Last week I took the opportunity to travel to Washington DC and join hundreds of fellow members of Generation O at the annual Campus Progress National Conference. Since this was my first year attending, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. The lineup of speakers and guests looked phenomenal, so I knew the event had promise. Ultimately, Campus Progress exceeded nearly every expectation I had for this gathering of enthusiastic young people.

My alarm clock sounded early on Wednesday morning. The weather was pleasant and sunny as I made my way to the conference. When I arrived at the Omni Shoreham hotel I found my way to the check-in tables filled with hundreds of Campus Progress nametags. I grabbed the one with my name and was handed a tote bag with some conference materials and a t-shirt. Finally, I made my way down the hall to the main ballroom for breakfast.

The morning session featured a few brief introductions and a very entertaining performance by spoken word artist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai. I particularly enjoyed the subsequent conversation between Daniella Gibbs Leger and John Podesta. Having read Podesta’s book recently, it was interesting to hear his take on many of the issues now facing the Obama administration.

By 10:30 we broke into smaller groups for panel discussions. I opted to attend the panel on college affordability, since it is a topic I have written about and something that I find personally concerning. Most individuals in the room seemed to agree that that federal aid is insufficient and the loan process is confusing and often misleading. It was somewhat shocking to hear other students talk about how much debt they have accumulated over their few years in college. It certainly isn’t a topic that is openly discussed very often, and unfortunately, that is a big part of the problem.

By the time I returned to the main ballroom for lunch, I found a catered buffet packed end to end with Tex-Mex style food - everything from tacos to chips and salsa to guacamole. Considering that I was expecting typical conference fare, sandwiches or pasta, the lunch was certainly a pleasant surprise. Campus Progress did an awesome job catering the conference, and the person or persons in charge of food deserve special praise.

The lunch session kicked off with another incredibly talented spoken word artist, followed by a keynote address by White House special advisor Van Jones. I knew about Jones from this profile in the New Yorker and his appearance on PBS’s NOW. Jones’s message is compelling in that he makes a convincing case for green energy from a non-traditional point of view. Even if you aren’t a typical environmentalist, there are plenty of good reasons to support the cause. Although I didn’t win one of the signed copies of Van Jones’s book being raffled away, I do plan on picking up a copy to read in the near future.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius took the stage next. Aside from a verbal gaffe (calling the conference ‘Campus Project’ instead of ‘Campus Progress’) the Secretary gave a nice little presentation about the administration’s goals for health care policy.

John Prendergast and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte wrapped up the lunch session with a conversation about violence in the developing world. If there was one take-away, it is that all of the electronics we use, from laptops and cell-phones, are helping to fuel rebel violence in countries that produce the raw materials used to make the components. And sadly, there aren’t any companies that have clean hands. Admittedly, this wasn’t a topic I knew much about before the conversation, but it is something I plan to explore more deeply.

I chose the ‘Threat Assessment’ panel discussion after lunch. The panel included Heather Hurlburt, Matthew Yglesias, Reuben Brigety, Jamie Fly, and Emira Woods, and in my opinion, was excellent. The speakers made the point that they were pleasantly surprised at the number of young people interested in hearing and talking about international issues. Jamie Fly was the token conservative on the panel, and he was simply outnumbered. With an audience not very sympathetic to his point of view, it was easy to see how it could be a frustrating position for him to be in. Nevertheless, there was quite a bit of good back and forth on typically contentious foreign policy issues.

The closing session opened with a conversation with John Oliver from The Daily Show. As much as I enjoy his show, I haven’t watched since before the presidential election, and Oliver reminded me exactly what I was missing. One point the comedian really tried to stress was that what the Daily Show does not and should not be considered news or journalism in any way. If it is better than the stuff that’s on cable TV, then that’s an insult those stations and programs, not a compliment to the Daily Show. I definitely agree.

Of course, the two biggest names, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton, were saved for the end. On the one hand, I’ve seen both of these individuals speak so many times on TV and the internet that I wasn’t sure the material would be particularly unique or exciting. On the other hand, I’d never seen either of them in person and both speakers did a good job of knowing the audience. I imagine that it’s easy to do when nearly everyone is about the same age and subscribes to a similar political ideology. It also makes for a very different style of speaking than what you might see on TV.

After President Clinton’s keynote presentation, Campus Progress hosted an amazing catered gathering out on the back patio of the Omni Shoreham.

This brief report doesn’t begin to do justice to the quality of the speakers and the atmosphere at the conference. Like I said, just about every aspect exceeded my expectations. Everyone at Campus Progress deserves a great deal of thanks for organizing and executing such a great event. The biggest disappointment was that there was so much to do and so little time. Even though I spent nearly twelve hours at the event, it felt like I could have easily spent twice as much time. The panel discussions I attended, in particular, only scratched the surface of their respective topics, and some of the speakers only had time for a handful of audience questions.

It was great to be around so many energetic members of Generation O. I hope that Campus Progress can keep up the good work for many years to come.

-Rob