The party’s Federal Conference in Bournemouth is now just a few weeks away – and the key policy papers including the Agenda are now available from the party website.

Conference is such a huge topic, and will be covered so extensively here on the Voice that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Here are just a few interesting things to highlight:

• The timings are a little different this year. Conference kicks off on Saturday morning with consultative sessions, and is formally opened Saturday afternoon. It continues through until Wednesday afternoon when the Leader’s Speech will be after lunch. Conference ends around 4pm
• There will be an official Party Conference twitter feed at www.twitter.com/LibDemConf – with official news from the auditorium including the speakers being called.
• There are five major policy papers, including A Fresh Start – which could well be the last  pre-manifesto paper before the general election; Are we being Served? a policy paper on consumers; Our Natural Heritage, Real Women – covered here already a little – and Thriving in a Globalised World. All five papers are available in a variety of electronic formats.
• The consultative sessions – informal policy discussions that set the direction of major policy papers at future conferences – will be Disability, Quality of Life, and Localism

Lib Dem Voice at Conference

As ever the LDV team will be providing as full coverage as we can from the conference, including reportage, podcasts and as much as possible to make conference accessible and participatory for those not able to join us in Bournemouth.

We will also be hosting four fringe events, all of which will be recorded and podcast as mini-radio shows here on LDV.  The rooms are booked and topics selected, but some of the details and speakers are still to be finalised.  The basic details are as follows:

• Campaigning after Rennard
  Saturday 19th September, 8pm Premier Inn, Bournemouth, Connect 2
  Our panel looks at the ramifications for the party of Lord Rennard’s departure.  How will we campaign in the future?
• Blog of the Year Awards, 2009
  Sunday 20th September, 10pm Marriott Highcliffe, Old Harry’s Bar
  Lib Dem Voice Editor at Large Stephen Tall is your compère for this bejewelled event now well established in the party calendar.  Nominations and judging for the event take place in August – see the website for more information.
• Liberal Drinks
  We will once again be having an informal night drinking beer at a pub one night of Federal Conference. We will be returning to the Goat and Tricycle – and this year, we’ve even warned the bar staff to expect us! It’ll be the Monday evening of conference from 7.30pm
• Beyond Twitter – e-engagement in local and national politics
  Wednesday 23rd September, 1pm Marriott Highcliffe, Shaftesbury Suite
  How can people in politics at both a local and national level engage meaningfully with the people they represent?

If you’d like a taster of LDV fringes, the recording of our excellent meeting “Learning the Lessons from the Obama Campaign” is still available.

On LDV before Conference begins

We hope to use the blog to bring you news and debate long before the conference begins.  If you’re proposing a motion or an amendment, feel free to submit an op-ed piece on why delegates should support your views.  If you’re hosting a killer fringe – tell us about it!  And if you’re a non-party organisation bringing a stall to conference, you can write an opinion piece in our Independent View section – remember our blog reaches many thousands more Lib Dems than conference does. Our ad service at Message Space is also available if you’d like to explore paid-for advertising with us