If there's anything we've learned about the Internet and politics in these last four years, it is this:

1) We're in a gigantic transition from capital-intensive, broadcast media-driven politics to something that has almost no barriers to entry, involves millions of people in helping to create messages, groups and campaigns, and is out of centralized control;

2) Change is a constant, and as Yogi Berra once said, predictions are hard, especially about the future. Two years ago, no one had even heard of YouTube; now candidates announce their campaigns on that site.

3) This isn't a fad. People who dismiss online politicking as "the bar scene from Star Wars," or say things like "Our people are caucus-goers; their's look like Facebook," have no idea what they're talking about.

If you want to know what you're talking about, come join the conversation at Personal Democracy Forum. This year our top speakers include Chuck Defeo and Mary Katherine Ham of Townhall.com; Cyrus Krohn, the RNC's e-campaign director; Patrick Ruffini of The Next Right; David All of Slatecard; Mark Soohoo, Mindy Finn and Justine Lam (respectively the internet directors of the John McCain, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul campaigns), Amy Holmes of CNN, Robert Bluey of the Heritage Foundation, and Matthew Sheffield of Newsbusters.org, along with leading techies like Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, Vint Cerf of Google and Brian Behlendorf of the Mozilla Foundation. As PdF is a cross-partisan event, we'll also have lots of experts and activists from the left as well.

We'll have sessions on everything from online fundraising ("How to Create an Internet 'Money-Bomb'") to how to convert online friends to on-the-ground supporters to how to master political video online to using the internet to fight political corruption. We've also expanded the event to two days so we can also devote a lot of time to the ways the internet is starting to change not only politics, but also governance. We'll cover everything from national tech policy to how think tanks are adapting to the internet age, and how government officials are experimenting with new ways of connecting with citizens and constituents.

The conference is taking place June 23-24 in New York City, at the Frederick Rose Hall, the new home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, across the street from Central Park. To learn more or to register, go to www.personaldemocracy.com/conference. We hope to see you there.