media credentials

"Radical" Russ, Autumn and I are attending the HRC/Victory Fund LGBT Delegate luncheon today.  This is hosted by Barney Frank and sponsored by HRC and The Victory Fund.

When Russ and I dropped by the venue to pick up our media credentials, it was announced that Michelle Obama would be making an appearance at this event. This very public support and acknowledgment of the LGBT community during the convention is a clear sign that political change is in the wind. One of the other noticeable things about this luncheon is that it's the only one so far that is overbooked -- there are so many elected officials, activists and supporters of the LGBT  community who turned out for this event.

After finally making my way to the Pepsi Center, I decided to utilize my EverydayCitizen.com "media credentials" and explore. It was 3:00 in the afternoon and I hadn't had coffee all day. I was on a mission.

I approached the Press Information Center to ask one of the ladies where I could find some food and coffee. She directed me to three different pavilions where she assured me there would be food... and coffee.

Equipped with my two cameras, I was off.

I knew I was important when I walked out the door and saw the sign to the News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

I’ve had a difficult time getting online and in a position to post, but I’m now settled in with the Florida bloggers (and Congressional candidate Doug Tudor) at the Big Tent, so will give you a brief overview of my first day. I attended a couple of excellent panels, but writing them up will require more energy than I’ve got at the moment. I’ll try to put my copious notes into a brief, readable format in the morning.

The beginning of my trip was exhausting because I had no sleep before leaving Tampa. Spent the first evening putting together the media credentials for the FPC bloggers. Thanks to Rick Spisak of Avery Voice and the FPC for designing our badges, and thanks to John, our family’s live-in Obama-staffer, for getting up early to rescue me from a Photoshop mishap.

Whose streets? Our streets.

Go to top of DFNM's main page to see our Zannel vids & photos.

Lesson of the day: it takes much longer to do things than it appears it should. It starts with the slow wireless connections that seem to be the norm, at least where we've been. Our "economy studio" hotel's connection is often slower than dial-up. Last night, for instance, it was taking forever even to load a web page, let alone watch or upload a video or photo. It makes me think of how countries like Japan and many European nations have nationwide broadband that's many times faster than the fastest connections we have -- and many times cheaper.

Northern NM

Go to top of DFNM's main page to see our Zannel vids & photos.

We're ALMOST to Denver for the Democratic Convention. We're at our "economy studio" in Aurora out on the flat plains near the airport and amidst the warehouses -- "media housing" arranged by the DNC housing office. Trains pass by whistling every now and then. Flocks of starlings gather and converse. We can see a colony of prairie dogs across the street. Not exactly in the thick of the action of downtown Denver, but we may come to treasure that as the pace picks up.