FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Erik Telford (202) 280-8716, or Annie Patnaude, (202) 349-5880

Hundreds to Convene in Austin, TX for Summit Focused on Strengthening Conservative Online Activism, July 18

Conservative Bloggers will Gather for RightOnline across town from Netroots Nation

Michelle Malkin to Headline Event with New Media Activists from Coast to Coast

WASHINGTON – Online activists and high-profile bloggers from coast-to-coast will converge on Austin, Texas, for a summit focused on taxes, spending, and strengthening the conservative online activist community. The grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) is leading up a coalition of groups to organize RightOnline, which aims to establish a conservative counter-weight to the left’s web 2.0 community.

“Americans for Prosperity Foundation is a grassroots leader on the national level and in twenty-two states around the nation. We have educated and organized tens of thousands of citizens with our grassroots training schools,” said AFP President Tim Phillips. “RightOnline will take that leadership to the online community. For years the left has built a superior online political infrastructure, leaving conservatives at a severe disadvantage. Those who are tired of being left behind now have an opportunity for change.”

RightOnline, which will be held in conjunction with the Texas Defending the American Dream Summit, will take place at the same time – and just across town – from the gathering of liberal activists called Netroots Nation (formerly YearlyKos). Americans for Prosperity Foundation has partnered with the Sam Adams Alliance, Heritage Foundation, Leadership Institute, Media Research Center and other leading conservative organizations to offer a powerful program, including training seminars, panel sessions, and strong lineup of speakers. More information, including an agenda, can be found online at www.RightOnline.com.

“RightOnline is the first-of-its-kind gathering for the conservative movement,” said AFPF manager of new media Erik Telford. “By bringing together grassroots activists, influential conservative organizations, and new media activists from across the country, we will focus on how we can work more effectively toward achieving our shared goals, using the internet as a driving force.”

The impressive line-up of speakers include Michelle Malkin, Barry Goldwater Jr., former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, RedState.com’s Erick Erickson, columnist Robert Novak, the Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore and John Fund, and American for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist. Additional speakers and influential new media attendees will be announced soon.

Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) is the nation’s premier grassroots organization committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFPF believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFPF educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org.

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