There were a few hundred people at the Wynkoop. Lots of food and drink but I didn't see many bloggers.
I spent a lot of time with McJoan of Daily Kos and Wendy of Colorado Confidential. The food went on and on, more than I've seen in one place for a while. There were tables with free photo books and visitors' guides to Denver. Today and tomorrow, the journalists are invited on free tours of local attractions, from the Art Museum to LoDo and many more. There are shuttle buses every 15 minutes from the hotels to the Pepsi Center tomorrow morning to get all the journalists to and from the walk-through.
As I was arriving, I saw my favorite Congresswoman, Diana DeGette, entering the steakhouse Sullivan's, a few doors down from the Wynkoop. She had just left the media event where she had welcomed the group. Turned out she was hosting a "Men for DeGette" event at Sullivan's, something that got its start after some of the local male candidates had hosted "Women for Udall" and similar events. Of course, that meant McJoan, Wendy and I had to crash it.
We did and ended up having a great talk with Diana. She insisted we stay for a drink. McJoan is going to interview her later this week for the new book she's writing.
Back to the media event. The Lexis Nexis folks were on hand. They told me they will have a large space at the DNC for the press and bloggers. It will be open for us to go do research and they will have staff there to help us with it, from fact checking to getting accurate quotes, video, whatever we need. Free.
The walk-through starts early tomorrow morning. There are 400 journalists scheduled to attend. Because I have court at 10 am, I won't get there until the breakout sessions at 11. There are sessions for print media, bloggers, broadcast media and photographers. Then lunch with Howard Dean at noon. Then it's over and the shuttle buses will take the journalists to the airport.
It's very evident that a huge amount of work has been going on in Denver for months planning this convention. I think it's going to run very smoothly. The planners are very aware that it's not just the 5,000 or 10,000 or so delegates that are coming but probably 25,000 more in media. The welcome mat is being rolled out for all. And a lot of attention is being paid to technological needs.
August seems like a long ways off, but I'm already getting excited. It's also a great feeling to know this time I don't have to get on an airplane or stay in a hotel or learn how to get around an unfamiliar city.
For bloggers not so lucky who do have to travel to get here, I hope you will come. It's going to be a great time. Boston in 2004 was a fun experience, and being at the convention live is a whole different and much more rewarding experience than watching it on tv.
While we were newbies at the Boston convention and somewhat of an oddity, this time around we're being welcomed as established media. So apply for your press credentials and book your trip early, then relax and prepare to have a great time in our wonderful city.
