This week has provided some of the best people watching imaginable. I
have seen young, old, gay, straight, black, white, Latino, Asian,
hard-core politicos, first-time convention looky-loos,
pro-choice demonstrators, pro-life demonstrators, people dressed up as
Uncle Sam, machine-gun toting police, pranking Daily Show reporters,
politicians (and their staffers), volunteers, Obama lovers and haters,
Hillary lovers and haters, celebrities, executives, lobbyists, a guy on
a unicycle, athletes, snipers, journalists, techies and bloggers. Did I
miss anyone?
The cross-section of attendees is incredible. There are over 20,000
VIPs (and VVIPs) each night at the Pepsi Center, and close to 80,000
are expected for Senator Obama's speech tomorrow at Invesco Field.
There are also tens of thousands of others here to soak up the
atmosphere, attend parties, and see if they can score tickets to the
convention and related events. As Senator Obama's speech comes closer,
more and more people are descending upon Denver and tickets are more
scarce, traffic is worse, and security is tighter.
There are so many events taking place around town and so much running
to and fro, that sometimes it is easy to forget to take the time to
look around and take it all in. But one of my favorite parts of the
week has been grabbing a seat on the 16th Street Mall and watching the
madness. Rarely are this many types of people, nutjobs and all, all in
one place.
Don't get me wrong. I'm trying to go to as many events, panels, and
meetings as I can, and you can catch me at the Pepsi Center every
night, but for at least 10 minutes every afternoon, you can catch me
sitting on a bench on 16th Street marvelling at the collection of
America's finest walking the streets of Denver.
Marc Mitchell is an attorney who has managed the financial, business, and legal affairs of several influential entertainment companies. Mitchell is the founder and CEO of Celebrifantasy, an online news portal and celebrity fantasy league, and the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Dominion Media, a film and TV production company. Until recently, he was also the Chief Operating Officer of UrbanDaddy, a leading online lifestyle publication. He is currently a member of the New York Finance Committee for Barack Obama.