Jake Grose "My First Lib Dem Conference"

My name is Jake Grose and I recently attended my first Liberal Democrat autumn conference in Bournemouth.

I started my weekend by attending the opening speech, which gave a message of hope and excitement for the weekend and the months ahead. This was followed by a quick dash to the next event, a training session based around the upcoming general election, which was very useful and provided good insights into the parties plan for the next election.This was a theme throughout the weekend and made up the majority of the training sessions I attended, learning specific techniques, applicable both in written materials and when communicating on the doorstep. 

It was an educational and fun weekend, where I met a lot of like-minded people, whom I enjoyed discussing and debating the finer points with. This open discussion through the numerous fringe events, Q&A sessions and panels contributes to the new policies and party manifesto.

On the first evening I had a pleasure of attending the event for all the first-timers, where I met a number of interesting and bright characters. This certainly contributed to making the weekend as enjoyable as it was.

My impressions of conference as a whole; it's a wonderful experience, to learn and have fun while doing it. If you haven't attended, I would recommend attending and that it offers enough to make what you want of it; a relaxing four days, listening to speeches and networking, a learning experience to be a better campaigner or a few days spent debating and bringing real questions to those who can take further action.

Conference allows every member to take action and bring value. This approach has definitely made me feel more excited for the upcoming elections and campaigns.I am certainly planning to attend conference next year, and I would encourage any member who feels strongly about making a difference to join me.

I look forward to meeting you all on the campaign trail. 

Jake Grose