by Darrell Lewis
I packed up my truck and left early on Wednesday morning, July 21st, on my adventure to experience...well, I guess I wasn't too sure what I was going to experience when I left. I arrived in the early evening on Thursday at Pittsfield, MA - the site of DemocracyFest. The 1,250-mile drive went faster and easier than expected. In the early evening hours of dusk, I unpacked and began setting up my campsite, which drew into darkness while attempting to set up my new tent. Dang, I should have done a practice set up before leaving like the directions said...and maybe it really did need two people like the directions said; but, alas, 10,000 mosquito bites, later it was all set up.
Woke up early Friday morning and finished setting up camp, drove around Pittsfield a bit sightseeing and then to the hotel where the festival was to be held. I wandered into the planning meeting between event organizers, the hotel staff and other service providers. Mostly I just listened, but also participated when the topic of the Bloggers’ Breakfast and its needs found its way to the agenda. The initially-cool hotel staff turned out to not only be very cooperative but some of the nicest folks I met my entire trip. It rained for much of the day and on several occasions I got soaking wet running around without a raincoat.
Late Friday afternoon, Alta Price and her son found their way to the campground. I had set up tents for them earlier so it was only their personal gear that remained for them to unpack and, fortunately, by then the rain showers were mostly intermittent. Our dinner that evening consisted of some fruit, crackers and cheeses I had picked up at a local store earlier that day. We sat around a small campfire and had a great time chatting about a little bit of everything.
As it turned out, much of the Festival was work for me rather then being a participant. I had brought my t-shirt press and political buttons stuff and was to sell the official festival shirt and political buttons. There was a rather healthy financial gap that needed to be filled in the festival budget and I offered to help. Alex Price helped me the entire weekend and I would have never been able to get it all done without his help.
Even while occupied with the tasks at hand, I had opportunities to meet new people, become re-acquainted with people I previously met during the Iowa Storm and also to meet online friends I had yet to meet face to face. Of course all this good chatting was the highlight of the weekend. The only disappointment for me was that I was unable to participate in any of the training.
I invited a few folks to our campsite that evening to sit around the fire and talk politics. Well, my few invites turned into more and more until the word was being passed around the festival about the "bloggers’ bonfire". While about 20 people ended up at the bonfire, many others did not because the owner of the campgrounds proved to be a real *ss and even called the police at one point, as he stood guard at the entrance and told people, "you types aren't welcome on my land".
Of course, Sunday was the "big" day. I got up at 5:00 am and headed to the hotel to ready things for the Bloggers’ Breakfast. The event went well and was attended by about 125 people. And although everyone enjoyed themselves, it lacked the electricity of the first one in Des Moines. No surprise guests this time and even some of those who said they would be there (Zephyr, for one) did not make it.
All in all, the festival was a great hit. It was truly grassroots but, to be honest, I was disappointed that Democracy for America had not taken a greater interest in helping with it and participating in it. But I've had these same experiences with DFA in the past and it should not have surprised me.
I've got a theory on this, however. DFA, unlike, say IDP, has an appreciation of the power of the grassroots and most importantly is able to empower the grassroots to do "their own thing" and not attempt to control them. What they have failed to yet figure out is how to work with the "grassroots". There are still too many staffers whose experience has come from top down political organizations and they don't know any other paradigms. It’s our challenge in organizations like Democracy for Iowa to keep alive the power of the grassroots and to work with the traditional top down organizations. We too have a learning curve to follow and realize we are not always going to be welcomed and assisted by those traditional groups. But if we remain on a steady course (allowing for occasional bursts of irreverence) will can prove the power of the grassroots and change their paradigm.
The grassroots of the future is not the old "fall in line" and dutifully do what you are told by the party pros; although I must admit I am not sure exactly where it will end up. In some states the traditional party organization is enthusiastically welcoming the new grassroots and in some states they are outright rejecting them and demanding the "get over it" and "toe the line". I am not yet sure where Iowa falls in this spectrum. I guess we will have to see how it all plays out.
Our thanks to DFIA Founding Member Darrell Lewis for turning in this report.