This weekend I had the privilege of returning to my native California to attend the 2009 California Young Democrats/California Democratic Party Convention, where 800 Young Democrats descended upon the Sacramento Convention Center to elect new leadership, plan for the future, and recap an extremely successful year.

Congratulations go out to new CYD President Alissa Ko and CCD President Ian Magruder, as well as to all of their new officers and caucus leaders. I would be remiss if I did not mention CYDs Christine Smith and Paula Villescaz and CYD Executive Director Claire Conlon for the unbelievable amount of work they did making this huge convention successful, as well as the Sacramento County Young Democrats for being amazing hosts.

I went to the CYD Tech Caucus meeting where we discussed text-messaging strategies, integration with CMS’s, and mobile application development. Specifically we were looking at ways an SMS campaign’s data could be tied in to Demopolis and different ways it could be used. There were a lot of key questions raised about the creation of iPhone, Blackberry, and Facebook applications. For example, who would be the target audience and how would they use it? What would make an application something that would continue to have value and be used regularly? How would a mobile application decrease the barriers to involvement and encourage users do more? The conversation was a good starting point and it will be interesting to see what they come up with in the future.

On Saturday night Wyclef Jean and Biz Markee performed at a CYD/CCD block party honoring Mayor Gavin Newsome that many are calling the best Young/College Democrats party in history.

What impressed me most about the Convention was the genuine respect that the elected officials, candidates, and CA Democratic Party leadership have for the Young Democrats in the Party. 292 of the delegates to the California Democratic Party Convention were under the age of 36, and 161 were under the age of 30. The California Young Democrats were definitely living up to their slogan: “I am a leader of tomorrow. I started yesterday.” It is clear that the work of past CYD Presidents Crystal Strait, Tim Steed, and Rocky Fernandez and their officers has paid off in a big way, and Alissa and the new board are ready to make even more progress.

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When it comes to affording college in the economic crisis, College Democrats are taking it personal. As this crisis begins to affect students’ everyday lives, we’re kicking off our “No Desk Left Open” campaign for college affordability with the story of one of our own national officers – Aarti Sheth, a junior at SUNY Stony Brook. We produced a video about Aarti and her family’s tough choices about affording college in the face of the recession. You can watch it here:

Aarti also writes about her story and our campaign on the Huffington Post. Read it here:

No Desk Left Open: My Story of the Economic Recession’s Impact on My Education

When you have a minute today, spread the word – share the video and article with your friends on campus and at home.

After listening to Aarti’s story, tell us yours. If you’re having difficulties affording college in this economy and want us to hear about it, email us at yourstory@collegedems.com. With your permission, we’ll put together stories from across the country and feature them at CollegeDems.com.

Your voices make this problem real to everyone. Stories like Aarti’s are taking place across the country. Parents are having tough talks at the kitchen table while kids are having to pack up their dorm rooms and commute to school, or not come back to school at all. Let’s get the conversation going and start making sure that Republican lawmakers support more funding for higher education.

Thanks,

Katie Naranjo

National President
College Democrats of America
www.CollegeDems.com

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My name is Heather Brown and I am the President of Young Democrats of Nevada.

This year we are making history all over the country, students are mobilized and energized and want to make the difference this year!!!

We are working with College Democrats of America to do two separate invasions into Nevada on October 3rd-5th.

We are inviting all of our surrounding states to come into Nevada to come to either Northern Nevada (Reno Area) or Southern Nevada (Las Vegas Area).

Nevada is an important state this year!! We have a real opportunity to turn Nevada Blue in the Presidential race and to also add two Democrats to the House of Representatives.

Invasion Dates:
Friday October 3rd – Sunday October 5th

Travel:
We will be providing transportation for everyone who wants to make a difference!!

Housing:
We will be providing Housing for every student.

We are going to make history in so many ways this year, and with your help we are going to WIN this November.

Please send out this information to all of your members. This is an open invitation to all you are interested.

Feel free to contact me with any questions that you might have.
Email: brownh@collegedems.com

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