Frequently Asked Questions

What is Advance Camp?

Advance Camp is a networking and training conference in Washington, DC for anyone interested in learning more about political optics and logistics for Democratic campaigns.

The original Advance Camp was held in March of 2019 and was geared towards building a deep bench of fresh talent interested in working on the wide open Presidential primary that cycle, drawing more than 1,600 attendees from all across the country. We did another round in 2022 that was focused on advance work in the Biden administration. This year’s edition is again focused on the wide open primary and must-win general election for the 2028 cycle.

When and where is the next Advance Camp?

Advance Camp 2026 will be held on Friday, December 4th & Saturday December 5th in Washington, DC. Friday consists of a welcome/networking reception in the evening, followed by a full day of programming at Howard University on Saturday the 5th. The conference will be followed by a happy hour for all attendees on Saturday.

What are the goals of Advance camp?

The main goal is identifying, training, connecting, and motivating the next generation of Democratic advance staff from all walks of life so that our team can put together the most visually compelling and impactful events.

A secondary goal is to attract Democratic political communications professionals from all across Washington DC to learn a few practical advance skills, even if they may not be interested in hopping to a full time advance job right away, they can still bring those tools of the trade back and apply it to their day-to-day job, whether that’s as a comms director on the Hill or at an allied advocacy group.

Will this help me get a job doing advance work?

A big part of Advance Camp is simply making connections to this work easier. During the registration process, we’ll gather each attendee’s interest in all the prospective 2028 candidates. After the event, we’ll forward the contact information for verified attendees to each campaign (some may have even launched by December 5th!) The rest is up to each campaign — but about 50 brand new advancers were connected to their role via Advance Camp in 2019 so we’re hoping for similar results this time around, if not better!

How do we apply? What are the costs to attend Advance Camp?

Attending Advance Camp is 100% free — all costs are underwritten by the organizers and sponsors.

All prospective attendees must fill out a short application as the first step if they are interested in attending. Once approved, you’ll receive a link to complete your registration on Eventbrite and you’ll be all set!

Attendance is first-come, first-served and we do have a maximum capacity that we will reach. The initial application deadline is November 20th, if space allows - but if we are able to push that back, we will.

We will have a small number of need-based travel stipends available to defray the cost of attendance for deserving attendees who otherwise couldn’t afford to come. If you would like to be considered for a travel stipend, please fill out the appropriate question during the application process. If you’re in a position to chip in to help bring others to Advance Camp, you can donate directly at GoFundMe here. 100% of what is raised there will go directly towards bringing new faces to Advance Camp.

What’s the schedule? What if I can only come on Saturday?

The welcome reception on Friday evening, December 4th will be at a TBD location in Washington, DC, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Attendance at the Friday reception is encouraged but is not required to attend the conference. In past years about 80-90% of overall attendees were able to join for the Friday reception, and it helps to be able to pick up your conference namebadge here and skip that process in the morning.

On Saturday, our conference program will be held at Cramton Auditorium on the campus of Howard University (2455 6th St NW, Washington, DC 20059). The hours of the conference will be 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 a.m.) with a lunch break on your own. A networking happy hour will immediately follow the conference a couple blocks away from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Hook Hall (3400 Georgia Ave NW)

Informal afterparties for each night are in development, especially for alumni of past campaigns - stay tuned!

Who is organizing Advance Camp?

Advance Camp is a 100% all-volunteer grassroots effort and is not affiliated with any permanent organization. It’s coordinated with a massive amount of help from friends and colleagues (with great appreciation!) by Doug Landry.

What are the age requirements?

You must be 18 or over on the day Advance Camp starts to be able to join. The welcome reception and post-conference happy hour events are also available to those over 18, but obviously will not be able to drink alcoholic beverages for those attendees that are under 21.

Airfares are crazy (Thanks Donald Trump) - how can I reduce travel costs?

First, book the lowest airfare you find as soon as you can - you can always cancel for a credit. Make sure you check all three airports - DCA is closest, but both IAD and BWI often have cheaper flights and have public transit options to reach DC. If you can come earlier or leave later and see some more of the city, it might bring the cost of your flight down a bit.

For housing, try Hotwire.com or Priceline.com to find better deals on hotel rooms, in addition to checking AirBnB to see if that’s competitive.

I can’t come this year but want to know if there are future events - How can I get on the mailing list?

Our mailing list link will be placed here soon.

I’m a member of the press. Can I cover Advance Camp?

Get in touch with us via email at hello@advancecamp.org.

I still have a question not answered here!

Drop us a line at hello@advancecamp.org and we’ll be right back in touch.