Tag Archives: 2012 Brighton Conference

Caron Lindsay

Caron’s guide to the craziness of Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 20th September 2012 - 6:03 pm

Last year was the first time I’d been to a Federal Conference in 13 years. I thoroughly enjoyed every exhausting moment. Conference is the best fun you will ever have, but if you’re new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I spent the first day wandering round like a child in a toy shop.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy.

1. Plan your days

The Conference day starts with breakfast fringes …

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Posted in Conference | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Conference preview: Saturday and Sunday

By Mark Pack | Thu 20th September 2012 - 10:25 am

This year, the Liberal Democrat autumn conference has one day per theme, covering jobs, education, environment and tax.

Saturday is education day, with David Laws giving a keynote speech. For many party members he is more respected than trusted; recognised for his skills yet leaving people uneasy over quite what a David Laws manifesto would look like or whether it was right to bring him back into government this year. Saturday is his big chance to win over members.

If he chooses to take it, that is – as there …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , , , and | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

Your one-stop online guide to Lib Dem conference events – we’ve got an app for that

By Stephen Tall | Wed 19th September 2012 - 11:25 am

The Lib Dem conference guide is my political-geek equivalent of the Christmas Radio Times, thumbing through it in anticipation, circling the must-watch events, worrying about all the clashes of things I want to see.

But just as PVRs and Sky+ mean I no longer fret about missing my fave programmes so have our advertising partners MessageSpace developed an online guide – FringeList – which contains every event taking place: when, where, who’s speaking, and who’s attending.

You can search for particular speakers (including who’s speaking most often), find out which are the most popular events, and create your own …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

Liberal Democrat conference: the daily themes

By Mark Pack | Wed 19th September 2012 - 10:25 am

Back in the 1990s, the idea of theming different days of party conference around particular themes was a fairly controversial issue, even playing a role in contested elections for membership of Federal Conference Committee and then elections from within its membership for Chair and Vice-Chair.*

Since then the idea has become well-established, if sometimes more in theory than in practice. Looking through not just the agenda for the 2012 autumn conference in Brighton but also associated conference publications and …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 2 Comments
The Liberator Collective

Conference edition of Liberator

By The Liberator Collective | Tue 18th September 2012 - 12:05 pm

The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.355 – September 2012) has just landed on subscribers’ doormats. Whether or not you are a subscriber, if you’re at party conference in Brighton, do visit the Liberator stall, where you can buy or renew your subscription and also acquire the new edition of the ever-popular Liberator Songbook!

Meanwhile, here’s a summary of the new magazine’s contents:

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

MP conference fringe league table 2012: Norman Baker is the new Simon Hughes, but he’s no Vince Cable

By Mark Pack | Tue 18th September 2012 - 10:25 am

Back for its fourth year (see 2009, 2010 and 2011) is my conference fringe meeting league table, showing how many fringes each MP will be speaking at. As ever, this is based on the information from the official fringe listings in the printed conference directory. With the reshuffle, I expect a fair number of fringe organisers are reshuffling their panels too; the table is still however a good indicator of the combination of demand for certain MPs and their enthusiasm for working the fringe.

Trends to note include that Cable topped the table the first two times, then slipped to third …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Less than 21 hours to get your BOTY nominations in…..

By The Voice | Thu 13th September 2012 - 8:35 pm

It’s almost two weeks since Helen Duffett invited us to submit our nominations for the prestigious Liberal Democrat Voice Blog of the Year.  Nominations close at 5pm tomorrow so if you haven’t done yours yet, you had better get your finger out. You are allowed to nominate your own blog – and nobody will ever know that you did. All the relevant details and the categories are reproduced below. If you are at Conference, the winners will be unveiled at an every expense spared ceremony at Conference. Better get that tux dry cleaned….

Make your choices and get them in …

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , , , , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Conference Accreditation Consultation – what Liberal Democrat bloggers are saying

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 19th April 2012 - 5:53 pm

Last Saturday, Federal Conference Committee chair Andrew Wiseman invited responses  in an article on Liberal Democrat Voice from members on the controversial issue of an accreditation system for Conference. Sussex Police had requested that party members would have to submit their identity details and past addresses so that they could be checked out by the Police to keep out people who might cause security issues.

Unsurprisingly, the Liberal Democrat blogosphere has been vocal in response. If there has been a post out there in favour of such a system, then I’ve not been able to find it.

At Liberal England, …

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
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