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Green Party National Convention

Friday, July 10, 2020

Workshops
Session 1
It's All About the Benjamins: Budgeting, Fundraising and Finance for Green Party Candidates: Hillary Kane
Come to this workshop to learn the ins and outs of the various financial aspects of campaigning -- how to get money, how to spend money, and how to keep track of it. We will cover each of these three topics in succession. This workshop is ideal for current and future candidates, campaign managers, fundraisers and treasurers.
Led by Hillary Kane, Coordinated Campaign Committee and GPUS Treasurer

We're Here And We're Queer: AJ Reed
This interactive workshop is for participants that want to know more about the LGBTQ+ community and the intersectionality of LGBTQ+ rights. The workshop format will be both lecture and discussion

A War by Any Other Name: Margaret Flowers, Rich Whitney, Kevin Zeese
Modern U.S. imperialism has adapted its means and methods of engaging in war. In the last decade, the U.S. has committed acts of war against a dozen or more nations, killing hundreds of thousands -- while losing less than 150 soldiers to combat deaths. This has played a major role in reducing domestic resistance to war and marginalizing the peace movement. The methods used include:
    • Drone warfare and other aircraft-only assaults
    • Use of Surrogates – Other countries and mercenaries
    • Economic sanctions
    • Strategic deployment of military bases
    • Use of CIA, NED, other NGOs and paid agents to disrupt and destroy national political autonomy
Except for the growing use of drones, none of these methods are actually “new” but they have been “improved” and have become the primary tools of imperialism and war. The peace movement – including the Green Party and its candidates – must adapt its messaging to reflect this new reality. With so few U.S. soldiers returning home in body bags, we must find new means of stirring public opposition to militarism and war. In this workshop, we will lay out the key facts about modern forms of warfare and share some ideas about how the peace movement should respond.

Session 2
GPUS Elections Database: How to use it: Mike Feinstein
    • How many Greens are running for office this year in the U.S?
    • How many have run in other years? In our history?
    • What offices do Greens run for the most?
    • Which Greens have been elected - and to what kind of offices?
The answers to these and many more questions are found in the Elections Data Base of the Green Party of the United States! You are invited to an interactive workshop to understand how the Green Party Elections Data Base works - and how you can use it for your advantage in Green Party organizing.
Former Santa Monica, CA Green Mayor Mike Feinstein is the co-administrator of the Data Base. He will present how the data base works and respond to your questions in real time, moving around the data base on a shared screen to show where the answers lie and how to get there.
You will be able to ask questions live — and if you want in advance you can begin reviewing the data base now at www.gpelections.org

For an Ecosocialist Green Party: Chris Blankenhorn
Ecosocialism is a rising point of discussion within the Green Party and the broader left. In this workshop, former GPUS Co-Chair, Howie Hawkins 2020 Tech and Social Media Director, and Young Ecosocialists Education Committee Vice-Chair Chris Blankenhorn will make the case why the Green Party must embrace this label and become more explicit in its vision.

Impact of COVID on the Black Community: Trahern Crews
This workshop will focus on Reparations for the American Descendants of Slavery. Participants will learn about measures that are taking place at the local state and federal levels across the country to implement reparatory justice policies and what they can do in their city or state to help. Facilitators will explain how Reparations have become an issue in the 2020 Presidential election.

Session 3
Linking CRM strategy, tactics, and metrics to the Strategic Plan (pre-reg): Philena Farley
What is the goal of our CRM initiative?
Is it to increase donation revenue, increase average order size for branded merchandise, decrease ballot access acquisition costs, improve voter retention, or decrease inquiry response times? The process of defining a value-based CRM plan starts with linking the highest-level Strategic Plan goals to a clear set of specific CRM strategies and tactics. This workshop will demonstrate how to align CRM metrics with the outcomes we are trying to accomplish so we can track progress towards those goals.

Media Tips for Candidates: Holly Hart, Media Committee
Media Basics - a broad overview of what is involved, including campaign materials, "traditional" media, social medial, tips and resources

The Money Power Revolution: From Private Debt to Public Money
Joe Bongiovani, Sue Peters, Mary Sanderson, Howard Switzer
Masses of people world-around are standing up against state violence which has put the plutocracy back on its heels. We face a protracted depression and environmental extremes, with a dysfunctional political system corrupted by big private money power. Many small businesses collapse while huge fortunes are made by a few. Panicked consumers stockpile paper, food, and weapons. The government’s reaction is inconsistent and ineffectual. Ordinary commerce grinds to a halt; investors can find no safe assets. Political factionalism grows more intense as everything falls apart. The conditions for revolution are being met.
The Banking and Monetary Reform Committee will share information on how revolutions are funded and explore the ways in which we can fund our own. We will reveal how money is the key driver of climate, war, social injustice and capitalism, and how changing the money system can mitigate or eliminate these problems.
We will also explain the unusual activity that has been going on at the Fed over the last 6 months, that describes the beginning of a bigger bailout of the banks than 2008. This provides an opportunity to raise public awareness of how we can change this private for-profit credit-money system of debt-slavery to a just sovereign money system dedicated to the general welfare.

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Thursday, July 9, 2020

Workshops
Session 1
Running for Office 101, Hillary Kane
A broad overview of the various aspects of running for political office, particularly as a Green Party candidate. We will cover topics such as building a campaign committee, fundraising, media, volunteer management, ballot access, and Get Out The Vote.

Racing to Ruin: The Consequences of Resumption of the Nuclear Arms Race,  Haig Hovaness
Recent US government actions to increase funding for nuclear weaponry and withdraw from arms control treaties threaten a new nuclear arms race. This presentation will explore the serious consequences of such an arms race, detailing the economic impact of the potential expenditures and the security risks resulting from abandonment of arms control treaties and the introduction of new types of weapons.
The presentation will provide background information on the early nuclear arms race that began after WWII and reached a peak during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The subsequent arms control agreements, which dramatically reduced the nuclear arsenals of the US and USSR and reduced the danger of nuclear war for a few decades, will be described. The growing risk of catastrophic war will be explained through plausible conflict scenarios and historic precedents. The presentation concludes with recommendations for averting a renewed arms race and a restatement of the Green Party’s clear opposition to policies that increase the probability of nuclear war.

Session 2
Campaigning In Rural Communities (pre-reg): AJ Reed
This interactive workshop is for new and veteran campaigners, who would like to learn how to campaign in rural communities. Topics that will be covered are: analyzing political races, building a campaign team, and evaluating issues. The workshop format will be both lecture and discussion.

Building the Movement for Eco-Socialism: Gloria Mattera, Margaret Kimberley, Michael O'Neil, David Cobb, Rich Whitney
In the U.S. and around the world, there is a growing movement in support of the “solidarity economy,” which aims to build democratic worker-owned cooperatives and related community-based organizations that can serve as the building blocks of a new economic system. This movement is compatible with the aims of the Green Party, as expressed in the “Eco-Socialist” platform provisions adopted by the party in 2016. Eco-Socialist Greens are in the process of building a Green Eco-Socialist Network that can help build ties between the Green Party and this movement, with a view toward helping advance the movement in the political arena.

Session 3
What is a Resource? Digital Organizing Tools for Parties: Chris Blankenhorn
In mainstream politics party resources are generally monetary with campaigns driving the spending, but as a grassroots party that rejects corporate money, Greens need to have a different perspective on the role of the party and what we think of when we say resource. In this workshop former GPUS Co-Chair and Howie Hawkins 2020 Social Media and Tech Director Chris Blankenhorn will look at various tools and systems that state and local parties can implement in order to organize and communicate more effectively.