The initial proposal for this summit was to combine it with the 2009 Virginia Jefferson Jackson Dinner. The date of that event has tentatively been set for Saturday February 7, 2009, though that date remains subject to change.
There are two issues that are now on the table:
1) Should the bloggers summit take place over one or two days?
2) Should the bloggers summit be the same weekend as Jefferson Jackson?
The two questions are inter-related. Partly I think it depends on how pressing this meeting is. Does it need to be in February during JJ, or could it be delayed? Is there simply too much going on JJ weekend? What if the DPVA scores an incredible speaker, like Barack Obama? Would there even be time for a summit?
Should our meeting be quick and informal, or do we need to plan for more extended meetings with more structure? Now is the time for you to make yourself heard.
I think that many of those initially interested in a summit preferred to avoid making two trips to Richmond in February 2009, which is perfectly understandable. The problem is that JJ isn't just a dinner: there are other events and meetings that weekend, depending on what Democratic clubs and committees you may be a member of. After JJ there will be many hospitality suites and parties, as there are no less than three statewide primary races and candidates will be busy looking for support.
Conflicts are inevitable, so blogger summit attendees that are members of other clubs or committees will have to choose between missing part of the summit or some part of their other meetings.
One possible solution would be to do joint events where it makes sense. Maybe we could do a joint event with the YDs, for instance. But there will probably be some conflicts we can't work around. That's the down side of doing this during JJ weekend. Maybe we should delay the summit and do it another weekend as a stand alone event.
So we come to our poll. Please read the choices carefully, because some answers will look similar, but be quite different.