From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…

3 weeks ’til Netroots Nation!

Haircut? Check. Pet sitter? Check. Tuxedo tank top for formal events? Check. Name tag reading “Studly McAwesome”? Check!!! With the Netroots Nation convention only 21 days away, we hope your to-do list is getting pared down, too. Here’s your weekly update:

• New speakers have been announced! Sorry to say, Keith Olbermann had to bow out of the convention due to health issues, but there will be no shortage of luminaries in Providence, including enough senators and representatives to pass our own laws. (All we need is for President Obama to show up and sign them. Pretty please, sir? It’s been five years since your Chicago visit and we miss you.) Just announced this week is a panel on the big stage that will address the Republican war on women. Participants are MA senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, WA congressional candidate Darcy Burner, HI congresswoman Mazie Hirono and moderator Amanda Terkel. Shall we all swoon together or do it in shifts?
• The full list of panels is here. Please note that the time and place of the panel called Stealth Tactics: How to Infiltrate Rival Campaigns Without Being Seen or Heard has a new location and time. It’s taking place five feet away from you right now.
• “Enlighten us, but make it quick.” That’s the slogan of the worldwide geekster phenomenon known as Ignite, which will be at NN12. It’s a speed presentation format where you talk for 5 minutes, accompanied by 20 slides, about an issue you care about. It gets recorded and uploaded for easy access. Sounds like fun—watch some examples here and you can submit your own idea here.
• Cheers to the Round 3 scholarship winners! Among them is Jesse LaGreca, aka MinistryOfTruth, who lent such a strong voice to the fledgling Occupy movement and rocked right-wing interviewers back on their heels. The full list of winners is here. I want your autographs. All of you.
• The block of discounted hotel rooms are all gone at the Westin and the Biltmore, but there may still be rooms available at the regular rate. Details here. You might try the Convention and Visitors Bureau site for other hotel options.
• The Netroots for the Troops blogathon produced several A+++ worthy posts over the past week. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated to help make the annual care package assembly event at NN12 another success on June 9. I know this sounds crazy, but…can we knock out another quick grand today?  Say, one hundred contributions of $ 10? The donation link is here.
• Yikes! The RSVPs for the June 6 C&J dinner/meetup at the Union Station Brewery rolled in fast, and all the seats were spoken for within a day. But there is some “unofficial” seating that the brewery is making available to us in an adjacent section. If you’d like to join us, please RSVP to my partner, Michael, at cuckolds04103 [at] gmail.com ASAP. We gotta give ‘em a final head count next week.
• To register for the convention, click here.
• To stay in the loop, get on the email list and follow NN12 on Facebook and twitter.

Oh, and if you live in Wisconsin (or thereabouts), there’s a Netroots Wisconsin event in Chippewa Falls Sunday, including screenings of We Are Wisconsin and Koch Brothers Exposed, the latter of which I’ve been assured does not contain any nude Koch brother mud-wresting (although lord knows there’s enough footage of that floating around to make a whole other movie). Click here for details.

Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold… [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!!]

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