The New York State Young Democrats had an Executive Board Retreat on the weekend of December 6th and 7th in Cooperstown, NY. This was the first Executive Board Retreat in about seven years. This retreat showed that the new administration is both dynamic and industrious in furthering NYSYD‘s reach in New York State. About 16 of the 25 elected and appointed members of the executive board were able to attend, which was a great showing.
The meeting portion of the conference was held at The Otsega Hotel and Conference Center, right on the lake. This provided a beautiful setting for a productive session where many important issues were discussed. The Policy Committee proposed four central areas for NYSYD to focus on in our platform: Health Insurance, Environmental Issues, Higher Education, and Equality rights of minorities, disabled persons and women. The discussion was abundant with viable ideas on how to create and promote our positions on these important issues. 
We took a look at what NYSYD and its’ chapters had been actively doing in 2008 and made a list of accomplishments. Then the focus moved on to the future of our organization.The meeting then set goals for Fundraising for the State and Local Chapters, Communications between Chapters and with the National YDA, chapter building in new counties, increasing membership in present groups. We then focused on methods to attain these goals; such as helping High School and College chapters form and working more closely to help these students transition through the levels of our organization. We also focused on the importance of internships and the resume bank which has been created to help members find internships and/or employments within the political field in New York State. Further, we looked into potential community service opportunities, events and potential for political training for interested Young Democrats.
We then focused on planning for the YDA winter meeting which New York will be hosting at the Sheraton in Times Square, NYC on February 20-22, 2009. There is a lot of excitement leading up to this meeting and NYSYD is excited to host this meeting and host Young Democrats from all over the United States.
While our focus is on the upcoming Winter Meeting, NYSYD is also focusing on scheduling and planning out Chapter Leader Planning Conference to help with Chapter Building (possibly in March/April 09), Part 2 of the Executive Committee Planning Retreat (possibly in June 2009), preparations for the YDA National Convention and 2009 Elections, as well as getting our new website up and ready.
We hope that you will stay informed about NYSYD and considering joining and/or supporting our organization. Together, we can make a big difference.
Jennifer Royer
NYSYD Communications Director