OH THE JOY!!!!
I am filling up my dance card. There is the panel discussion on the future of healthcare, the seminar on running women for office, and a ticket to the unofficial progressive central. Not to mention the organizing meeting for one of the major protests. Of course, the daily media briefing, and likely stopping in at some of the caucus meetings. I’m trying to get into the Democratic Mayors venue to be able to interview mayors on infrastructure, but I’m still waiting to hear about that.
And let’s not forget that all-important floor pass. If you are “special” media, like a blogger, you don’t get to automatically go on the floor of the convention to interview delegates and notables like the MSM. But you can wait on line and get a 20 minute floor pass, and see what you can do in 20 minutes. The kicker is that if you’re not back in 20 minutes, they pull your credential for the rest of the convention. The few times I tried in Charlotte in 2012, the line was for well over an hour, so I found other exciting things to do, but I’m going to give it the old college try again.
Logistics are going to be a bear here in Philly. As Matt pointed out, there are also security concerns. The MSM is making actual security plans and providing their staffs security training. My response to both of these is to wear very supportive sneakers and keep my eyes open. Luckily, I’m pretty fast for an old broad. My formal security training involves wearing said sneakers and racing Fiona in the park.
The path from the Convention Center and the Wells Fargo Center, is about 5 miles. That path will have protesters, parades, swag stops, and houses venues for many unofficial events. Very different from Charlotte where the path was about half a mile. But oh the possibilities for meeting people!
My plans for posting involve Twitter as often as possible, since it’s quick and I can do that on my phone. I’ll write up the various events and post them here as soon as possible: there is a filing room at the Convention Center and a Media Pavilion at the arena, but it’s hard to get down 500 or so words with any degree of correct punctuation on a phone, and everything else I own needs actual WiFi. I hope you’ll follow my adventures.
If there is anything in which you’re especially interested, feel free to let me know and I’ll make my best effort to cover it. And as always – the convention is fun, and will be interesting for the outcome of the platform, but none it matters if you don’t vote in November.
