NETROOTS NATION -  Democrat Governor from Vermont, Howard Dean, will be addressing the Netroots Nation convention tonight in Austin, Texas.  He will be joined by retired General Wes Clark.  These keynote addresses will be streamed live into Second Life at the Netroots Area http://slurl.com/secondlife/NetRoots%20Nation/150/55/23 at 5:30 PM SLT.

This is the third Netroots Nation convention held.  The focus of this four day gathering from July 17-20 is to help politically active netroots communities make a difference in the public sphere.

Netroots Nation 2008 will include panels led by national and international experts, including a virtual session held in conjunction with the 2008 BlogHer Conference; identity, issue and regional caucuses; prominent political, issue and policy-oriented speakers; a progressive film screening series; and the most concentrated gathering of progressive bloggers to date.

A large concurrent conference echoing the real life Netroots Conference will be held in SL.  Multiple progressive groups involved include Café Wellstone, Commonwealth, Democratic Party of Second Life, SL Netroots, and Virtually Speaking.  In addition to live streaming sessions from Austin, there will be interactive events between the two gatherings as well as Second Life-only events designed to educate and activate future progressive leaders, as well as joint events with attendees of the virtual version of the BlogHer convention.

Netroots Island, including the Exhibit Hall, will be open 24 hours a day. Attendees may drop in at any time.  The event schedule is published on the Netroots Nation in SL Web site at http://www.nninsl.org/