Democratic Conventions in Chicago in '96, Los Angeles in 2000 and Boston in '04. Olympic Games in Atlanta, Sydney and Salt Lake City. All stops on my road to Denver, where I currently manage operations for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Even with all that major event experience under my belt and all the times I've run similar drills, I'm amazed by all the firsts I'm witnessing this go around. The first interfaith gathering to kick off Convention week. The first time we're bringing all our delegates together on the eve of the Convention -- in this case to recognize the Gulf Coast recovery effort three years after Hurricane Katrina. It's my first Convention in two great venues -- allowing for a larger audience than ever before. It's the first time that so much access will be given to the online community -- the technology team is working diligently and creatively to open up the Convention in new ways. And it's the first time that an African American candidate will accept the nomination for president of the United States.
And these are just a few of the firsts that still make it exciting to sit here in Denver for my fourth Convention -- and do this job. Working for the Democratic Party will always be a learning experience and I am extremely grateful for that opportunity.
As August 25th approaches, I'm constantly in awe of the team assembled to produce the largest Convention to date. We have the ideal mix here in Denver of experienced talent, local talent, and new talent -- this combined team has made planning run incredibly smoothly.
That's why we didn't skip a beat when -- 49 days from our opening gavel -- we announced a change of plans: one incredibly historic Convention, now in two great venues.
It's no small undertaking. As the "operations guy," I can say that with authority. I learned early in my career to be flexible. We modified our Convention plans to have the operations staff adopt an Olympics-like focus -- where a team manages some 30 sites or more -- dividing between the two Convention sites in Denver so that no one had to focus on both. This keeps our eyes on both prizes.
When discussing the move to INVESCO, it's important to note that the addition of this venue was only made possible because of the extensive planning that went into the 2008 Convention over the past year. We started planning for the Pepsi Center so far in advance -- six months ahead of any cycle prior -- that by the time INVESCO was announced, we were just focused on refining the Pepsi Center plans.
At some point in the planning for every Convention, the candidates have various thoughts on how to be unique and try something different. Talk of multiple Convention venues is nothing new. But I am beyond excited that the Denver Convention team is in the position to implement a massive venue because we are so far ahead of schedule. If we weren't ready, we could not have made the move.
Denver is a fantastic city, and in terms of operations, it is a logistical dream. The city of Denver provides a great layout for events, and it's a relatively new city with a grid system in place. Now I love Boston. But as an older city not built on a grid, we faced many hurdles -- both literal and figurative -- as we attempted to map out transportation. I truly believe that after tackling Boston in 2004, anything is possible.
Here in Denver this August, a Convention for the people is possible. An African American candidate is possible. And it's possible this just might be my best event to date.