The Right Online conference won’t have Andrew Breitbart’s presence for the first time in several years, as Politico’s Kenneth Vogel notes, but his spirit will certainly be there, as grassroots activists and bloggers converge on the Venetian resort hotel in Las Vegas on June 15-16. That won’t be the only lift that attendees get, as the event announced yesterday that Sarah Palin would headline the conference:
The conservative blogosphere has yet to move past the death of patron saint Andrew Breitbart, but it will get a major jolt this month from an equally provocative hero: Sarah Palin.
The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has committed to delivering the keynote address at Right Online, the annual gathering of conservative bloggers and online activists organized by the Koch-backed non-profit group Americans for Prosperity Foundation.
Vogel also notes that this is the first time that Right Online has decoupled itself from Netroots Nation. Until now, the conservative conference booked itself in the same city and same weekend as the progressive event, the better to challenge its message. Right Online, however, has grown into its own force. It’s also the second time that Right Online has chosen Las Vegas and the Venetian as its venue, and it would make a good permanent home. Not only is Vegas very accessible from nearly everywhere in the country, the Venetian is owned by conservative activist Sheldon Adelson, and the Venetian/Palazzo complex is the only non-union resort on the Vegas Strip.
The conference will honor Breitbart, and has some great featured speakers — including the Boss Emeritus, Michelle Malkin, whose recent launch of Twitchy will get plenty of attention. The aim at this conference is to take grassroots activism to the next level, and Vogel describes some of the schedule:
This year’s meeting is focused on higher-level tactics and strategies than past year’s editions of Right Online, which sometimes had the feel of a crash course on blogging 101. The Vegas conference features training on video exposes to be conducted by guerrilla video journalist James O’Keefe, a session on polling featuring conservative’s favorite pollster Scott Rasmussen and a session moderated by columnist Michelle Malkin entitled “How to Use Facebook & Twitter to Win,” which will include instruction on using social media to drive narratives.
I’ll actually be on the same panel as Scott Rasmussen, discussing polls and analysis of their data. While I’m at the conference, I also plan to report on the activities, get a few interviews, and give Hot Air readers a real flavor of Right Online. Of course, you could always join us and get a flavor of it for yourselves.
Update: I wrote that the conference chose the Venetian for the first time, but what I meant was that it was the first time it had chosen the same hotel and city a second time. We went to the Venetian two years ago, and had a blast. Steve Eggleston caught my goof-up, which was caused by sloppy editing of two sentences into one.
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