New Hampshire Liberty Forum Explained
The New Hampshire Liberty Forum is an annual convention-style conference hosted by the Free State Project. It has attracted attendees such as U.S. presidential candidates, a sitting U.S. senator, a sitting U.S. representative, state legislators, well-known businesspersons, entrepreneurs, and numerous policy institutes.
The conference is one of two annual events hosted by the Free State Project in an effort to recruit 20,000 individuals with libertarian ideals to move to New Hampshire, the other being the Porcupine Freedom Festival. As of February 3, 2016, the group has 20,000 participants signed on,[1] hence completing the original goal. The signatories are now expected to move to New Hampshire by 2022, five years after the end of the drive.
2016 conference
The 2016 New Hampshire Liberty Forum was held from February 18 through February 21, 2016,[2] at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire. The theme of the 2016 conference was "Living Liberty," which focused on participants who had already moved to New Hampshire and how they are exploring and expanding their personal liberties there.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gave the keynote speech, via live video stream [3] from his exile in Russia. Lyn Ulbricht spoke and shared an update on the appeal trial of her son, Ross Ulbricht, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole[4] for allegedly creating a darknet market named Silk Road under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts.
2015 conference
The 2015 conference was held on March 5 through March 8, 2015, at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire. The event was branded using dark blue, light blue, white, and gold theming. The logo featured a stylized map of New Hampshire, divided into polygonal shapes using the branding colors of the event, but introducing different green and blue shades which were only present in the logo. The slogan of the event was "Moved By Liberty".
The event featured a media room, various speakers organized into interest-based tracks, a vendor showcase, children's activities, and art workshops. Event tickets were sold in tiers, and many attendees of the event were also entitled to catered meals for lunch and dinner, a brunch, access to snacks, and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with purchase of the VIP-tier ticket, which permitted access to the hospitality suite.
In contrast with previous events and aligning with the creation of interest-specific tracks, speakers for the 2015 event were not designated 'keynote' speakers. Despite this shift, scheduling changes caused by January 2015 North American blizzard and subsequent winter storms caused more than one formal event host to declare that a 'keynote speaker' had been rescheduled.
- Speakers
- Amanda Bouldin – New Hampshire State Representative
- Andrew Hemingway – Gubernatorial candidate in New Hampshire
- Ben Swann – Emmy Award-winning journalist
- Bob Hull – New Hampshire State Representative
- Bob Wilkins – Founder Zftr, ZftrCoin
- Branden Petersen – US Senator District 35, Minnesota
- Carl Soderberg – Founder, Able Ebinezer Brewing Company
- Carla Gericke – President, Free State Project
- Carlos Morales – Author, "Legally Kidnapped, The Case Against Child Protective Services"
- Carol McGuire – Four-term New Hampshire State Representative
- Catherine Cadden – Author, "Peaceable Revolution Through Education"
- Charlie Arlinghaus – President, Josiah Bartlett Center For Public Education
- Chris Mercogliano – Author, Making It Up As We Go Along, The Story of the Albany Free School, and Teaching The Restless.
- Dan McGuire – Three-term New Hampshire State Representative
- David Boaz – Executive Vice President, CATO Institute
- David Kelley – Author, doctorate – The Sciences, Reason, Harvard Business Review, Unrugged Individualism: The Selfish Basis of Benevolence, The Art of Reasoning
- Edward Hudgins – Editor, Regulation.
- Evan Pierce – Artist, Bardo Farm
- Francois-Rene Dang Vu Ban Rideau – (Name Anglicized) – Blogger, Futurist.
- Ian Freeman – Director, LRN.FM. Host, Free Talk Live
- Ian Underwood – Founding Owner, Bardo Project. Researcher (physics, computer science), NASA
- James Otteson – Executive Director, BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism, doctorate.
- Jared Chicoine – State Campaign Director, Ron Paul 2012.
- Jason Sorens – Author, Announcement: The Free State Project, doctorate.
- Jeffrey Tucker – Founder, Liberty.me. Author, Bourbon For Breakfast
- Jesse Wiens – Founder, ZENVC
- Jody Underwood – Founder/owner Bardo Farm, doctorate.
- Jon Herdman – Founder, Mental Health Is Not a Crime
- Kevin Bloom – Political director, New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
- Kirk McNeil – Co-founder, Church of the Sword
- Lee Webster – Founder, director – New Hampshire Funeral Resources, Education & Advocacy
- Louis Calitz – Technology entrepreneur, CTO FreeStateProject.org
- Lyn Ulbricht – Mother of Ross Ulbricht, Motivational speaker
- Mark Warden – Principal, Porcupine Real Estate
- Matthew Ping – Founder, Ledgeview Commercial Partners
- Matt Simon – Former executive director, Marijuana Policy Project
- Mier G. Kohn – Professor of economics, Dartmouth College
- Michelle Levell – Director, School Choice New Hampshire
- Mike Vine – Organizer, Porcfest X and Freecoast Festival
- Nick Gillespie – Editor-in-chief, Reason.com.
- Ofer Nave – Co-founder, The Porcupine Clubhouse
- Patrick M. Byrne – CEO, Overstock.com
- Paul Best – chairman, New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
- Peter St. Onge – Editor, Austrian Investment Monthly
- Richard Mack – Founder, Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association
- Rick Broussard – Editor, New Hampshire Magazine
- Sam Eaton – Owner, FanConx.com
- Sandy Pierre – Editor, Shire Liberty News
- Saul Anuzis – Managing partner, Coast To Coast Strategies
- Scott Horton – Host, Antiwar Radio
- Seamas O' Scaladidhe – (Name Anglicized) – Treasurer, Free State Project. Principal, GenCourtMobile.
- Seth Hipple – Co-founder, Martin & Hipple, esquire.
- Shem Kellogg – New Hampshire State Representative
- Tim O'Flaherty – Research director, New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
- William Ruger – Vice president, research and policy at Charles Koch Institute, doctorate.
- William Thomas – Author, Radicals for Capitalism; Editor, The Literary Art of Ayn Rand
2014 conference
The 2014 conference was held from February 20 to 23, 2014, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire.[5]
- Keynote speakers
- Speakers
- Jeffrey Tucker – executive editor of Laissez Faire Books and Distinguished Fellow of the Foundation for Economic Education
- Ben Swann – Edward R. Murrow Award and Emmy Award winning journalist, and an internet phenomenon with over 10 million video views
- Trevor Timm – co-founder and executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Ken White – criminal defense attorney and blogger at Popehat
- Travis Brown – state lobbyist, author of How Money Walks
- Kashmir Hill – senior online editor at Forbes, writing about the intersection of law, technology, social media and personal information
- Cody Wilson – co-founder of Defense Distributed
- Ben Falk – resilient site development and permaculture expert with Whole Systems Design LLC
- Aaron Day – Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire and CEO[6] of the Atlas Society
- Dan Alban – an attorney with the Institute for Justice who litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting free speech, property rights, economic liberty and other individual liberties
- Bill Buppert – expert on irregular warfare and revolutionary movements, author of ZeroGov
- James Bovard – libertarian author and journalist
- James O'Keefe – journalist whose investigations have exposed corruption and malfeasance in major taxpayer-funded institutions, including ACORN, Planned Parenthood and NPR
2013 conference
The 2013 conference was held from February 21 to 24, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire.
- Keynote speakers
- Speakers
2012 conference
The 2012 conference was held from February 23 to 26. The Second Amendment Sisters of New Hampshire sponsored a firearm safety class and shoot, and the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance offered a tour of the New Hampshire State House.
- Keynote speakers
- Speakers
- Jodie Emery – editor of Cannabis Culture online magazine
- John Lott – economist and author
- Sharon Presley – co-founder of Laissez Faire Books
- Michael Boldin – founder and executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center[14]
- Michael Cloud – author, speech writer and president and co-founder of the Center For Small Government
- John Bush – Texas based liberty activist
2011 conference
The 2011 conference was scheduled for February 24–27 in Nashua, New Hampshire but in December 2010, it was announced by Free State Project President Varrin Swearingen that the 2011 conference would be canceled. A primary reason for the cancellation included slow ticket sales after the event announcement was delayed partially due to the keynote speaker unexpectedly backing out.[15]
2010 conference
The 2010 conference was held from March 18 through March 21 in Nashua, New Hampshire, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
- Keynote speakers
- Judge Andrew Napolitano – former New Jersey Superior Court Judge, former host of Freedom Watch and senior judicial analyst on the FOX business network[16]
- NH State Rep. Dan Itse – sitting New Hampshire State Representative[17]
- Jacob Hornberger – founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, a libertarian educational foundation
- Speakers
- Angela Keaton – development director of Antiwar.com, producer of Antiwar Radio; serves on the boards of Outright Libertarians and Ladies of Liberty Alliance
- Brad Spangler – Director of the Center for a Stateless Society, proponent of agorism
- Brett Veinotte – host of School Sucks Podcast
- Catherine Bleish – Executive Director of the Liberty Restoration Project
- Charles W. Johnson – individualist-anarchist writer and activist, founding member of the Alliance of the Libertarian Left, occasional columnist; writes at radgeek.com
- Daniel J. Mitchell – libertarian economist, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute
- David D. Friedman – author of "The Machinery of Freedom"; holds A.B. from Harvard University, Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago
- Devin S. Standard – firearms instructor, accomplished martial artist, hunter
- Eddie Allen – International Currency Director for the American Open Currency Standard
- Ernest Hancock – publisher of FreedomsPhoenix, host of "Declare Your Independence" on the Liberty News Radio Network and the Republic Broadcasting Network; best known as creator of the Ron Paul r3VOLution logo
- Jason Talley – author, contributes to fr33agents.net
- Jenn Coffey – National Coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters, elected NH State Representative
- Kelley Vlahos – contributing editor for The American Conservative magazine and its blog; political writer for Foxnews.com, regular columnist for Antiwar.com
- Kenneth W. Royce – aka "Boston T. Party", founder of Free State Wyoming, shooting instructor, speaker, author of books on guns, history, law, politics, and government
- Michele Seven – mother taking up her case against the IRS
- Pasha Roberts – producer/director of the movie "Silver Circle" (silvercirclemovie.com)
- Radley Balko – journalist, senior editor for Reason magazine, and blogs at theagitator.com
- Scott Bieser – cartoonist, former video game animator
- Shelly Roche – libertarian activist with a podcast at ByteStyle.tv; computer programmer, entrepreneur
- Skip Coryell – founder of the Second Amendment March; author of seven books related to personal defense and 2nd Amendment activism; Chief Instructor and co-owner of Midwest Tactical Training
- Stewart Rhodes – founder and director of Oath Keepers; former firearms instructor and former member of Ron Paul’s D.C. staff.
- Thomas Naylor – co-founder of the Second Vermont Republic; author, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Duke University Tom Baugh – entrepreneur, inventor; author of "Starving the Monkeys: Fight Back Smarter"
- Tom Mullen – author of "A Return to Common Sense: Reawakening Liberty in the Inhabitants of America"
- William Norman Grigg – award-winning investigative journalist and author; blogs at freedominourtime.blogspot.com
Additionally, members of the Liberty Caravan (libertycaravan.org) spoke about their journey to New Hampshire.
2009 conference
The 2009 conference was held from March 5 through March 8 in Nashua, New Hampshire, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
- Keynote speakers
- Dick Heller – brought suit against Washington, D.C., with the Bill of Rights Foundation, and together they overturned the D.C. ban on handguns. Mr. Heller is a participant in the Free State Project.
- Dr. Mary Ruwart – author and 2008 LP presidential candidate
- Stefan Molyneux – host of Freedomain Radio
- Speakers
- Charles Arlinghaus – president of the free-market Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy
- David Bergland – Libertarian Party (LP) presidential candidate, activist, and author
- Will Buchanan – from the Walk For Liberty
- Jenn Coffey – National Coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters, & elected New Hampshire State Representative
- Pete Eyre – Bureaucrash Crasher-in-Chief
- Gary Franchi – National Director of Aaron Russo's Restore the Republic
- Patri Friedman – Executive Director of the Seasteading Institute
- John Taylor Gatto – author of numerous books including "Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling"
- Anthony Gregory – Research Analyst at the Independent Institute
- Dan Itse – New Hampshire state representative who introduced States' Rights bill HCR 0006
- Glenn Jacobs – WWE wrestler "Kane", Free State Project member, creator of the blog Adventures of Citizen X
- Angela Keaton – Development Director from AntiWar.com
- Adam Kokesh – from Iraq Veterans Against the War
- Tom Mullen – author of "A Return to Common Sense"
- Ethan Nadelmann – founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance
- Evan Nappen – lawyer and author of "New Hampshire Gun, Knife, and Weapon Law"
- David Nolan – founder of the Libertarian Party
- Kenneth Royce (Boston T. Party) – author of books on guns, history, law, politics, and government
- Matt Simon – Director of NH Common Sense Marijuana Policy
- Lisa Snell – Director of Education and Child Welfare, Reason Foundation
- Marc Stevens – author of "Adventures in Legal Land"
- Deborah Stevenson – Executive Director of National Home Education Legal Defense
- Aaron David Ward – libertarian comedian
2008 conference
The 2008 conference was held from January 3 through January 6 in Nashua at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Moved to first weekend in January based on predicted New Hampshire primary date of Tuesday, January 8, 2008, which came to pass.Slogan: Moving Liberty Forward
- Keynote speakers
- Speakers
2007 conference
Held in Concord, from February 22 to February 25, 2007. Slogan: Attaining Personal and Economic Freedom in America's Freest State
- Keynote speakers
- John Stossel – co-anchor of ABC's 20/20, called "the most consistently thought-provoking TV reporter of our time".
- Michael Badnarik – 2004 Libertarian Party presidential candidate, and author of Good To Be King: The Foundation of Our Constitutional Freedom.
- Speakers
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Free State Project participant counter . Free State Project. February 4, 2016.
- Web site: NH Liberty Forum . Free State Project. November 6, 2015.
- Web site: NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden to Headline Free State Project’s Liberty Forum.
- Web site: Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht sentenced to life in prison. 29 May 2015. 17 October 2015. The Guardian. Thielman. Sam.
- Web site: NH Liberty Forum . Free State Project. November 2, 2013.
- Web site: Atlas Society Staff . . . October 30, 2013.
- News: Paperback Nonfiction . . January 9, 2005 . . October 31, 2013.
- Web site: Atlas Society Staff . . . October 30, 2013.
- News: The future of Bitcoin – according to Coinapult's Eric Voorhees . Hopkins . Curt . May 7, 2013 . . October 31, 2013 .
- Web site: Meet "Bitcoin Jesus" Roger Ver, the millionaire who distributes free Bitcoins . Tripathi . Shruti . July 17, 2013 . London Loves Business.com . October 31, 2013 .
- News: Shalan . Aimee . September 20, 2011 . A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell – review . . October 31, 2013 .
- Web site: Self Sufficiency & Sovereign Lifestyle . Wells . John B. . October 12, 2013 . . October 31, 2013 .
- Web site: Kira Peikoff’s Living Proof Tour Schedule . . March 2, 2012 . . November 2, 2013.
- If at First You Don't Secede . Mencimer . Stephanie . July–August 2010 . . November 2, 2013.
- Web site: NHLF Cancellation Explanation Letter . Swearingen . Varrin . December 29, 2010 . . November 2, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131104005601/http://agoratelegraph.com/2010/12/29/cancellation-of-the-nh-liberty-forum/ . November 4, 2013 .
- Web site: On Air Personalities . . . November 2, 2013.
- Web site: Representative Daniel Itse (r) . . . November 2, 2013.
- https://destinationfreedom.org/christopher-gronskis-freedom-bio/Christopher Gronski – Freedom Biography
