Texas Tribune is having an awesome festival in September

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.texastribune.org/festival/

We invite you to join us for the inaugural TEXAS TRIBUNE FESTIVAL, a weekend of debate, discussion and dialogue, featuring some of the biggest names, and the biggest brains, in the world of politics and public policy.

A general admission pass gives you access to two full days of interactive events, lively panel conversations and absorbing lectures. Follow any one of four distinct programming areas, or mix and match — it's up to you. You'll be able to grab a bite from some of Austin's premier food truck vendors and will have unlimited opportunities to network with your fellow attendees. The Festival will take place on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

Confirmed participants include former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards, energy magnate T. Boone Pickens, Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs, former U.S. Census Bureau Director Steve H. Murdock, and Barry T. Smitherman, the Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, along with more than a half-dozen chairs of major committees in the Texas House and Texas Senate.

A full list of participants is available here.
(They are:

Aliseda - State Representative, R-Beeville

Dan Branch - State Representative, R-Dallas; Chairman of the House Higher Education Committee

Michael Burgess - U.S. Representative, R-Lewisville

Meria Joel Carstarphen - Superintendent, Austin Independent School District

Julián Castro - Mayor, San Antonio

Garnet Coleman - State Representative, D-Houston

Curtis Culwell - Superintendent, Garland Independent School District

Dianne White Delisi - Former State Representative, R-Temple

Anne Dunkelberg - Associate Director, Center for Public Policy Priorities

Rob Eissler - State Representative, R-The Woodlands; Chairman of the House Public Education Committee

Steven Farr - Chief Knowledge Officer, Teach for America

Jessica Farrar - State Representative, D-Houston

Mike Feinberg - KIPP Co-Founder and Superintendent, KIPP Houston

John M. Folks - Superintendent, Northside Independent School District

Chad Foster - Former Mayor, Eagle Pass; Former Chairman, Border Mayors Coalition

Tony Garza - Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

Jeanne Goka - Principal, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders

Veronica Gonzales - State Representative, D-McAllen

Laura Huffman - Executive Director, the Nature Conservancy of Texas

Amy Myers Jaffe - Director of the Energy Forum at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University

Alejandro Junco de la Vega - Publisher, Grupo Reforma

James L. Keffer - State Representative, R-Eastland; Chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee

Renu Khator - Chancellor, University of Houston System; President, University of Houston

R. Bowen Loftin - President, Texas A&M University

Dee Margo - State Representative, D-El Paso

Thomas G. Mason - Former General Manager, Lower Colorado River Authority

Don McLeroy - Former Chairman, State Board of Education

Kathy Miller - President, Texas Freedom Network

Steve H. Murdock - Former Director of the U.S. Census Bureau; former Texas State Demographer; Allyn and Gladys Cline Chair in Sociology at Rice University

Diana Natalicio - President, the University of Texas at El Paso

T. Boone Pickens - Chairman, BP Capital Management

Thomas Ratliff - Member, State Board of Education

Richard M. Rhodes - Incoming President, Austin Community College

Cecile Richards - President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Allan Ritter - State Representative, R-Nederland; Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee

J. James Rohack - Former President, American Medical Association

Jonathan Saenz - Director of Legislative Affairs, Liberty Institute

Andrew Sansom- Executive Director, River Systems Institute; former Executive Director, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Robert Scott - Texas Commissioner of Education

Florence Shapiro - State Senator, R-Plano; Chairwoman of the Senate Public Education Committee

Bryan W. Shaw - Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Tom “Smitty” Smith - Director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office

Barry T. Smitherman - Chairman, Public Utility Commission of Texas

Margaret Spellings - Former U.S. Secretary of Education

Tom Suehs - Executive Commissioner, Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Doug Ulman - President and Chief Executive Officer, Lance Armstrong Foundation

Michael Webber- Associate Director, Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin

Judith Zaffirini - State Senator, D-Laredo; Chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee

John Zerwas - State Representative, R-Simonton




Tickets will go on sale Monday, July 11, and are $125, $100 for Texas Tribune members and $50 for students. Sign up for regular e-mail updates at www.texastribune.org/festival, or visit us Facebook and on Twitter.






Passes go on sale on Monday, July 11, and will cost $125. Texas Tribune member price is $100, and $50 for students. Not already a member? Join today for your discount!

Sign up below to receive email updates on programming, scheduling and last-minute changes and additions.

[sonias]

1. It would be nice

Don't think I'll be in town. Hope some others can report back on how it goes.

[PDittie]

2. I'll pass.

The Texas Tribune is spending far too much time and energy sucking up to Republicans to get a dime from me. Look at all the GOP electeds on that list. Frankly I think their little 'festival' is for people who don't really pay much attention most of the time to the things that are actually happening in Texas. Like people who vote Republican, for example.

No offense, w8.