| In 2005 Matt started this site to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention. His first post was on November 7, 2005 which was almost three years before the gavel dropped in Denver. Now, in 2009 we're almost a full three years from the Democratic and Republican National Conventions for the 2012 elections. This time we plan on covering the DNC and the RNC due to its added importance. An article in the Tampa Tribune on Saturday marked the first official announcement of an invitation to bid on the Democratic National Convention. Tampa Bay & Co., Hillsborough County's visitors industry marketing group, has received a letter from the Democratic National Committee and will begin to study the prospects of applying to host the event, Tampa Bay & Co. executive vice president Steve Hayes said this afternoon.
In December of 2005 we listed the 35 cities that were invited to bid. Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, OR., St Louis, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC.
You'll notice that Tampa Bay was not one of the cities invited to bid last time. While Denver may be invited to bid again,it will not host the convention. The list of 2004 cities was very similar to 2008's. Baltimore is the only exception (St. Paul and Minneapolis were combined). Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City (MO), Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis, St. Paul, San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Washington, DC
So that leads us to what cities will be invited to bid for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. More than likely the list will be the same. Unlike last time, the list of cities will come out before the date of the convention is announced.
The requirements for consideration for the 2008 Democratic National Convention requires a "seating capacity in basketball game configuration for at least 25,000 participants." We expect the requirement to be the same this time around. The Pepsi Center can hold just over 19,000 people in a basketball configuration. This alone tells you that the requirements aren't set in stone. Another requirement in 2008 was "A cross-section of full-service hotels with a commitment of at least 17,000 rooms and 1,000 suites within 30 minutes travel time of the Convention Complex during peak traffic hours." and "A sufficient number of larger full-service hotels with at least 700 rooms and 100 suites, in close proximity to the Convention Complex."This requirement is where a lot of smaller cities will lose out on being picked for the convention. Stay tuned - we are the best source for 2012 convention news for both parties. |
