Hi everyone -

 I'm one of those who is just starting to understand the kinds of opportunities that emerging internet and organizing technologies offer non-profits and progressive politics and am thrilled to get to spend a couple of days with other folks who are thinking about and doing so many cool things.  I run a great  little regional conservation group and am coming partly because I think the things we'll explore at the conference can help my group and our colleagues do a better job of saving critters and special places.  I'm intrigued, incidentally, by how few conservation groups are attending, and excited by how markedly diverse the attendee list is.  I'm also coming to the conference because I think tech-enabled social change work has a lot to offer progressive electoral politics as well.  I started dabbling in electoral politics last year and now serve as a city councilor in my community, and as an elected and a social change advocate I'm really interested in how these technologies carry over from the advocacy side of the fence to the political representation side.  Plus, with kudos to the conference organizers, this just feels like the sort of gathering where important things are going to happen.

Jacob SmithCenter for Native Ecosystems