There should be a #wiunion convention

Event could galvanize progressives from across the state, using new technology to advance ideas

Shouldn’t there be a #wiunion convention?

There are plenty of #wiunion followers that attend other progressive events in the state. Presence at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s annual convention and Fighting Bob Fest bring in plenty of revelers from #wiunion and beyond.

But there ought to be an event specialized for those that follow the #wiunion hashtag. Progressives, young and old in the state, use the #wiunion banner to champion causes that deserve to be promoted, and to defend the state’s tradition of moving “Forward” throughout its history.

Especially in these trying times, when democracy and transparency in the state are being challenged, when women’s health choices are being threatened, when workers’ rights are being whittled away, and when other important aspects of our state’s identity are disappearing, we need to have a serious discussion on how to get back on track, on how to rally the state back towards a path of righteousness and justice.

A #wiunion event could be simple: it could be modeled off of TED Talks, allowing individual speakers who identify as part of the #wiunion brand to speak on issues that are important to them. More than a forum for complaining, it could be an event for ideas generation, of producing discussion and positive initiatives for progressives in our state to get behind during the campaign season and beyond.

Such an event would obviously energize the tech-savvy among us, but it would encourage progressive minds across different skills sets of technology to join a community of thinkers that they may not have known about previously. And it could be broadcast to millions of residents using the power of the Internet.

Speeches could be given across a broad base of categories and would feature bloggers, community leaders, elected officials, traditional media, and everyday people. It could be an event that would encourage a true democratization of ideas, of assembling people dedicated to a larger cause of progressivism with a simple goal in mind: repairing Wisconsin, and going beyond repair into making the state even better than before.

Maybe it’s all just a pipe-dream. Maybe there will never be a #wiunion convention at all. But I think it’d be an event that would garner a lot of interest and attention from across the state.