Swag

Well, we've moved all our stuff into our workspace in St. Paul. We also broke the rules and successfully smuggled in water and snacks. The GOP wants us to spend $3.50 on a bottle of water from their catering company. Um, do we look like we're made of money?

After we organized our workspace we picked up our convention credentials. Along with the credentials, they gave us these bags full of free stuff. The Democrats had one too. Let's see what's inside, shall we?


Lots of papers, advertisements, coupons...

...and a free condom!?? From the GOP?!? Actually, it's a sugar packet. I don't get it either.

The always popular "NWA World Traveler Magazine" with John McCain and two other random guys.* I don't even read this magazine when I'm flying with NWA and they have a captive audience. By the way - how great is Northwest Airlines' acronym "NWA"? Gives the cover a whole new meaning.


And finally: possibly the best free macaroni and cheese I've ever received. They're in the shape of elephants!

*It's Sen. Norm Coleman (up against comedian Al Franken this year) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (he was on McCain's VP shortlist).

A Quick Tour of the CNNopolis

This is where Anderson Cooper eats his lunch. It's also where CNN broadcasts the majority of their convention coverage from.
Does it depress me that their neon sign probably cost more than my annual salary? A little.

They even made decals for the windows. Bravo CNN. That's some impressive branding.

This is probably the biggest slap in the face to us lowly print journalists. "Private until 3PM? Yay! Let's go kick it with John King tonigh.... oh wait, never mind."

Wolf Blitzer: Buy Me a Sandwich

The National Journal had an excellent story this morning that pretty much sums up the contrast in workspaces between the print media and broadcast. Moneybags CNN rented out a bar/restaurant inside the Pepsi Center complex. The rest of us are having a hard time finding any food around here. Our organization has dealt with this the way most organizations who didn't buy a restaurant are: take-out. The problem is to get the take-out, you have make it through the secret service gauntlet to go fetch it and bring it back in. Welcome to a world of cold food, seasoned with the saliva of explosive sniffing dogs.


Oh, and yes the floors are wood. We just couldn't rationalize $1,000 extra for carpet.