Campus Progress National Conference In Brief

My web silence for the past few days has been the result of the 2009 Campus Progress National Conference, three fun-filled, action-packed days of watching famous people give speeches (at the national conference), hob-nobbing with my professional idols (at the journalism conference), occasionally assuming a level of responsibility (at Journalism-in-Action Day and the j-conf), and getting very little sleep. So much has happened this week that I couldn’t possibly begin to summarize it all, but I’ll highlight some of my favorite parts:

• Getting my first-ever trophy (at the advanced age of 19—hey, I never did youth sports) on account of being CP.org contributor of the year
• Getting @-replied by Ana Marie Cox on Twitter
• Being blown away by the hilarity of John Oliver and the intelligence and articulateness of Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton
• Hanging out with some of my favorite journalists, bloggers, writers, and editors

And embarrassing moments include accidentally knocking over Nation writer Kai Wright’s cup of tea as I ran past him in an intern-tizzy, and making unintentional eye contact with John Podesta backstage at the national conference.

Selected tweets from all three days of the conference are below, but just to prove I was there, here’s a picture of Pelosi speaking:

No women were raising their hands for Dahlia Lithwick’s Q&A, so I asked a question about sexism in journalism. It had to be done. #CPNC about 20 hours ago from TwitterFon
Dahlia Lithwick is so funny! #CPNC about 21 hours ago from TwitterFon
Richard Kim is really making me want to become an editor. #CPNC about 22 hours ago from TwitterFon
Richard Kim is obviously an experienced teacher. I do get a very strong classroom vibe from his workshop–which works for me. #CPNC about 23 hours ago from TwitterFon
Richard Kim is so very smart, but my iPod is running out of batteries. #CPNC about 23 hours ago from TwitterFon
Schimke: empathy is the route to objectivity. #CPNC about 24 hours ago from TwitterFon
David Schimke’s perspective as a city reporter, down-to-earth, reminds me how far removed Washington is from the real world. #CPNC 1:32 PM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
We really need more people like Schimke who believe in localized city reporting in journalism. #CPNC 1:13 PM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
Schimke: going to j-school is like going to conservatory: it’s one way, but definitely not the only way. #CPNC 1:10 PM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
David Schimke: local reporting, not opinion writing, will change the world. #CPNC 1:07 PM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
J-school is a Petri dish. Just FYI. #CPNC 11:27 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
Girl asks question about ethnic media, making the overwhelming whiteness of the panel VERY apparent. #CPNC 11:20 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
@MattZeitlin wants me to mention that @chrislhayes does The Nation proud by going all Marxist on our asses. 11:19 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
RT @MattZeitlin: if there has ever been a journalism panel with more masturbation jokes #cpnc 11:13 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
John Nichols says “comrade,” establishing once and for all that The Nation is, in fact, full of pinko commies. 11:12 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
John Nichols has EPIC analogies. #CPNC 11:05 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
Err… it doesn’t take an ethics class in j-school to be a responsible and honest journalist. As the panel seems to get. #CPNC 11:03 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
@MattZeitlin and I Twitter about future of journalism panel at #CPNC, therefore making meta-commentary about future of journalism? 10:57 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
@chrislhayes applies the Socratic method to @anamariecox. #CPNC 10:55 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
John Nichols is very, very enthusiastic about ripping apart the fabric of the establishment. The revolution will not be fact-checked? 10:53 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
@chrislhayes deftly moves @campusprogress j-conf panel from masturbation to steel industry. 10:30 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
@anamariecox offered an inspiring huzzah. Chuckles resounded. 10:17 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
@chrislhayes is gesturing energetically at the @campusprogress journalism conference. 10:07 AM Jul 9th from TwitterFon
I’ve been awake for 18.5 hours. BEDTIME. 11:12 PM Jul 8th from Tweetie
@MattZeitlin There is always a Bill Clinton talking somewhere in the world. 10:09 PM Jul 8th from Tweetie in reply to MattZeitlin
Clinton: “We all have to find some way of helping the public good as private citizens.” #CPNC 6:21 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Interesting historical analysis on culture war from Clinton. #CPNC 6:10 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Sort of can’t believe Bill Clinton is standing in front of me right now. #CPNC 6:02 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Nancy Pelosi, I love you. Way to be the first person at #CPNC to use the words “public option.” 5:52 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
John Oliver is exceeding my humor expectations right now. #CPNC 5:12 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Not sure how I as an atheist feel about #CPNC LGBT and faith panel. I find it harder to be out as atheist than queer. 3:30 PM Jul 8th from txt
LGBT panel at #CPNC says we should be queering the issue of marriage equality. YES. Exactly. 3:22 PM Jul 8th from txt
Van Jones: wind turbines are not the stuff of nursery rhymes. #CPNC 1:29 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Staceyann Chin’s energy at #CPNC was unbelievable; I’ve never seen anything like it. Van Jones being eloquent now. 1:22 PM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Podesta @ #CPNC: “I think I was the first WH chief of staff to know how to use email.” 10:04 AM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Podesta urges Obama to take more forceful action on DADT at #CPNC. 9:59 AM Jul 8th from TwitterFon
Love, love, love that there are gender-neutral restrooms at #CPNC. Now that’s progress.
Journalism is in action, but I am lying inactively in the hallway. #CPNC 3:11 PM Jul 7th from TwitterFon 7:31 AM Jul 8th from txt