Netroots Nation Scholarships - Make It Happen!

Last year, our own kid oakland singlehandedly organized a scholarship program for Yearly Kos in Chicago.  All told, 19 people were able to attend who would not have otherwise been able to afford it.  I was lucky enough to benefit from one of those scholarships, and vowed that I wanted to help make something similar happen this year.

It's taken a whole big organization to fill k/o's extraordinary shoes.  Democracy for America (DFA) has launched a scholarship program for Netroots Nation in Austin this coming July.  Many Kossacks have probably already gotten an email about this from DFA, in fact.  There are a few ways to participate in this program I'd like to tell you about.

If you've been to Yearly Kos in the past, I don't need to explain to you how valuable and fun and satisfying it was (testimonials welcome).  If not, think seriously about it - it's a great supplement to all our online connections and cooperation.  And, please, Rec this diary to help maximize visibility for this program.

DFA will be providing conference registration fees and (shared) hotel rooms near the convention site.  Transportation, meals, and other incidental costs (rum & coke!) will have to be provided by other means.  Here's some things to do to maximize the program's value:

1. First, you could apply for a scholarship yourself.  And if you'd like to go, and won't be able to otherwise, then that's the thing you do.  Note that some are applying using screen names, and others are giving real world names.

2. Vote your support for applicants.  Announced support is one of the criteria for choosing recipients.  Others are diversity (gender, age, ethnicity, geography, urban/rural, etc.) and some evaluation of your blog efforts.  (Meta work like Rescue Rangers, etc. counts, too!)

3. Encourage others to apply.  Or nominate someone.

4. Now we're getting to the important part:  As I write this, there are already 62 applicants for 9 places funded by DFA.  To make room for more applicants, more money is needed.  There's a button on the right hand side of this linked page to make contributions so more scholarships can be awarded.

5. Frequent flyer miles:  If you are one of those people with an excess of frequent flyer miles, you could help support a scholarship recipient by providing a ticket.  I will be coordinating that part of the effort, as a semi-independent supplement to the DFA program.

I don't usually say "please rec this diary".  But this time I will, because its purpose is to help subsidize others for the trip to Austin - in less than two months!!  The Daily Kos community stepped forward admirably last year to help kid oakland patch his first-ever effort together.  (He's helping out some this year, too, but has passed the baton to DFA for much of the effort.)