42 thoughts on “Libertarian National Convention 2012 Speaker Event Schedule-Updated”

1. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 16:23

   Many thanks to the very busy Ruth Bennett for providing this. I asked her about opening events for individual purchase, and she said they might open the banquet later in the week. She said she didn’t know if there would be openings elsewhere, however, and would keep me posted.
2. Mark Hilgenberg April 15, 2012 at 17:48

   Are any of those open to the public?
3. Richard Vanier April 15, 2012 at 17:51

   Correct me if am wrong. The bronze package included the convention, The Welcome Reception(drinks included?) and the Banquet for$295. The TINSAAFL package was $94.00. So, I figured the banquet would cost me another $201.00. Based upon that, I passed on the bronze package and bought the TINSAAFL. If they do sell individual banquet tickets, I hope they are less than $201.00.
4. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 18:13

   We made the same decision, Rich. I have to say, though, that it’s going to be very difficult to NOT be able to attend those other functions. Maybe we should revisit making alternate plans for the TINSAAFLers. Does anyone know of speakers or films we can show? There have been a few rooms offered by a couple people getting suites.

   I’m too busy to head such a committee, but I can certainly help coordinate. Anyone who has ideas of what the rest of us can do during the break-out sessions, please post here, and we’ll see what we can come up with. From conversations earlier, I think that will be quite a few people.
5. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 18:14

   MH @ #: My understanding is the ONLY thing the $94 group can do is the business sessions, and nothing more.
6. Mark Hilgenberg April 15, 2012 at 18:24

   So nothing for outreach to the millions who live and visit LV? Hmmm.

   What about those who refuse to pay the $94? 🙂
7. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 18:42

   Mark, I don’t believe any arrangements have been made for those who don’t pay $94. There was a petition sent in by many of us who opposed the excessive floor fees, for the judicial committee to review whether they could be charged, but I don’t know if they’ve even decided to review it.
8. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 18:51

   The way I understand it is, for those of us who bought the $94.00 package (well, calling it “Package” doesn’t seem right) we won’t be allowed to do ANYTHING except for the business meetings on Saturday and Sunday. I guess there’s not even a reason to show up Thursday and Friday. I’m hoping my husband and I can go into Las Vegas for a little while both days, but it would be fun to have some organized activities for those days with the other Libertarians who didn’t buy the other packages. Again, I think it’s quite a few people and, frankly, most of the people I hope to hang out with.
9. Mark Hilgenberg April 15, 2012 at 18:56

   If there are alternatives available, either hospitality suites or meetings, please post them here.

   http://www.facebook.com/LibertariansAgainstChargingLibertariansAFeeToVote
10. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 19:12

    Thanks, Mark!
11. Mark Hilgenberg April 15, 2012 at 19:14

    Will the sponsor booths be open to the public?
12. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 19:21

    I apologize. I re-read Ruth’s email, and it looks the the people with the TANSTAASFL package CAN attend the break-out sessions. I’m glad I noticed that. Big difference!

    Ruth said: “We also do not have a lot of excess seating at the breakout as every package, including the TANSTAAFL includes the breakout speakers.”
13. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 19:30

    I wonder if we could organize a debate among chair candidates, possibly Friday evening. Wes had said he would debate. Does anyone know Mark Hinkle or Mark Rutherford well enough to ask them?
14. Brian Holtz April 15, 2012 at 19:43

    @7 The case has been accepted and we’re awaiting LNC’s respondent brief.
15. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 15, 2012 at 19:51

    Thanks, Brian. I’m sure you’ll keep us posted on the outcome.

    Well, I went to the convention website, and it does NOT specify that the TANSTFL group can attend the breakout sessions, so either this is new, or we misunderstood when the topic first came up. Does anyone know if we’ll be able to attend the presidential debate?
16. Mark Hilgenberg April 15, 2012 at 19:59

    How much does the press have to pay to get in? 🙂
17. LP Observer April 15, 2012 at 20:05

    I wonder if the Thomas “Burke” J. Balch who is cited as an authority for the LNC’s imposition of a registration fee (and authority to remove Angela Keaton from the LNC) is the same Thomas Balch who is a registered federal lobbyist for the National Right to Life Committee and was hired as a parliamentarian by the Hawaii Republican Party to protect the organization from Ron Paul supporters at its 2008 convention.

    P.S.: I’ve noticed some nasty web re-directs when loading IPR lately, and Malwarebytes has notified me that it is blocking attacks from IPR.
18. Darryl W. Perry April 15, 2012 at 20:17

    Jill,
    I sent the 3 chair candidates a questionnaire, Wes Wagner was the only one to seply with answers.
    These answers will be in the special edition newsletter being published by Free Patriot Press.

    PS
    Jill, please email me when you get a chance.
19. Michael H. Wilson April 15, 2012 at 20:27

    Here’s one that gets me Andy McKean: “Liberty Day” (teaching the Constitution to young kids)

    Don’t they get enough of that in the propaganda prisons for little people, aka schools?

    And did it ever occur to anyone that maybe those so called founders were more interested in their own gain at the time and really didn’t give a rat’s ass about any future generations?
20. George Phillies April 15, 2012 at 21:39

    I am organizing a chair debate. I have incited the three candidates, and two have so far agreed.

    I have not yet proposed a time. However, I have a large suite, and the support of a professional videographer for people who will not otherwise fit.

    Opinions on time?
21. George Phillies April 15, 2012 at 21:41

    Show up Thursday. Stop the bylaws change that will eliminate state delegations in favor of ‘first in the door’.

    Appear Friday. Attend the platform debate. Shut down coddling to Republican religious extremists.

    My suite will be there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings.
22. Darryl W. Perry April 15, 2012 at 21:59

    Reply from Wes Wagner

    Why are you running for LP Chair?

    I first registered Libertarian in 1999 when I moved to Oregon. In 2001 I was contacted by the national party and asked to become a dues-paying member. During my decade of observing the apparatus of the party and its membership, it has become quite clear to me that the party has abandoned its core and has attempted to move its center of gravity somewhere beyond the edge of its foundation.Of the candidates running for chair, one is determined to continue down this path that is destined for further failure – and at a minimum – the other has been incapable of convincing others that the path is unwise.
    When confronted by two poor choices, opt for a third choice.

    What are your qualifications?

    I have served as chairperson of the Libertarian Party of Oregon on multiple occasions, vice-chairperson, Clackamas County chairperson. Beyond that, I know my limitations and surround myself with good people. I am familiar with Robert’s Rules, but I am not an expert – which is why I have asked Mr. Weston to run as party Secretary.
    Further, I have an MBA and understand fundamentally that our party is not in alignment with the market space we serve. Our market, as a party, is a niche market at the moment. Some people advocate expanding into other markets, but those markets are better served by our competitors.
    Our path to victory is to grow the size of our market
    that we participate in.

    Why should someone vote for you?

    Because I believe that our organization has been headed in the wrong direction for nearly a decade and our membership numbers reflect it. The organization needs a substantial change in direction and that requires bringing in leadership form the outside to establish a new culture.

    Do you support a top-down or bottom-up approach to political activism? How will this affect how you act in your role as Chair?

    As will become evident at the convention where I will distribute my framework for organizational change, I fully support and advocate the empowerment of our membership. Our members should possess both the means and the responsibility for determining what the definition of success is and how it is to be achieved.
    As chair I will encourage everyone to collaborate with our affiliates and members to set priorities and performance measures. Further I advocate an increase in accessibility and transparency and would like to establish telecommunications feeds of all our party functions.
    The days of closed doors and committees must end.

    Would you be willing to work with other minor parties on press releases and events that promote the general ideas of freedom and liberty?

    Yes, provided that our political interests are truly aligned.
    Further, we should be reaching out to other third parties to collaborate on areas where we have a common cause more than we do, such as: ballot access, instant run-off voting, fighting top-two, advocating proportional representation systems, etc.
    There are many avenues for political victory and some of them involve changing the rules of the game rather than trying to assault the problem directly.
    These strategies can be utilized without sacrificing our
    principles.
23. LISTEN anytime 24/7 to the T-Rex of Talk Radio April 15, 2012 at 22:10

    @20 I’m sure you have “incited” more than just two !!! -lol

    Will all Democratic non-religious extremists be allowed to crash in your suite after midnight ???

    Jokes aside Doc I hope you are elected Tres. (think I read somewhere you are running) as I want you watching over the most funds in LP history. It’$ coming……..
24. Blahhhhhhh April 16, 2012 at 09:41

    Alexander McCobin: “SFL on Campus”

    So, it’s ok for the director of a “non-political” organization to speak at a political rally . But it’s not ok for local SFL chapters to be involved with local politics?

    Hypocracy?
25. paulie April 16, 2012 at 11:17

    Wes had said he would debate. Does anyone know Mark Hinkle or Mark Rutherford well enough to ask them?

    I don’t know how well I need to know them to ask them. I know them both well enough to know that they know who I am. I emailed both of them and received no responses as far as I can tell from either. Someone else can try if so inclined.
26. paulie April 16, 2012 at 11:18

    The (floor fee appeal to the JC) case has been accepted and we’re awaiting LNC’s respondent brief.

    If someone would post an article about that I would appreciate it. I might do it later but not sure how my schedule and internet access will be.
27. paulie April 16, 2012 at 11:20

    How much does the press have to pay to get in?

    Dunno how they are about press credentials. I’d like to know if someone can find out. I’ll be calling the office later if I decide I’m going but if someone else does it in the meantime that would be even better.
28. paulie April 16, 2012 at 11:22

    I have incited the three candidates, and two have so far agreed.

    Which ones?
29. JT April 16, 2012 at 14:49

    Wilson: “Don’t they get enough of that in the propaganda prisons for little people, aka schools?”

    Enough of what? Teaching the Constitution & how it provides strict limitations on the power of the central government? I don’t think so.
30. ATBAFT April 17, 2012 at 11:50

    A number of delegates appear upset that they have to pay a minimum amount to help cover the expense of the convention. Why, who should pay it, those who don’t attend? That doesn’t seem fair. And, no, the cost shouldn’t be included in the dues. It’s better making those who attend pay than making every shareholder- whether they show up or not – pay like corporations do.
31. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 17, 2012 at 12:11

    ATBAFT @ : I personally can handle the $94 charge–that seems reasonable. It’s the next steps up: $395, $395 & $495 that seem unreasonable to me, added to the high cost of rooms. If we had to add air fare on top of that (we’re close enough to drive), we’d probably pass on the convention, as we did in 2010. I don’t imagine our finances are tremendously different than lots of other Libertarians.
32. paulie April 17, 2012 at 12:37

    Why, who should pay it, those who don’t attend?

    Yes, all party members should pay for core party functions like the business portion of a national convention through party dues.

    Does it seem fair to you that LPHQ employees don’t pay the rent for the national office?

    Not only that, but they even get their expenses to travel to LNC meetings around the country covered out of the LPHQ budget. Imagine that!

    On the other hand, I would agree that delegates who want to pay for meals, speakers and other add-ons at national conventions should pay for those out of their own pocket, along with their travel, motel rooms, etc.
33. Wes Wagner April 17, 2012 at 12:39

    The reality of the situation is contained in the judicial committee brief that members of the LNC prepared (I am not sure if the entire LNC voted on the brief, but it rightfully attempts to defend the vote the committee took)

    The situation is that the LNC chose a $150k convention before taking into consideration whether they could afford a $150k convention. They thus attempt to justify the floor fee as a “pass through” of sorts.

    This of course has an underlying cultural error — which is that the membership of the LP exists for the purpose of taxation for the deficit spending of the political class.

    That this perversion of thinking exists within the minds of our party leadership is a greater cause for concern than the sympton of an extra-legal attempt to impose a $94 floor tax.
34. paulie April 17, 2012 at 12:43

    From what I have been told, if I remember it correctly, they chose that convention site and those dates because they were offered a good deal, but then the deal became less favorable afterwards.

    Anyone know if I have that right?
35. Wes Wagner April 17, 2012 at 12:48

    paulie @34

    Yeah.. I totally believe that story. Really I do. I also am going to make a killing off my swampland investments in Nigeria this year.

    If the terms change before you ink paper, you reconsider — unless your motivations are political and emotional rather than pragmatic.

    The story given is either a lie, or the people involved are emotional/incompetent.

    Either way, the solution would seem obvious.
36. Michael H. Wilson April 17, 2012 at 23:58

    One of the odd things about this location that gets me is that if it had been on the Strip then maybe the LP’s name and the convention notice would have been on a reader board for all to see. I doubt that half as many people will see it out at the Red Rock. And will it even be promoted by the place?
37. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 18, 2012 at 01:26

    I have posted a link to an updated convention schedule.
38. Jill Pyeatt Post authorApril 18, 2012 at 11:56

    I’m pleased to say that I heard back from Nancy, and the TANSTAAFL people WILL be allowed into the debate for the presidential candidates.
39. Mark Hilgenberg April 18, 2012 at 12:13

    @ Michael @36

    Considering the public would have to pay just to walk in the door, publicity doesn’t really help.

    Now if it had an outreach session that would be a different story.
40. Jose C April 18, 2012 at 18:14

    @21 George: Will your suite be available for us to use to organize, strategize, and plan what we will do to get rid of the floor fee. I have been contacted by some who want to meet to discuss what we will do to get rid of the floor fee.
41. George Phillies April 18, 2012 at 18:48

    @40 Jose,

    Please contact me off line 508 754 1859
    phillies@4liberty.net
42. Carol Moore April 19, 2012 at 10:10

    The cheapest banquet tickets are at the door. You hang out, look pretty and forelorn, and someone who changed their mind will give you one. Worked for me a couple times in the past 🙂