A year ago, when Denver was in the running to become the host city for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, many said it was a long shot. But with hard work throughout the selection process, an amazing city and a compelling regional story to be told, this August 25-28th, Denver will host the first Democratic National Convention in the Mile High City in 100 years. Denver’s landing of the Convention was big news — perhaps the biggest of the year. As the year winds down, the Rocky Mountain News is asking readers to vote on the top 10 Colorado news stories of 2007. 

While Convention planning continues at a fever pitch, its important to take a few moments out of the day to focus on the season at hand. The DNCC staff did just that this week to wish our DemConvention.com family a happy holidays. From the DNCC family to yours, we wish you a very happy, safe and healthy holiday season — and well see you in 2008!

At the beginning of this week, DNCC CEO Leah Daughtry and the DNCC staff were joined by Colorado First Lady Jeannie Ritter for this months DNCC Service Days project at Denvers Urban Peak — a non-profit shelter and service provider for homeless youth. The DNCC and the First Lady prepared a hot breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and festive holiday sweet rolls for the youth at Urban Peak. Following the meal, Leah presented the organization with a box filled with clothes and other warm items such as gloves and hats donated by the DNCC staff for the cold weather months. Watch this video to see the event first-hand. And be sure to check out this story from the Rocky Mountain News.

This week marked the much-anticipated opening of the credentialing process for media interested in covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. While the bulk of media who will attend the Convention are credentialed through the U.S. Congressional Press Galleries, we do credential media — including bloggers — through the DNCC Press Gallery. 

At the close of week one (drumroll please), we are happy to report 51 applications from bloggers already in — including State Blogger Corps applicants from 20 states such as: California, Colorado,  Vermont, North Carolina and Kentucky. There’s plenty of time to ensure that no state is left behind on this unique Convention coverage opportunity. To apply for blogger credentials, click here. And be sure to check back for updates as applications continue to come in.

After weeks of planning and days of packing, the Democratic National Convention Committee moved from our temporary home in downtown Denver to our new home — seven floors down in the same building.  

Our new office space gives us plenty of room to grow as our team expands in the months leading up to the Convention next August: 15,000 square feet with five conference rooms, each named after a state in the Rocky Mountain West. Watch this video for a first-person highlights tour of the office, including several of our “green" features. Caution: wet paint.

Hello from Durango this time. Continuing on the Pat and Sky tour of Colorado, Pat and I held a Convention Briefing and Delegate Training in Durango this past Sunday. We missed the snow on both sides of the visit by days so we had a clear blue sky for the flight, which of course was gorgeous.  

Speaking of skies — the first thing I noticed when I got off the plane, was that the sky there was even bigger than it is in Denver. It’s a beautiful part of the state.Before heading over to the Durango Community Rec Center, Pat and I stopped for a quick breakfast (well, it was breakfast for me because I can eat huevos rancheros any time of day) at the Brickhouse Cafe. Very cute little place on Main Street.

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual gathering at the Renaissance Hotel in Stapleton this morning. There was a light snow on the ground but the winter weather didn’t keep any of our party faithfuls from coming out to hear from great Colorado leaders like Governor Ritter and state Chair Pat Waak. 

This Wednesday, DNCC CEO Leah Daughtry visited Boulder, Colorado for the third in an ongoing series of Convention Conversations. Joining Daughtry on stage was Colorado House Majority Leader Alice Madden.

In addition to offering information on how Boulder residents and members of the local business community can get involved in the Convention experience, a good portion of the discussion focused on organizers’ efforts to “green” Convention planning. During the forum, Leah introduced Andrea Robinson, the first ever Director of Greening for a Democratic National Convention. Watch this video to hear Leahs remarks from Boulder and learn a bit more about the newest addition to the DNCC team.

To read more from media on this event click here, here and here.

Hello again. This is Sky Gallegos, Deputy CEO for Intergovernmental Affairs — back again with new video from our travels around the state of Colorado. A few weeks ago, Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak and I visited Steamboat.  
 

This week, in the second in a series of our joint appearances, Pat and I visited Democratic activists in Ft. Collins to brief them on the Convention and how they can participate either as a volunteer or as a delegate.The excitement in the room was palpable, as we had 70 to 80 people attend on a brisk Monday night in early December.

Once again, we had a wide variety of participants with a full spectrum of political experience — everyone from a newly elected Loveland City Council member to a college student just dipping her toes into the political waters.

During the December 2007 RootsCamp training session in Denver sponsored by ProgressNow, participants had the opportunity to ask DNCC CEO Leah Daughtry questions about the 2008 Democratic National Convention.  
 

In this video, you can watch the questions asked by the community as well as Leah's responses. If you’d like to participate in the conversation, visit our blog at www.demconvention.com/blog and post a comment in the comments section.