Tag Archives: #ldconf

Gareth Epps writes: Don’t fix the conference accreditation process – break it!

By Gareth Epps | Published 6th September 2011 - 4:17 pm

I am writing this from the position of having – after two false starts – finally been ‘processed’
or ‘accredited’ by the police in order to exercise my right as a member of this proud and democratic party. This has come after delay, rejection of my form, and increasingly agitated discussion with various people wasting vast amounts of time. Suffice to say that in my 11 years on Conference Committee, I would never have accepted the imposition of such a system. I am possibly luckier, too, than some Conference-goers in knowing how Conference is organised, and who has the ultimate responsibility …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged greater manchester police, id cards | 25 Comments

Liberal Drinks / #tweetup at #ldconf

By Alex Foster | Published 6th September 2011 - 2:32 pm

LibDemVoice have for the last few years nominated a time and a place for an informal drink and meet-up for internetty Lib Dems to let their hair down and have a chat.

This time around, we weren’t quite fleet enough of foot to get any such event in the conference directory, so we will have to rely on word of mouth helping to spread the details.

After a quick chat on the topic in Lib Dem Voice’s private members’ forum, we settled on meeting at the Wellington pub, a short distance from the conference centre itself, on the Monday night of the conference week. Kickoff will be around 7.30pm.

If you’d like to come along, why not click here to let your twitter friends know.

In addition, Lib Dem Voice have our usual strong presence at the conference, with the following events planned:

Posted in Conference, Events | Also tagged tweetup | 8 Comments

LibDem conference accreditation: what others have been saying

By Mark Pack | Published 5th September 2011 - 9:38 pm

Despite its length, my blog post over the weekend about the security checks being carried out for Liberal Democrat conference, didn’t go through all the issues in equal detail. So here to make up for some of the areas I wrote less about are some excellent blog posts written by others:

Over on his blog, Stephen Glenn explains how slow accreditation can make conference more expensive for people by giving details based on his own situation.
Zoe O’Connell has dug out the figures which show how problematic the checks being used are for transgendered people, as they rely on

…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged stephen glenn, zoe o'connell | 7 Comments

LibLink: Mark Pack – The missing ingredient from Liberal Democrat conference

By NewsHound | Published 1st September 2011 - 9:28 am

The Voice’s Mark Pack has been guesting over on the Huffington Post again, this time writing about what he thinks is missing from the Birmingham conference agenda:

There are many weighty issues on the agenda for the Liberal Democrat autumn conference in Birmingham, as well as some potentially significant debates overthe party’s medium term strategy and policy outlook. There is also, however, a curious omission: tax.

The word tax is not completely absent from the agenda, but aside from a reference in one motion calling for the party to look at its tax policy as part of a big policy review, there

…

Posted in Conference, LibLink | Also tagged mark pack | 7 Comments

LibLink: Mark Pack – What to watch out for at Liberal Democrat conference

By Nick Thornsby | Published 14th August 2011 - 12:54 pm

Mark Pack has been going through his conference documents and over on the MHP blog he has highlighted the bits that are likely to be most controversial and/or interesting.

Here’s just a sample of what Mark has picked out:

An early chance to catch the mood of the party will be the session on Saturday morning looking back on May’s elections and AV referendum. Unhappiness is to be expected. What to watch out for is who speaks out and where their comments are directed.

A common theme is likely to be the need for the party to present itself as distinct from the

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged mark pack | 8 Comments

What’s in the bag?

By The Voice | Published 11th March 2011 - 8:17 pm

Hello from Liberal Democrat Conference in Sheffield.

Many of you will have been to party conference before. Many of you will have experienced the delights of the goody bag attendees receive. To help Liberal Democrat Voice bring you the true conference experience even if you can’t make it here yourself, Will Howells – you may remember him from such blogs as this one – has made us a quick video checking out his junk. Enjoy.

Posted in Conference, YouTube | Also tagged junk, sheffield, unboxing, video, will howells | 5 Comments

Paul Burstow writes: I will be listening to members on NHS at #ldconf

By Paul Burstow MP | Published 10th March 2011 - 2:00 pm

This is the first spring conference since we entered Government. In all the years I’ve been a Liberal Democrat I’ve never known of such a potentially explosive spring conference. Or at least that’s what the media would have you believe. Debating policy is part of our DNA. And it shouldn’t change now that we’re in Government. This spring conference we’ll be debating the coalition’s proposals to update the NHS. And unlike in the media, it won’t be a case of who shouts loudest wins.

I understand why people are so concerned. Every time I meet party members …

Posted in Conference, Op-eds | Also tagged NHS | 12 Comments

Lib Dem conference 2010: open thread #ldconf

By Stephen Tall | Published 22nd September 2010 - 7:30 pm

The thousands of Lib Dem members who made it to Liverpool this week for the party conference will be arriving home now, probably tired, in need of a healthy square meal, and perhaps a tad hungover. Here’s your opportunity to tell Voice readers what you made of it all: the highlights (and any lowpoints), the surprises (and disappointments)… in fact, anything you like.

The Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow, who’s been live-blogging the conference all week, has set out his ’10 things I’ve learned from the Lib Dem conference’ here (you’ll need to scroll a bit down the page). They’re well worth …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged andrew sparrow | 15 Comments

LibLink: Chris Rennard – Lib Dems must stress where they stand out

By NewsHound | Published 20th September 2010 - 7:25 pm

Over at the Financial Times, former Lib Dem chief executive Lord (Chris) Rennard surveys the political scene and suggests policy areas where Nick Clegg can show how the party is making an impact in government. Chris notes the problems of being the junior party in a Coalition:

Junior coalition partners in many countries are familiar with getting the blame for what is unpopular and failing to get the credit for what goes well. Nick Clegg’s first priority has to be to show that the coalition works – even with unlikely partners – while maintaining the party’s distinctiveness. If he cannot demonstrate

…

Posted in Conference, LibLink | Also tagged chris rennard | 3 Comments

What did you make of Nick Clegg’s conference speech?

By Stephen Tall | Published 20th September 2010 - 6:05 pm

As the music fades, and the hoardes of conference delegates file out of the Liverpool hall, what did Voice readers make of what he had to say? Here’s my first impression…

First, and above all, this was a sober speech. It wasn’t a barn-stormer, it didn’t grip by the throat or tug the heart-strings. This was a serious analysis of why the Lib Dems have gone into government, and what the party wants to get out of it for the country. Nick was careful to go through the famous four pledges — fair taxes, a fair start for children, a fair …

Posted in Conference, Op-eds | Also tagged featured, nick clegg | 97 Comments

Jo Swinson invites Lib Dems to join campaign for fairer voting system

By The Voice | Published 18th September 2010 - 1:15 pm

An email to Lib Dem members, signed by Jo Swinson, is promoting the Lib Dem rally taking place on Saturday evening, with some high-profile guest speakers, as the party gears up for next May’s referendum:

On Saturday, join Nick Clegg, Art Malik, Martin Bell, some surprise special guests and myself as we launch our campaign for a fairer voting system.

As you know , Nick Clegg is leading the fight in Parliament to secure the United Kingdom its first ever referendum on electoral reform.

Fighting for fairer votes will be one of the top priorities for the Liberal Democrats this coming year –

…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged electoral reform, jo swinson | Leave a comment

Tweetup / Liberal Drinks at Special Conference

By Alex Foster | Published 15th May 2010 - 8:00 am

Plans are emerging for a Liberal Drink / Tweetup at tomorrow’s special conference.

It’s been a long old while since I was at the NEC (we had a fab time at a printing exhibition ten years ago when we were replacing a folding machine. Going to a conference that included machines that could turn trees into decks of playing cards was a little OTT for a standard folding machine)

However, a bit of a look at the NEC website suggests there is a Wetherspoons on site – and it’s not terribly far from Hall 3 where the special conference …

Posted in Conference, Events | Also tagged liberal drinks, special conference, tweetup | 2 Comments

Can conference exhibitors find a little sparkle?

By Iain Roberts | Published 13th March 2010 - 8:10 pm

The exhibition hall is an important part of conference, along with the debates in the main hall, fringe events, training and, of course, the conference bar.

So why are so many of the stands so dull?

(not necessarily these ones, I hasten to add).

I know it’s not easy to come up with a novel and interesting stand, especially on a limited budget, and I’ll certainly plead guilty to being as unimaginative as the next man (probably more). But conference after conference the stands look much …

Posted in Conference, Op-eds | 9 Comments

No ring-fencing for cuts as Vince feels the love

By Iain Roberts | Published 13th March 2010 - 1:16 pm

When the main hall is packed at a Spring Conference, you can be sure it isn’t because everyone wants to debate the third clause of the Federal Conference Committee’s report, or even (as we heard this morning) discuss the rights and wrongs of holding a conference that clashes with Mothers’ Day.

No, it’s because St. Vince of Twickenham is taking to the stage. The halo may have slipped slightly on occasion, most notably the hastily-revised Mansion Tax proposals made at Bournemouth last September, but for the party faithful it’s still Vince who can heal the sick and, if weather conditions …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged vince cable | 1 Comment

Paddy Ashdown in existential shock at rally

By Iain Roberts | Published 13th March 2010 - 10:47 am

A good conference rally is fun to attend and tricky to report on, simply because there should be nothing new. The audience ideally leaves reminded of the key messages and enthused to fight the good fight – there’s plenty of time for controversy over the rest of the weekend.

As in Bournemouth, the rally took on a glitzy feel: dry ice, bright lights, (relatively) slick presentation.

Lorely Burt opened procedings with a few jokes, and promise of holding her seat in Solihull, where the Lib Dems overturned a 9,400 Tory majority last time round.

Then a selection of …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged nick clegg, paddy ashdown, rally, shirley williams | 11 Comments

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