The Washington County Democrats held a 2 day combined retreat and learning session, with the first meeting held on Monday, May 3, 2010, and the follow-up session held on Thursday, May 6, 2010. Both sessions were held at the new Washington Public Library in the large meeting room on the 2nd floor. Both meetings lasted approximately 2 hour and were led by Lauren Brainerd, the new Regional Field Director assigned to this area by the IDP [Iowa Democratic Party].
The first session held May 3rd, covered various events and planning for the upcoming mid-term elections. Individuals attending the event broke into small groups with each group assigned planning tasks.
In addition to planning tasks, the group learned about plans, operations and the coordinated campaign ideas and directions of the IDP. This was a learning experience for all of us that attended, and many questions were asked and answered. Although a number of questions still remain, as we are still in the early stages of the 2010 mid-term election season, a great deal of work is developing early and many changes are the result of what was a big learning process in 2008.
The second session on May 6th, mostly covered a review of what was accomplished on the 3rd and the hands on experience using the VAN [Voter Activation Network]. The VAN training largely centered on the new Virtual Phone Bank operation, with everyone having the opportunity to view input screens and ask questions about fields in the data base, as well as input procedures. The large projector screen available to us at the library was a real help.
Many individuals will have the opportunity to help this election season in ways never before possible on a broad level in the Washington area. Plans are in place to have the latest technology available at the Washington County Democrats head quarters, as well as now being able to work from home in those cases where that is more convenient.
I think the two sessions were very helpful and I hope that everyone that attended the events had fun learning what we have coming up over the next several months.
We will have a full report at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Washington County Democrats to be held on May 11, 2010.
