arminnie
<font color=blue>Tossed the butter kept the gin<br
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2003
- Messages
- 9,064
I am an alternate delegate from Arkansas and here are some notes on the convention so far.
People have been just wonderful to us - the service everywhere from the fanciest restaurants to the hole in the wall places where you buy through a window. I've never been anyplace that people were friendlier.
The police presence is just amazing - they are everywhere and are doing a great job. It's been very interesting to talk to them and to find out about their personal 9/11 experience.
My first experience with how much protection we were going to get was when we went to the theatre Sunday evening. There was a row of police with lots of those plastic handcuffs guarding us as we went inside. They did not have to use them. We had a couple of protesters. One was very polite and just walked with a sign expressing his views. Another protester was having a meltdown sort of like what you see when a cranky 4 year old is having a bad day. He was older and I really did think he was going to have a stroke he was screaming and shaking in rage. He didn't touch anyone and no one (including the police bothered him either).
I had an interview at Fox news yesterday. That was a real experience. I was put in the green room and then taken down for "hair and makeup". They evicted Rita Cosby from the make-up chair to work on me (to my embarassment) but she was so nice about it. Maybe I needed it more! It was quite an experience seeing how hard everyone is working behind the scenes.
When my friend and I left the Fox building there was a HUGE protest surrounding the building - some group called "SHUT UP" or something like that wanted to shut down the network. That really goes with our first amendment rights doesn't it. Shut down any news organization who you don't agree with. We managed to exit and get across the street and down a block. We ran into a large group of riot police looking not unlike a band that is waiting to go on the field. They got their orders at that moment and took off. We took off the opposite direction.
I had delegate credentials the first day as my friend J was sick. We were right across from NY. Two of the speakers on Monday were from Arkansas - Deena Burnett the widow of one of the men on flight 93 that crashed in PA on 9/11 and Princella Smith who won the MTV contest for youth speakers.
Yesterday I used my alternate seating. I am about 7 rows behind the VIP seating where VP Cheney and other speakers are sitting. Arnold was by far the most popular speaker - he brought down the house when he made the statement about no economic girlie men.
This morning I went with my friend J to Madison SQ. Garden early so she could do some interviews. She did three in a row for the major affiliate stations back in LR.
After my "hair and makeup" session I ended up meeting a lot more men - including some NYPD police detectives that called our room last night at 1 and wanted to know if we wanted to go out. Maybe I should try wearing makeup more often!
Update 9/6/04
I just got back last night. For some reason (overload?) I couldn't connect to the hotel internet again. We were not allowed to take our laptops anywhere so I'm just now getting back to you.
I didn't feel comfortable talking in detail about some things (security) until it was over so here's some more info. I'll answer your previous questions in a separate post to this thread.
The official delegates (ie not the alternates like myself and guests) were on the floor of Madison Square Garden. There were also official press with credentials on the floor - it was a total zoo! I actualy think I liked my seat upstairs better.
If one were on the stage looking out at the audience there was a big media setup (major cameras and equipment) in the middle of the first tier of the seating off the floor. There was a VIP box (about 10-12 seats wide and 3 rows) just each side of the media setup. One for the Bush guests and one for Cheney guests.
Just behind the Cheney box was a small walkway and then there were six rows of seats immediately behind that. The first four rows were for Cheney guests who were not in the box. I was in the 5th row. It was a fabulous seat. I could watch the VIPs come and go. I guess the only location better might have been behind the Bush VIP box.
I was fun to watch the Cheney grandchildren crawl all over the VIPs. The young one was tiny - just a few weeks old I would guess. Both of his daughters were there. Other than family members people that I saw sit there included Giuliani, Ron Silver (actor), several of the entertainers and various other Senators and Representatives. I think Arnold and family were in the Bush VIP box.
It was interesting to spot the Secret Service agents - that little cord dangling from their ear. There were several of them behind the VIP box that did nothing but face us and scan the crowd at all times. I was told that there were also several undercover agents in the crowd.
We were provided special bus transportation. We had to show our credential about 3 times just to get on the bus. There were police in the lobby of our hotel, outside the hotel, and by the entrance to the buses. One officer road on the bus with us at all times. No one was allowed to stand. When the seats were full they put people on the next bus.
There were four bus routes (color coded) and each one had a different street to load and unload from. There were barricades to shuffle us on and off the buses but regular pedestrians were going in and out of shops there too so it was not shut down to the general public.
When we crossed the streets we were with general traffic. It was only the perimeter of the Garden that was totally blocked off. I think I just have showed my credentials about 50 times to get inside. At several points on the street photographers would jump up and take a picture of the credentials with a professional camera. The police said they were making counterfeit badges - That might have helped people get in so far but no one got in without it being read by a computerized handheld device. The protestors who got inside did have valid credentials - whether or not they got them as a guest or press pass or other means I don't know.
My hotel (the original W hotel) was right across the street from the Waldorf Astoria where pres. and vp and their guests stayed. Boy was the security tight there. There were HUGE sanitation trucks filled with sand parked all round the hotel. Lots of the bomb sniffing dogs too. Several police around town had automatic weapons (not all by any means). I was told it was in case there was a sniper on top of a building - an ordinary police gun would not be of use.
At most of the hotels you had to show credentials to go in the lobby and at least at the HIlton if you had room key they had a device to check if it was a valid key.
We took taxis a few times when either going to a restaurant or down to the Garden at a non-official times. We always tipped extra because we knew they were not getting the business that they normally would.
One day I was meeting friends at the Boathouse in Central Park for lunch and had to walk through the park - it was beautiful and peaceful filled with regular people going about their business.
People have been just wonderful to us - the service everywhere from the fanciest restaurants to the hole in the wall places where you buy through a window. I've never been anyplace that people were friendlier.
The police presence is just amazing - they are everywhere and are doing a great job. It's been very interesting to talk to them and to find out about their personal 9/11 experience.
My first experience with how much protection we were going to get was when we went to the theatre Sunday evening. There was a row of police with lots of those plastic handcuffs guarding us as we went inside. They did not have to use them. We had a couple of protesters. One was very polite and just walked with a sign expressing his views. Another protester was having a meltdown sort of like what you see when a cranky 4 year old is having a bad day. He was older and I really did think he was going to have a stroke he was screaming and shaking in rage. He didn't touch anyone and no one (including the police bothered him either).
I had an interview at Fox news yesterday. That was a real experience. I was put in the green room and then taken down for "hair and makeup". They evicted Rita Cosby from the make-up chair to work on me (to my embarassment) but she was so nice about it. Maybe I needed it more! It was quite an experience seeing how hard everyone is working behind the scenes.
When my friend and I left the Fox building there was a HUGE protest surrounding the building - some group called "SHUT UP" or something like that wanted to shut down the network. That really goes with our first amendment rights doesn't it. Shut down any news organization who you don't agree with. We managed to exit and get across the street and down a block. We ran into a large group of riot police looking not unlike a band that is waiting to go on the field. They got their orders at that moment and took off. We took off the opposite direction.
I had delegate credentials the first day as my friend J was sick. We were right across from NY. Two of the speakers on Monday were from Arkansas - Deena Burnett the widow of one of the men on flight 93 that crashed in PA on 9/11 and Princella Smith who won the MTV contest for youth speakers.
Yesterday I used my alternate seating. I am about 7 rows behind the VIP seating where VP Cheney and other speakers are sitting. Arnold was by far the most popular speaker - he brought down the house when he made the statement about no economic girlie men.
This morning I went with my friend J to Madison SQ. Garden early so she could do some interviews. She did three in a row for the major affiliate stations back in LR.
After my "hair and makeup" session I ended up meeting a lot more men - including some NYPD police detectives that called our room last night at 1 and wanted to know if we wanted to go out. Maybe I should try wearing makeup more often!
Update 9/6/04
I just got back last night. For some reason (overload?) I couldn't connect to the hotel internet again. We were not allowed to take our laptops anywhere so I'm just now getting back to you.
I didn't feel comfortable talking in detail about some things (security) until it was over so here's some more info. I'll answer your previous questions in a separate post to this thread.
The official delegates (ie not the alternates like myself and guests) were on the floor of Madison Square Garden. There were also official press with credentials on the floor - it was a total zoo! I actualy think I liked my seat upstairs better.
If one were on the stage looking out at the audience there was a big media setup (major cameras and equipment) in the middle of the first tier of the seating off the floor. There was a VIP box (about 10-12 seats wide and 3 rows) just each side of the media setup. One for the Bush guests and one for Cheney guests.
Just behind the Cheney box was a small walkway and then there were six rows of seats immediately behind that. The first four rows were for Cheney guests who were not in the box. I was in the 5th row. It was a fabulous seat. I could watch the VIPs come and go. I guess the only location better might have been behind the Bush VIP box.
I was fun to watch the Cheney grandchildren crawl all over the VIPs. The young one was tiny - just a few weeks old I would guess. Both of his daughters were there. Other than family members people that I saw sit there included Giuliani, Ron Silver (actor), several of the entertainers and various other Senators and Representatives. I think Arnold and family were in the Bush VIP box.
It was interesting to spot the Secret Service agents - that little cord dangling from their ear. There were several of them behind the VIP box that did nothing but face us and scan the crowd at all times. I was told that there were also several undercover agents in the crowd.
We were provided special bus transportation. We had to show our credential about 3 times just to get on the bus. There were police in the lobby of our hotel, outside the hotel, and by the entrance to the buses. One officer road on the bus with us at all times. No one was allowed to stand. When the seats were full they put people on the next bus.
There were four bus routes (color coded) and each one had a different street to load and unload from. There were barricades to shuffle us on and off the buses but regular pedestrians were going in and out of shops there too so it was not shut down to the general public.
When we crossed the streets we were with general traffic. It was only the perimeter of the Garden that was totally blocked off. I think I just have showed my credentials about 50 times to get inside. At several points on the street photographers would jump up and take a picture of the credentials with a professional camera. The police said they were making counterfeit badges - That might have helped people get in so far but no one got in without it being read by a computerized handheld device. The protestors who got inside did have valid credentials - whether or not they got them as a guest or press pass or other means I don't know.
My hotel (the original W hotel) was right across the street from the Waldorf Astoria where pres. and vp and their guests stayed. Boy was the security tight there. There were HUGE sanitation trucks filled with sand parked all round the hotel. Lots of the bomb sniffing dogs too. Several police around town had automatic weapons (not all by any means). I was told it was in case there was a sniper on top of a building - an ordinary police gun would not be of use.
At most of the hotels you had to show credentials to go in the lobby and at least at the HIlton if you had room key they had a device to check if it was a valid key.
We took taxis a few times when either going to a restaurant or down to the Garden at a non-official times. We always tipped extra because we knew they were not getting the business that they normally would.
One day I was meeting friends at the Boathouse in Central Park for lunch and had to walk through the park - it was beautiful and peaceful filled with regular people going about their business.
