10:28 A.M. This is a first, because this is the first time I've actually had internet access from a Georgia state park! The Young Democrats of Georgia are getting into the really difficult portion of the work on their grand plan to win the youth vote in Georgia for Democrats - I triple dare the Buckhead Young Republicans to match us in energy and determination, and we win on the issues every time. We're going through a workshop session where we are identifying our purpose, core values, and goals.

10:56 A.M.



10:59 A.M. We're discussing a new way of looking at YDG as a business - what our product is, who our supplyers and buyers are, and who our competitors are. We're proving that we can work with ALL beverages, even Diet Coke and orange juice...



11:33 A.M. This is proving to be a very good discussion exercise. Our industry is Building a Young Democratic Voting Block.

1:12 P.M. Well, we're off lunch break...



Our president Jason Cecil is talking about the core of our plan, which is the participation pyramid, from apathetic non-voter to super Young Democrats activist...



The basic plan is talk to young people about voting Democratic - when we connect to them, they vote with us.

1:30 P.M. In the first major triumph of terminology of the weekend (and a significant "lol" moment), we've decided that the perfect representation of our "growing young Democratic voters" analogy is the Chia donkey!



We're looking for 30,000 Chia voters in three years. (Now if only terra cotta figurines covered with plant growth could vote...)

1:49 P.M. We're now going through a brainstorming session about potential strategies we can use to grab our Chia voters...



It all comes down to branding, and that comes down to data collection and analysis - who do we target, how do we find them, and how do we track whether we've been successful.

2:42 P.M. We've gone through an old-versus-new strategic overview (no more taking orders from candidates and campaigns, we have our own agenda now, thanks), and now we're discussing ways to target potential Chia pets. ("Hey babe, do you think Chia's are sexy?")



Note Gunner's sexy Teamsters T-shirt. What's impressive about this retreat is the sustained level of participation we're getting from most of our attendees. I think we're starting to reach a critical level of interest in our core members that will make moving forward so much easier...

3:14 P.M. We've now moved on to a discussion about how we are set up as an organization. We're discussing ways we can tweak how we're organized to better meet the challenges we're facing with meeting the GO grant goals. We are getting a lot of good participation on this issue - at the very least, we are at the very least bringing the de facto power structure of YDG out into the open so we can all be honest about where we are and where we ought to go from here.



3:35 P.M. Oh, this is important. We're trying to hammer out some Principles of Unity - I know the Hope Scholarship won't be on there ;-) We're coming up with some good red meat here. These are not final so I can't post them here, unfortunately.

4:23 P.M. We are talking the serious Chia math here...



If each person Chia's 12 people, we reach 10,000 by next November. We can do this!

5:16 P.M. We've been in chapter breakout sessions for about 45 minutes now, discussing our Chia goals. Say hi to some of our friends from West Georgia, UGA, and Agnes Scott...



DeKalb County...



Georgia State...



and Georgia Tech (who lost to UVA, damn them!)...



I think we're making progress to a real sense of what everyone's part in the 30,000 goal is, but we still have some ways to go.

6:14 P.M. Wow. Just wow. Get a load of this Atlanta region attendance and cooperation!



These regional meetings seem to have been very successful.

6:34 P.M. Be other things as they may, we are feeling READY to take on the 30,000 goal!



We're finishing up with some details on the chapter startup kit - then it's time for food (yay!).