FCD spotlighted, takes DC by storm

By Matty Budesa, Secretary

June 18th, 2011

The Florida College Democrats (FCD for short) took DC by storm during the weekend of June 17th, as we attended the College Democrats of America summer conference. The FCD funded two students from any chartered school that wished to attend the conference, and ended up being one of the biggest delegations at the conference.

During the conference, leaders from our state federation along with many of our chapter leaders underwent training in one of four tracks which focused on Communication, Leadership, Finance, and Organization. The tutorials were hosted by fellow democrats from the Democratic National Committee (DNC for short) and Obama for America/ Organizing for America (OFA for short). The Conference also included networking workshops, voter suppression talks, and a tutorial on how we as students can become delegates for Obama in the 2012 election!

Aside from these great informational sessions the CDA also gave us all the opportunity to hear some amazing Democratic speakers including, but not limited to, our very own FCD Honorary Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe. The conference was a great opportunity to network with fellow College Democrats, and of course to see the beautiful sights of Washington, D.C. We were fortunate enough to find time to go to some hip D.C. restaurants, such as Busboys & Poets, and also go Monument Hopping to see the beautiful monuments around the city lit up at night. Aside from this we were also able to participate in the excitement of CDA executive board elections, with our previously mentioned 2nd largest voting bloc, and an awards ceremony, where Beth Broderick, a former star of the TV show “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” turned Democratic Activist, was a speaker.

The awards ceremony also held special importance for Florida as the FCD was up for State Federation of the Year, and was able to showcase our notable efforts in the 2010 efforts and our improvements for the future such as our new ROAD program! Plus, a few of our own chapters and members came home with some pretty impressive awards to their names as the University of Florida chapter was awarded the “Rising Star,” award, and our very own FCD president, Dominique Gelin, was awarded the “Democrat of the Year” award. Now that we have returned from the conference, having gained some necessary insight from Democratic leaders, training in our respective fields, and invaluable networking with our fellow democrats across the country, we are ready to go full speed ahead in our fundraising and “get out the vote” efforts. Hope you’re all as “Fired up, ready to go” as we are for this year’s gear up towards 2012, and then of course 2012 itself!