A little taste of Denver in Vienna (VA)

I had the chance to introduce my new Governor, Colorado’s own Bill Ritter, to the DNC membership this afternoon. He gave a great speech that highlighted the lessons to be shared from the West and the pragmatic, forward-looking leaders of the region tackling big problems. And in Denver, he said, we will choose with one voice a leader who will move us forward as a country

He also noted with pride that we’re working in Denver to put on the greenest Convention ever.

To close the day, the Host Committee held a reception for DNC members to offer them a little preview of next August. On the menu: Boulder Fries on the Fly, Rocky Mountain Buffalo Sliders, Tostadas and “Denveritas” to drink. Two big screens featuring local landmarks and landscapes and music including at least a song or two from The Fray.

Time to take my shoes off – it’s been quite a day.

Notes From the DNC Fall Meeting in Virginia

Greetings from Vienna, Virginia, where the Democratic National Committee is hosting its Fall Meeting. The DNCC team is here in f

orce as well. We’re staffing a Convention Information Center today and tomorrow, offering a full slate of info on our host city and Convention planning to date to DNC members and other attendees from the Democratic family. We’re even offering Convention “credentials” to those who stop by – lovely souvenirs, although (before you get in your car and head over) they won’t get you into the Pepsi Center next August.

Over in Bloggers Alley, we have information on blogger credentialing in Denver. We also briefed state party chairs yesterday on our new DemConvention State Blogger Corps, and the plan was met with an enthusiastic response.

I also spent some time yesterday during the Faith In Action meeting discussing ideas for how we can bring the faith community into our Convention experience. Many inclusive ideas were put forth by the FIA members – a dialogue we’ll be continuing in the months ahead.

Later this afternoon, I’ll be introducing Colorado’s own Gov. Ritter when he speaks before the general session. I’ll check back in after that.

Update: You can see my introduction of Gov. Ritter and Gov Ritter’s remarks to the DNC Fall Meeting here.

Below are some photos of Gov. Ritter and I delivering our respective remarks.

Politics West: Meet the Players

DNCC Deputy CEO for Public Affairs Jenni Engebretsen was featured in Politics West under the headline Meet the Players. Below are some samples of the Q&A, click here to see the rest of the questions.

Q: What’s your job here?

A: I’m the Deputy CEO, Public Affairs for the Democratic National Convention Committee – which means I head up the press, online communications and public programs teams for the committee planning and organizing the convention in Denver.

Q: Any advice for your counterpart at the Republican National Convention?

A: There’s no question that the calendar ahead lends itself to heightened energy around the 2008 conventions. The back-to-back speeches offered from Denver and then St. Paul will be in essence the first debate between the nominees – a debate that will in turn kick off the home-stretch sprint to the election.

So with that in mind, I guess I’d say: Get ready. We intend to set the bar high.

DNCC in the News

Earlier this month, the DNCC announced its plans for credentialing blogs for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. If you’re interested in applying, click here to find more information about the credentialing process.

In the weeks since the DNCC announcement, blogger credentialing at the Democratic National Convention has been making headlines. Among other stories, Katherine Seelye featured the DNCC’s online outreach in her NY Times column on Monday. Check out that story and some of the others stories below.

Conventions Throw Doors Open to Bloggers-NY Times

Democrats Embrace Blogs For Convention-National Journal

Dems say bloggers will get better treatment at ‘08 convention AP

DNCC Service Days with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin

Recently, we posted a story about our DNCC Service Day with Convention Co-Chair and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. This just in: new video of Mayor Franklin touring The Crossing and rolling up her sleeves and sorting canned goods with the Convention team. Click above to watch the video.

Upcoming DNCC event in Boulder

Please join Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) CEO Leah D. Daughtry and special guest Colorado House Majority Leader Alice Madden as they bring the “Convention Conversations” series to Boulder.

The forum will mark the third in a series of community forums held throughout the Rocky Mountain region in the lead-up to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of the Convention experience!

When: Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007 12:00 PM
Where: A Spice of Life Event Center 5706 Arapahoe Ave. Boulder, CO

All are welcome.
Please RSVP to rsvp@demconvention.com or (720) DNC-2008.

Directions
From Boulder take Arapahoe Ave. east to venue.
If coming from US-36 merge onto Foothills Parkway, turn right on Arapahoe Ave. and proceed east to venue.

DNCC Hotel Prize Patrol

During the week of August 25-28, more than 35,000 delegates, media and guests will descend upon Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Where will they stay? The Democratic National Convention Committee has a block of 17,000 hotel rooms set aside. Delegations are traditionally the first group of Convention attendees to receive their housing assignments — and this was the big week. While delegations across the country received their assignments online, DNCC Director of Housing, Tina Akintayo, rolled out the news to the 27 local hotels assigned to house delegations in a very unique way. Watch this video to see how Tina delivered the news around town.

DNCC Adventures in Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Hello all. This is Sky Gallegos, Deputy CEO for Intergovernmental Affairs, writing my inaugural blog post! This past weekend was the first in a series of “joint appearances” of Colorado Democratic Party State Chair Pat Waak and myself. We are traveling the state to brief folks on the Convention (my part) and on how to be a delegate (Pat’s part). Our first outing was in Steamboat on Saturday, and it was great! We had about 40 people show up, some hard-core activists and some people who just heard about it and were interested in learning more. I have to say, the variety of people in the room and the level of enthusiasm for 2008 echoes the interest and excitement we are seeing all over the state for this Convention.

Jenni Engebretsen (Deputy CEO for Public Affairs) accompanied me on the trip, and I think she was surprised by the Western laid-back approach to the whole thing. I have to admit that even I, the Colorado native, wasn’t so sure we were in the right place when we drove up to what matched the address we were given to find it to be next to a ski jump (complete with skiers, young and old, doing gravity defying jumps) and the strength training center. I think my favorite though, next to all of the wonderful food everyone brought for the pot luck portion, was when someone’s dog got loose and ran into our meeting during my talk. Jenni and I shot some interviews of a couple of the local Democrats that were there. Check it out — I think it really represents the spectrum of Democrats one can find here in the West. Oh yeah, and check out our photos of the cattle drive (!) Jenni and I drove through on our way home!

I will be back with more on our traveling series when we hit Fort Collins on December 3rd and Durango on December 9th. Keep an eye out on our web site for locations and times for those briefings if you live in the area and want to come by and say hello.

Check out this coverage we got from the Steamboat Pilot.

DNCC Service Days with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin

This past Friday, Atlanta Mayor and Democratic National Convention Co- Chair Shirley Franklin visited Denver and participated in the DNCC Service Days campaign. Mayor Franklin and the DNCC staff sorted more than 2,500 4,000 pounds of canned goods for the homeless and less fortunate at The Crossing, a facility of the Denver Rescue Mission. DNCC Service Days focus on three areas of importance to the local community: greening, youth and the combined issues of homelessness and hunger.

DNCC Service Days

While the Democratic National Convention is nine months away, the DNCC staff has been hard at work to make the 2008 Democratic National Convention the best Convention in the party’s history. Along with planning the events inside Denver’s Pepsi Center, the DNCC staff is dedicated to leaving a lasting impression on our host city through a commitment of volunteer service. In this video, DNCC Director of Public Programs Julie Rodriguez explains the DNCC Service Days program.