Author Archives: Alex Foster

More people than ever have been blogging from Conference – here’s a quick round up of some of the excellent non-LibDemVoice coverage on the LD blogosphere.

The Lanson Boy has some excellent photos here, here and here.

Don Liberali is a hoot as always as is the Lib Dem’s favourite fluffy elephant.

In an interesting experiment with new media, Richard Gadsen live-twittered the leader’s speech.

Lynne Featherstone reacts to finally winning a prize after so many nominations.

From Lincoln not Liverpool, Ryan Cullen picks up on Auntie’s conference coverage.

Local blogger and campaigner Paula Keaveney has news of …

A chance for all those at home listening to Nick Clegg’s speech on the radio or BBC News 24 to have their say, before all those who were actually there get home and start weighing in.

In previous years, conference representatives have arrived home to hear very different spins being applied to the words they heard, so it’s always interesting to compare how speeches come across in person and mediated across the ether.

UPDATES: You can read his speech here (part one) and here (part two). Coverage so far includes:

Sky News – Clegg: ‘Donations Cap To Save Britain’
Politics.co.uk …

The full results of the blog awards… James has them.

And hopefully I’ll be able to bring you a podcast of the full event tomorrow, including comprehensive advice from ReadMyDay’s Mary Reid, after I’ve had a chance to tinker with the sound a little.

 Our LDV office, under the arena seating, is shared with the Innovations Dept and PICS, so some cross-fertilization on content is possible. George Crozier updating the party website with what goes on can call across to see if we’re doing something and vice-versa.

I’d just been brainstorming with Innovations about some ideas for a podcast when George came in and announced that he had the Red Book. What is this Red Book, you may ask? And so, the interview:

Conference has just listened with rapt attention to shadow chancellor Dr Vince Cable MP. As Sal Brinton pointed out in her introduction, Vince has had an amazing time of it in the last few months following events largely unforseeable as recently as the last conference.

So delegates were very keen to show Vince their gratitude, and burst into applause simply at the mention of his name, and continued for a number of minutes after he got to the podium. Vince – apparently a Stalin expert – joked this was because he was deploying the old Stalinist technique of peppering …

Part of observing Conference Ctte meant I got to tag along on their tour of the building, and here are my thoughts:

• It’s huge
• And Shiny
• And painted lots of very bright colours
• There are amazing views back over Liverpool when you walk out of the building
• (Almost) Everyone’s happy to see you
• Registration went really quickly (I needed to upgrade to a voting rep badge because I didn’t send local party officer details to Cowley Street in time)
• The building is a total rabbit warren – and not just the backstage bits where the LDV office is located
• But this might be because we are not using

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Like a crazed talk-show host, I’m appealing for Lib Dem Voice readers at home and at conference to contribute to our coverage of conference.

You can e-mail [email protected] if you have a whole opinion piece – or a very long comment – to submit for consideration. Our general guidelines are here.

You can phone our podcast hotline with your views: 020 7617 7221 (perhaps you were planning to give a speech and didn’t called to the platform? Well, phone your speech in to us…)

And you can of course always leave comments at the items we do cover. We’ll …

In the spirit of closer working between conference and Lib Dem Voice, we were invited to send an observer to the deliberations of the Federal Conference Committee, which meets shortly before Conference.

The Liverpool Arena does have a roof, noted party staff as operation issues began the order of the day. Those who had been onsite for longer reported that the Liverpool Arena staff were helpful, had a can-do attitude, and had worked hard to fix the few problems that had arisen. London Assembly Members will be reassured to hear that they are permitted to use the facilities set aside for Parliamentarians. Taxis have been notified of the times likely to be busiest when queues for the shuttle buses rise; and even as the meeting began, more flags were being deployed to the outside of the building to make it look more “Lib Dem.”

Federal Conference Committee is charged with the day-to-day running of conference and is the final arbiter on what gets discussed. They have been discussing the conference agenda for months. They decide which if any amendments finally see the light of day. They have input on decisions about separate votes. They rule whether emergency motions are genuine emergencies. At their meeting in the conference centre just hours before the first major events take place, they meet with party staff to decide how the rest of us will be spending our next two days. After a brief report on the technical issues, they get stuck into considering amendments.

Lib Dem Voice will be providing enhanced coverage of this Spring’s Lib Dem Conference – live from Liverpool.

Voice reporters will be at the Liverpool Arena with all the inside information from the movers and shakers on the conference floor, and up-to-the-minute coverage of the Conference fringe and exhibitions.

Lib Dem Voice has also been granted unique and privileged access to the Federal Conference Committee as they debate the inner workings of Conference.

We’ll be hoping to bring you podcast interviews and an interesting multimedia experience as and when it happens. And whether you’re attending conference in person, or watching from afar, we …