In the cult classic movie "Swingers," the crew of guys throws the line
"This place is dead anyways" around when at a party and itching to
leave. It doesn't matter whether the party is actually dead or not. At
the DNC convention, where party-hopping is a sport, everyone seems to
always be looking for the next spot and I've never seen a situation
where the "This place is dead anyways" line (and various facsimiles of
it) is used more.
By one account, there are more than 1200 convention-related events in
Denver this week. This includes panels, lunches, breakfasts, and
screenings, but the events which seem to pique the most interest (at
least amongst my peers) are the parties that take place each night
after the convention program is finished.
Last night, I started at the Chairman's reception, hosted by Howard
Dean. It was close to the Pepsi Center, so it was a natural place to
start. The median age was about 45 and the featured act was the Goo Goo
Dolls. Despite Dean's rousing introduction, the band and the crowd
didn't mesh. Place was dead anyway.
Next stop was next door at the Rock the Vote concert. The lineup was
strong and intriguing (Wyclef Jean, N.E.R.D., Jakob Dylan and others),
but in an atmosphere where people want to drink and mingle, a sit-down
concert wasn't high on most people's lists. The crowd was coming and
going, and there wasn't much continuity at the event. Place was dead
anyway. This wasn't the fault of the organizers (and I heard that the
event picked up later), but a result of all of the attendees hunched
over their Blackberrys trying to figure out the next best event. No one
wants to miss a thing, so it seems like attendees don't even give a
shot to the place where they are.
The GQ party was next. Leading up to the evening, it had the most buzz
of the night's parties, so we wanted to make sure we checked it out. As
we walked up, the fire marshal was entering the building. Place was
dead anyway.
We ended up at a smaller event hanging out with some old friends. As
the party-hopping hour wound down, we settled in and had some laughs
and had an enjoyable time. What a novel idea!
The ironic thing about the evening was that we gave up our tickets to
the DCCC event. We later found out that Tony Bennett, James Taylor, and
John Legend were due to perform. Whoops. As much as I hate to admit it,
we fell victims to the "This place is dead anyways" syndrome, even before
going to the event. It's an affliction that plagues large gatherings
like this convention, but I took my medicine and I think I am cured now.
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.