle greeted the audience: “Well, hello my fellow evil mongers”

Tweets:

• 07:17 Great #RightOn speakers today in Pittsburgh : Michelle Malkin, Grover Norquist, Steve Moore, John Fund, Joe the Plumber and others
• 09:24 Joe the Plumber the first speaker at #RightOn
• 11:29 Stephen Moore from WSJ talking about 3 evils in DC at #RightOn
• 11:31 Stephen Moore from WSJ says huge debt is financial child abuse at #RightOn
• 11:43 Maggie Thurber introducing Michelle Malkin at #RightOn
• 11:49 As government grows corruption flows – Michelle Malkin at #RightOn
• 11:57 #RightOn, Michelle Malkin: Sunlight is best disinfectant

Al Gore "Award for Excellence" to @MelissaTweets, Melissa Clouthier

Telford: “Give credit to our opponents on the left .. After all, Al Gore did invent the Internet. So, we’d like to recognize Melissa today with our Al Gore ‘Award for Excellence’.”  [Melissa was recognized with a "Sammie" in Chicago in April as the Sam Adams Alliance Microblogger of the Year.]

Rachel Alexander, AFP Activist of the Year

Rachel Alexander was recognized as the “Activist of the Year” for being a “force multiplier” via her training sessions in several states helping citizens get online.

After running late from talking with several friends, I took a quick picture of AFP’s “Hands Off My Healthcare” bus.  This is one of the buses worrying MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

AFP's Hands Off Healthcare Bus

Tweets

• 12:19 Met Ned Ryun from American Majority at #RightOn
• 13:52 By chance met my old boss from PPG Biomedical in Lenexa, KS from 1995 at #RightOn in Pittsburgh. Fun to chat about old times.

My PPG Biomedical boss returned to Pittsburgh when PPG Biomedical was sold in 1995.  I had not seen him since.

I was late to this session, but arrived in time for Horace Cooper to announce he had started a “Fight for Glenn Beck” website.

AFP’s Phil Kerpen and the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore also talked.

Update:  The “Regaining Prosperity” charts and graphs from Stephen Moore’s presentation can now be found here.

Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal, shows charts and graphs

Moore's Chart: Biggest Budget Items in U.S. History

Tweets

• 13:48 Fight for Glenn Beck announced at #RightOn: http://www.fightforglennbeck.blogspot.com/ Please RT
  • @WIBWBrianQuick reply: 13:54 ugh…Glenn Beck only rings true as a cartoon character to me…just like Fred Flinstone and Homer Simpson…but less entertaining.
• 13:57 @WIBWbrianquick Have you watched Glenn Beck, especially his “lectures” about the economy? Is $200,000 debt per person in US good?
  • @WIBWBrianQuick reply: 14:11 I’ve seen enough of his BS to make an informed decision…to change the channel.
• 14:21 @WIBWbrianquick Please look at economic facts regardless of the messenger. Will you believe Cato Institute source for economic facts?
  14:30 At #RightOn Stephen Moore from WSJ said wind and solar power big waste of federal dollars.

During Q&A perhaps I should have talked about Tweet replies above from @WIBWBrianQuick, a reporter and news anchor in Topeka, KS.  Is Brian Quick open to learning more about the very serious economic problems we’re facing?

Tweet: 14:49 Interesting session about detecting and countering media bias at #RightOn

Closing Panel: How the Right Can Win Online

See this closing session on C-SPAN.  Look for the PM Session link here.

Final Tweet: 15:21 Final session at #RightOn: Panel Rob Bluey, Erick Erickson, and Matt Lewis discussing future

The fifth annual Netroots Nation 2010 will be in Las Vegas next July 22-25.  The third annual RightOnline 2010 will also likely be in Las Vegas at the same time, but I can find no announcement of that yet.

Tags: #RightOn, @MelissaTweets, Americans for Prosperity, C-SPAN, Economy, Grover Norquist, Health Care, Jim Pinkerton, Joe the Plumber, John Fund, Media bias, Melissa Clouthier, Michelle Malkin, Netroots Nation, Pittsburgh, political left, political right, Rachel Alexander, RightOnline, Stephen Moore, Stimulus Spending