New Hampshire Liberty Forum

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Logo used by the Free State Project to promote the 2013 Liberty Forum.
Logo used by the Free State Project to promote the 2013 Liberty Forum.

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

2014 conference[edit]

The 2014 conference was held from February 20 to 23, 2014, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire.[5]

Keynote speakers
Speakers

2013 conference[edit]

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[edit]

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.[citation needed]

Keynote speakers
Speakers

2011 conference[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

2008 conference[edit]

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[edit]

Held in Concord, from February 22 to February 25, 2007. Slogan: Attaining Personal and Economic Freedom in America's Freest State

Keynote speakers
Speakers

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Free State Project participant counter". Free State Project. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  2. ^ "NH Liberty Forum". Free State Project. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  3. ^ "NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden to Headline Free State Project's Liberty Forum".
  4. ^ Thielman, Sam (29 May 2015). "Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht sentenced to life in prison". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  5. ^ "NH Liberty Forum". Free State Project. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  6. ^ "Atlas Society Staff". The Atlas Society. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  7. ^ "Paperback Nonfiction". The New York Times. January 9, 2005. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  8. ^ "Atlas Society Staff". The Atlas Society. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  9. ^ Hopkins, Curt (May 7, 2013). "The future of Bitcoin – according to Coinapult's Eric Voorhees". Daily Dot. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  10. ^ Tripathi, Shruti (July 17, 2013). "Meet "Bitcoin Jesus" Roger Ver, the millionaire who distributes free Bitcoins". London Loves Business.com. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  11. ^ Shalan, Aimee (September 20, 2011). "A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell – review". Theguardian.com. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  12. ^ a b Wells, John B. (October 12, 2013). "Self Sufficiency & Sovereign Lifestyle". Coast to Coast AM. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  13. ^ "Kira Peikoff's Living Proof Tour Schedule". Tor Books. March 2, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  14. ^ Mencimer, Stephanie (July–August 2010). "If at First You Don't Secede". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  15. ^ Swearingen, Varrin (December 29, 2010). "NHLF Cancellation Explanation Letter". Free State Project. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  16. ^ "On Air Personalities". Fox News. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  17. ^ "Representative Daniel Itse (r)". New Hampshire General Court. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  18. ^ Gronski – Freedom Biography

External links[edit]