Michael Connery

Name: Michael Connery Location: Brooklyn, NY

A little about me

Round Three Winner of a DFA Netroots Nation Scholarship.
Contribute to support this campaignso we can do it again in 2010

I've been working for three election cycles to turnout the youth vote. In 2004 I started a GOTV and registration nonprofit called Music for America, and in 2008 I worked with a coalition of youth vote organizations on communications and messaging. I am also the author of a book on the youth vote called "Youth to Power: How Today's Young Voters are Building Tomorrow's Progressive Majority."

Why I deserve a Netroots Nation Scholarship

I've worked my ass off spreading the word about Millennials and young voters even when no one in the Democratic Party believed that young voters would ever swing an election. At times I've been paid for this work, at other times - including currently - I'm doing it for free in my spare time and in the current economy I cannot afford to go to Netroots Nation without some kind of assistance.

I manage these blogs

Future Majority

The blogs I use most are

Tech President
The Plum Line

What first inspired me to get involved

Seeing how far the youth movement has come since 2004.

How I've gotten others involved

With my own example - giving 100% to youth organization, helping organize and connect the organizers, and pushing everyone to do more and in a more coordinated fashion.

The blog post I am most proud of

http://futuremajority.com/node/4213

Why I think participation in the blogosphere is important

Without our participation, nothing changes - at least not for the better. When we all make our voices heard, we have a better party and a more healthy democracy, and hopefully, with all of us acting and speaking together, we can make a better country.

More about my volunteer work

In 2004, the youth vote came out big for Kerry but no one noticed. Over the next two years I began to blog about youth issues, gaining traction at my own blog, and earning a weekend front-page slot at MyDD, and frequent diary rescues on Kos. Via that exposure, I met my book publishers and in February of 2008 I published my first book - "Youth to Power: How Today's Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow's Progressive Majority." The book was reviewed in the Washington Post and earned me media attention on CNN, and in publications like the New York Times and Washingont Post - spreading the word about the importance of young voters's months before Obama's victory in 2008 and helping reverse media narratives about "apathetic" youth.