YOUR STUDY GROUP, YOU DECIDE

So, as we mentioned at the Study Group, you are going to decide the topics Trippi will talk about and suggest guests for Trippi to invite. Below is a PRELIMINARY schedule. Notice how we have yet to put the names of guests next to each study group. Your job is to comment on the topics (do you like 'em, not like 'em, want different ones?) and suggest interesting guests (famous, not famous, kinda famous).

This is TrippiAtHarvard, and you decide!

Nick

Tuesday, October 5, 2004
The Dean Internet Team Tells All!
How a group of 20 somethings changed America’s politics with technology and a dazzling collection of yo-yos. Dean Webmaster Nicco Mele and others from the Dean campaign, including Joe Trippi will discuss the nuts and bolts and day-to-day use of the Internet to launch a Presidential campaign that shook up the Democratic Party – and helped to bring politics into the 21st century.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Presidential Debate Prep: What really happens behind the scenes?
The Kennedy-Nixon debate revealed the significance of television as a medium in reaching millions of Americans and presenting the candidates' personalities, in that case, Richard Nixon as sullen and John F. Kennedy as likeable. In 2004, in an extremely close race between President Bush and Senator John Kerry the stakes are incredibly high. What does each campaign do to prepare their candidate? What are some of the inside trade secrets? Are these so staged and controlled that voters don’t care or watch them anyway? This session will take a look at what happens off camera.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004
The Way of the Whigs – Why the Two Major Political Parties are in Trouble.
Why the two major political parties are becoming obsolete, and why if they do not wake up soon the Internet may spell their doom? The Whig Party disappeared in one election cycle. Which party is next? The Republicans or Democrats? From Ross Perot’s 19% in 1992 to insurgent campaigns like John McCain and Howard Dean, both parties have failed to heed the hunger for reform among the American people. This session will explore the implications for the future of the two parties and a look at how 2008 may be the wildest election cycle since the Whigs disappeared.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004
The Politics of Thorny Issues
What is that old adage -- never discuss sex or politics with strangers – well, we are going to toss out all the political niceties for this session. Our guest has strived to enrich our national debate by talking openly and honestly about thorny political issues like affirmative action, the death penalty, reproductive rights, and gay marriage. This session will take a hard look at the issues that divide so many Americans – so called “wedge issues” and how both Democrats and Republicans use them to manipulate and sometimes confuse voters.

Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Election Day –What’s Happening Today and Why?
It is Election Day – have you voted? The first Tuesday in November, we each get to exercise our right to vote, to have a say in exactly who will run the government we must live under, and how it will affect us. We will use this session, on Election Day, to monitor the media coverage, to discuss with our guest speaker voter turnout, GOTV strategies, and ultimately his predictions as to who will win and why.

Tuesday, November 9, 2004
Post Election Analysis – What happened? And What Now?
This study group will attempt to analyze what happened? Which strategies worked and which ones failed. What was the turning point or defining moment? Did the debates help or hurt each candidate? Which messages resonate most with voters? Did changes in technology help voter turnout? Looking back over the last few months and the strategies of each campaign, we will attempt to explain the results with our guest speaker.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004: Insurgent Campaigns and Why They Matter
Forced to innovate due to lack of funds, and usually comprised of people who actually believe in the candidate – insurgent campaigns typically have a much stronger impact on our nation even when they lose, then front running campaigns do when they win. Exploring the impact of the real catalysts for change, the insurgent without a chance, will be the focus of this session.

Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Dot Com Miracle – Using the Internet to Build Grassroots Communities
Jess Ventura pioneered political organizing on the Internet in his successful 1998 campaign for Minnesota governor. Arizona Senator John McCain was the first candidate to raise cash online in his 2000 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Today organizing and fundraising, email updates and volunteer sign-ups to work the polls are standard procedures for both candidates and political parties. So where do we go from here? Pioneers of the 2004 presidential democratic primary will join us to discuss what worked, what failed and what the future holds for politics and the internet.

Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Clean $$$, Clean Elections – Campaign Finance Reform
Every day corporations and other wealthy special interests pump $2 million into the coffers of our elected officials in Washington and their party committees. For their money they get an estimated $160 billion a year in tax breaks, subsidies, and other sweet deals. Is there anything that can be done to get money out of politics and return our democracy back to the people? Will we ever have campaign finance reform in this country? We will discuss the future of campaign finance reform with one of our countries leading proponents.

NYT article on Political Blogs

"Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail"

This is a great profile of political bloggers and the effect of blogging on politics. While the article is mostly about Markos Moulitsas (Dailykos.com), Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette), and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles), Trippi is mentioned in a section discussing the real world effect of blogs on politics.

Specifically, the article seems to credit Trippi and the Dean campaign for revolutionizing blogger culture:

"Early in 2002, Joe Trippi read on Armstrong's blog, MyDD, that Howard Dean might be running for president, and after Trippi joined the campaign as its manager, he helped bring the Dean movement to life online, in part through the campaign's massive community blog, which connected Deaniacs all over the country, helped them organize and became the access point for the $40 million that fueled Dean's explosive run. The Dean phenomenon drew so many new people to the grass roots (or ''netroots,'' as the Dean bloggers used to call them) of presidential politics that a kind of fragmentation occurred in what had been, until then, a blog culture dominated by credentialed gentlemen like Kaus, Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Reynolds, a conservative law professor whose blog, Instapundit, is read faithfully at the White House."

It looks like people are finally starting to "get it"...

IOP Fellows Open House

Last night was the Fellows Open House at the IOP. Though Joe could not be with us (he's in Miami covering the first presidential debate for MSNBC - you can see him on Hardball with Chris Matthews), we found multiple ways to represent him. We had cans of Diet Pepsi (his favorite drink), a TV showing the CNN documentary about the Dean campaign, and a lifesize cutout of "someone" with Joe's head pasted onto it. Even without Joe there, many people signed up for the Study Group email list. Thanks to all who were there and we hope to see you next Tuesday at 4:00.

Note: If you signed up for the raffle for an autographed copy of Joe's book, we will announce the winners at the next Study Group meeting so be sure to show up to claim your prize...

How could Trippi be in Miami and Cambridge at the same time? We figured out a way... Can anyone guess who we used as the body for Joe's head? Hint: It's a famous politician, not Howard Dean.

Study Group #1 - Summary and Pictures

I've posted some pictures from the first Study Group below. As you can see, it was heavily attended. Trippi talked for over an hour and a half about the Dean campaign, general work in politics, and the future of grassroots strategies for change. Drawing from themes in his book and his experiences in seven Presidential campaigns, Trippi gave the room a crash course in online organizing and political activism.

While there was may more discussed than could be covered here, some of the most interesting topics of discussion include:

• The effect of television on political campaigning and the potential for the internet to reintroduce the social aspect of political involvement to modern campaigns
• The virtues of volunteering for campaigns to get experience and become actively involved in the future of the country
• The tension between the bottom-up philosophy of grassroots campaigns and the necessity of a centralized management structure that makes the ultimate decisions
• The absence of discussions about "the issues" from modern campaigns and the future viability of "negative advertising"
• The philosophical parallels between the open source software movement and the grassroots internet campaign that Trippi ran for Howard Dean
• The relationship between insurgent candidates and the party establishment

Since these meetings are officially "off the record," we are not able to recount direct quotes from the Study Group meetings. However, if you are at all interested in these topics then you should definitely come to future Study Group meetings. This gives you a chance to interact with Joe and participate in the construction of a new organizational philosophy built on modern technology.

Thanks to all those who came to the first meeting and we hope to see you at future events!

We had a GREAT turnout for the first Study Group 

Trippi answers questions 

Trippi talking 

Study Group Success

By all measures, the first study group today was a smashing success. Over 60 people, mostly undergraduates, crowded into the conference room and some had to be turned away at the door as there simply wasn't enough space. The discussion was right on point, with some great questions and over an hour of discussion. I do hope everybody that came this week will come again next week.

If you have any suggestions about the structure (time allocated to questions, number of questions taken, depth of answers to questions, etc) relating to today's discussion please comment on this post. We should be changing the settings of the blog later today to allow non-registered users to post comments. Just remember, the substance of today's discussion is OFF THE RECORD because of the non-negotiable IOP policy.

To give this whole blog idea a run for its money (and see if the TrippiAtHarvard following is really as open source-literate as it put on), we are also going to try to post, at some point this afternoon, a copy of the preliminary study group schedule. Everybody should feel free to comment, focusing on interesting topics that you think we are not addressing, guests that you think might be interesting to invite, topics or guests who you don't think should come, etc.

TrippiAtHarvard Campaign Poster

The new TrippiAtHarvard Campaign Poster is finally here. No bonus point for getting the not so subtle visual reference. But, many bonus points for putting it in you window or on your website. If you want a nice sturdy card poster, then post a comment. You can also print one out yourself either 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 17. You can also get a web link sized jpg.

Blog?

If you think that Trippi can go anywhere without starting a blog/being blogged/etc, you are mistaken. Trippi's six liaisons are going to be blogging Trippi's stay at Harvard.

More info on what to expect to see in this space to follow. The only thing I can say is that this may be my first blog (can blog be used as a verb?), but definitely not my last.

YOU HAVE THE POWER

Come find out why at Trippi's study group meeting this Tuesday, September 28th.

This is the first of many meetings where Joe will talk about his experiences in politics and examine where we are headed in the 21st century. The first meeting promises to be a great event as Joe will discuss life inside the Dean campaign and current issues related to the upcoming presidential election.

The meeting is from 4:00-5:30 in the IOP Faculty Dining Room (while inside the main KSG building, enter the IOP and take a left - it's at the end of the hallway). Space is extremely limited and we expect a big turnout so come early to get a good seat.

Hope to see you there!