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Apr 15, 2008 1:37 pm US/Mountain
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Convention 'Party Girl' Plans 24 Delegate Parties
By Michael Choy, cbs4denver.com
DENVER (CBS4) ―
The Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee's so-called "party girl" was out spreading cheery news at venues in Denver on Tuesday.
Jenny Anderson, event director for the host committee, personally congratulated representatives of three venues where state delegation parties will be held on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. The 24 total sites were announced Tuesday, and they are spread across the city and the metro area.
"We really wanted showcase Denver and showcase its diverse culture and its different neighborhoods," Anderson said.
Anderson has been in charge of picking the venues and deciding which delegations will get to party where. She also will designate project managers for each party on the Sunday night of the August convention.
"I went out and site inspected every venue we had," she told CBS4. "I wanted to make sure we had room to grow and that there was room to grow."
The sites were teamed up with state delegations based on size, decor and delegation requests.
"With 6,000 delegates planning on attending the convention, there has never been a larger spotlight on Denver," said host committee president and chair Elbra Wedgeworth in a prepared statement. "We're excited to showcase all that the region has to offer -- its energy, diversity and exciting opportunities, among many other things."
Anderson's nickname of "party girl" came from one of the committee's media relations staffers. She says the title isn't really that accurate.
"I'm not a really partier," Anderson said. "I was in bed at 9 p.m. on a Friday night. That's not much for a 'party girl.'"
Anderson has a background in sports event planning and hospitality. She worked on the World Cup, the PGA Tour and U.S. Open tennis tournament before working for the host committee.
Anderson is a Denver area native who attended Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado.
Anderson was joined by other committee staffers when she stopped at the Blair Caldwell Library, Museo de las Americas and Wings Over the Rockies Museum on Tuesday morning. Venues representatives seemed excited to be taking part in the convention process.
The small Museo de las Americas on Santa Fe in the city's arts district has been operating for about 16 years. The president of the museum's board of trustees, George Martinez, hopes the delegate party will improve the museum's visibility.
C. Courtney Walsh, director of sales and corporate events at Wings Over the Rockies Museum, said she's excited to host the party since a new exhibit featuring 30 astronauts with strong ties to Colorado will have just debuted in early August.
Other sites include the Governor's Mansion, where the Colorado delegation will open its convention activities; the Wildlife Experience, site for the Texas event; the Denver Art Museum, site for the Illinois event; and the Belmar Center in nearby Lakewood that will host five delegations -- Alaska, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island and Tennessee.
There was no mention Tuesday about what the host committee will do with its permit for Civic Center Park on the Sunday as the convention starts. Protest groups were upset that the host committee won the permit for that site on that day and threatened to show up anyways.
No state delegate party is planned for the site.
Anderson said plans for the park permit are still in the works.
Additional Resources: List of state delegation party venues:
Belmar Center - Alaska, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee
Blair Caldwell Library - Democrats Abroad, Virgin Islands
Botanic Gardens - South Carolina
Center for the Visual Arts - Georgia
Colorado History Museum - Arkansas, Kentucky, Wisconsin
Denver Art Museum - Illinois
Denver Chophouse - Kansas
Denver Public Library - Iowa
Denver Zoo - Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota
Downtown Aquarium - Connecticut, Delaware, Missouri
Exdo Event Center - California
Grant Humphries - Minnesota
Governor's Mansion - Colorado
Hudson's Gardens - New Jersey
The Lab at Belmar - American Samoa, Guam, Idaho, Hawaii
Museo de las Americas - District of Columbia
Museum of Nature & Science - Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
Palazzo Verdi - Nebraska, Oklahoma
Phipps Mansion - New Hampshire, Vermont
Phipps Pavilion - Mississippi, Montana, Wyoming
Pinnacle Club - New York
Red Rocks - North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
Wildlife Experience - Texas
Wings Over the Rockies - Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Oregon, Washington
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