June 6, 2013, John Andrews - Co-chair, for the GRP Administrative Committee

The Green Party's 2013 Annual National Meeting will take place in Iowa City, Iowa on July 25-28.  The Green-Rainbow Party is encouraging anyone who can make the trip to consider attending.  It is a great opportunity to meet fellow Greens from all over the United States and even from other countries.  There will be workshops, panels, and a meeting of the National Committee.  We especially encourage you to attend if you are one of our delegates to the National Committee, if you serve on a national working committee or caucus, or if your organizing work as a candidate or local activist would benefit from comparing notes to people doing similar work in other states.

Below is an announcement with additional information.  A detailed agenda for the meeting should be released soon.  If you want to attend, even if your plans are uncertain, please send your name to [email protected].  We will share helpful information on travel arrangements and lodging.   The Green-Rainbow Party will use its Participation Fund to partially defray travel expenses for GRP attendees who find the travel costs to be an economic hardship (Anyone who tells us they are thinking about going will be sent a copy of the financial assistance application form.)  Hope to see  you there!

Green Party's 2013 Annual National Meeting in Iowa City, July 25-28, to feature 2012 Green presidential candidate Jill Stein and other guests

• Meeting web site: http://www.gp.org/meetings/Iowa2013

• Media Credentialing: http://www.gp.org/committees/media/press.php

• University of Iowa map: http://www.uiowa.edu/~maps/i/imu1.htm


WASHINGTON, DC -- 2012 Green presidential nominee Jill Stein and other Green leaders will gather with party members at the Green Party's 2013 Annual National Meeting, which will take place July 25 to 28 in Iowa City, Iowa (http://www.gp.org/meetings/Iowa2013).

Most events at the meeting will be held at the Iowa Memorial Union, which serves as the student union building for the University of Iowa (http://www.uiowa.edu / Campus Map: http://www.uiowa.edu/~maps/i/imu1.htm).

The Green Party's web site has Media Credentialing page (http://www.gp.org/committees/media/press.php) for journalists interested in covering the meeting. Bloggers are also encouraged to register and attend.

"Iowa is significant for Greens not only because we have an active Green Party, but because, as the first state for caucuses in presidential elections, it might have America's most politically aware population," said Holly Hart, Secretary of the Iowa Green Party (http://www.greens.org/iowa).

Since the 2012 election, Jill Stein and running mate Cheri Honkala have set up a Green Shadow Cabinet, which includes nearly 100 prominent scientists, community and labor leaders, physicians, cultural workers, veterans, and others and provides an ongoing opposition and alternative voice to the dysfunctional U.S. political establishment (http://greenshadowcabinet.us). 

Some the events planned for the meeting (details tentative):

• Keynote address by Dr. Stein, on Saturday, July 27

• Panel on policy-making on Thursday night, July 26 featuring other national and state level officials, elected or appointed, who have a strong record of supporting Green policies and candidates. Confirmed: Francis Thicke, Iowa farmer, member of the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, the Iowa Food Policy Council, and the Iowa Organic Standards Boards. Others to be announced.

• Panel featuring Green officeholders from across the country, on Saturday.

• Press conferences, Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, with Green officeholders, candidates, local activists, and other guests.

• Green "Campaign School" for candidates and campaign workers, workshops on various topics of interest (including anti-oppression training), as well as plenary sessions of the Green National Committee and various committee meetings.

Many of these events will be aired and archived on the Green Party's Livestream Channel (http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus).