Yes I was at the BC Liberal Convention - it was well run and good for me to be there

I am back with the BC Liberals again.  I joined them the first time in late 1999 when a friend ask me to run his nomination campaign in the Yale Lillooet riding.   I went to the 2016 convention and I have a number of personal and political observations.

The Political

• This convention was bigger than past BC Liberal ones I went to
• The age of the people at the convention was much younger than I had expected.   At 51 I often still feel young at political events.   At the BC Liberal convention I felt old for the first time.   The representation of millennials was significant
• This is not Gordon Campbell's Liberals.  In the past no serious man would have gone to the convention in anything but a suit.   I arrived in a suit on Friday and I felt overdressed   It was also a much more grass roots feeling event than in the past.   
• The Liberals are better organized than I have ever seen them, frankly better organized than any BC party I have ever seen.   The convention theme was "Team" and it was very much how the event felt.
• The convention was very well organized and the details well though out
• The convention was a very positive event.   People were happy and even energetic.   
• I have never seen as many or as well attended hospitality suites as I did on Friday night

  The Personal

• As you may or may not know I am suffering from severe clinical depression.  And I went to the convention with some anxiety about how I would do because I tend to dislike crowds of people when I do not know a lot of them.   I did not need to worry.
• In general the event was very welcoming for me.  Within in 10 minutes of being there I had run into five people I had not seen in years.   Over the weekend connected with a lot more people than I had expected.
• The very positive atmosphere at the event was very good for me.   No one was talking negatively around me and that helped my mood.  It made me realize I need to not engage with negativity when it comes to politics and simply ignore the angry people online
• The most important thing for me was that I got a lot of positive validation from the people at the convention.   I had a number of people that I really did not know come up to me and ask me how I was doing, how was the depression, how was I after the fire at the old house and more.   I several MLAs and one MP seek me out to meet me in person.  
• Once again dissenting opinions are ok with the BC Liberals if you are expressing yourself rationally   I liked that I could talk to people I disagreed with on issues and feel like we could both hear it each other and find points of commonality