Transformation? Or Shock?
This panel will discuss the opportunities and risks of the current economic and social environment. Will Obama seize the opportunity to restore elements of the New Deal, or will the oligarchs use shock to strengthen their position of control?
Jay Ackroyd is an economist by training, but has spent his career working in IT.
Nowadays he is a principal at inside the culture, a market research firm that uses social media and webcam applications to disseminate authentic, real-time trend data and conduct virtual focus groups, to provide more immediacy and authenticity than traditional focus groups. See
insidetheculture.com.
Jay runs projects in Second Life, where he also hosts a weekly progressive talk show that has featured many Netroots Nation favorites. More information is available at VirtuallySpeaking.ning.com.
He can be found as jayackroyd pretty much everywhere.
Michael Lux is President of Progressive Strategies, L.L.C., a
political consulting firm focused on strategic political consulting for progressive organizations and donors. He also co-founded the blog OpenLeft.com.
Previously he was Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison in the Clinton Administration and Senior VP for Political action at People For the American Way. He also served on the Obama-Biden Transition Team as liaison to the progressive community.
Ian Welsh has been blogging since 2003. He was the Managing Editor of FireDogLake and the Agonist. His work has also appeared at Huffington Post, Alternet, and Truthout, as well as the now defunct Blogging of the President (BOPNews). In Canada his work has appeared in Pogge.ca and BlogsCanada. He is a social media strategy consultant and currently lives in Toronto.
"Digby" of Santa Monica, California, is a writer and founder of the liberal political blog Hullabaloo (www.digbysblog.blogspot.com).
Congressman Eric Massa, a Naval Academy graduate, is a 24-year retired Navy Commander. His capstone military assignment was serving as the Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, General Wesley Clark, during the Bosnian conflict.
Following a terminal diagnosis of cancer, Massa returned to the States to undergo treatment. With the odds stacked against him, he survived and is now completely cured.
Following the reelection of President Bush, Massa decided that he had to try to change the direction our country was heading in and in 2008, Congressman Massa defeated the Republican incumbent and now represents New York's 29th Congressional District.
