POLL--- Convention good, bad or neither... (Denver: how much, pros and cons, maintenance)

[bullfish15]

What do you think the end result of the convention for Denver is?

[Charles]

I got a really good impression. The whole outdoor thing - was it unprecedented? Something about the symbolism of outdoors and fresh air versus old smoky conventional halls from TV news of the 1960s.

[Nav]

About the best thing that came from the convention is that the City of Denver finally caught up on several years of "deferred maintenance" so that the camera's would only see pristine outdoorsy beauty. Unfortunately once the cameras left, the bums were allowed to return to their corners and Denver returned to its "usual" self.

Nav

[denverian]

I think it really showed off Denver and was great for the city. Plus all our fountains are working now! It also showed the world that the weather can be great here and it doesn't always snow!

[steveco.]

There was an article in todays denver post that contrasted the convention here with the RNC and pros and cons to each city. St. Paul already has had twice as many arrests with protestors in just the 2 days of the convention there. Kudos mayor

[denverian]

Originally Posted by steveco.

There was an article in todays denver post that contrasted the convention here with the RNC and pros and cons to each city. St. Paul already has had twice as many arrests with protestors in just the 2 days of the convention there. Kudos mayor

Yeah, I thought that was funny!

[wanttomoveeast]

Thing is, Denver doesn't really have to work hard at showing symbolism for outdoorsyness. It just is. We always have stuff outdoors when the weather is nice, which is quite often. Def. better than those old smoky halls you are talking about!

Originally Posted by Charles

I got a really good impression. The whole outdoor thing - was it unprecedented? Something about the symbolism of outdoors and fresh air versus old smoky conventional halls from TV news of the 1960s.

[vegaspilgrim]

I've already had a number of people say nice things about Denver in relation to the convention when I introduce myself and tell them I'm from Denver. Only that they assume that because I'm from the city that hosted the convention I must be one of "them."

[tfox]

The CW is that big events have no long-term economic effect on a city.

I'd say one exception was the SLC Winter Olympics. I think it's pretty safe to say that Utah firmly established itself on the map as a result -- people saw that they had great winter sports and it that it isn't the Taliban theocracy that people imagined.

The DNC is a smaller prize that the Olympics, and Denver already has a bigger profile than SLC did, but I think Denver will benefit for similar reasons. I think it showcased Denver as a destination in and of itself -- something more than just "the gateway to the Rockies."

[Katiana]

The networks didn't really show much of Denver, per se. (Of course, I fell asleep during Barack's speech, so I didn't get to see how they showed off Invesco Field.) During the Olympics, on the Today show and others, they showed people shopping in Bejing, etc. I didn't see any of that during the DNC, but then I didn't watch too much of the Today show.

As far as unprecedented, JFK spoke in the LA Coliseum in 1960.