News (Noticias) for DNC

To start off day two I realized that for the next two days I would have trudge about 2 miles across Denver to get my media credentials. (Lots of 2s in that sentence) For some crazy reason the DNC has made all bloggers and some other segments of the media do this everyday. Strange.

So I made it there, waited in line, got my credentials and then hoofed it back to the Colorado Convention Center where I had to go in to just cool off. I haven’t mentioned this before but I am hauling a good-sized backpack with me everywhere I go with my laptop and assorted blog-worthy gear.

Once I had cooled off I was determined to get to the Pepsi Center and blog away but by some happy circumstance as I was strolling down the street I look up and see a big marque for the Latino Leaders Network Luncheon. Now I had known about this event but didn’t know where it was going to be held. I had called and e-mailed to find out and no one had ever responded.

I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth so I went right in and flashed my press pass and my best smile and got in. (not that my smile had anything to do with it) It turned out to be a good event honoring Federico Peña the co-chair of Obama’s national campaign and former mayor of Denver. Lots of politician were there as well as Eva Longoria-Parker.

Others that spoke include: Senator Kenneth McClintock from Puerto Rico, Senator Leticia Van de Putte from Texas, Janet Murguia from NCLR, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Ken Salazar and then Federico Peña. I was most impressed by Bill Richardson and Federico Peña.

Right before the event I met a woman who worked with the "Hispanic Media Assistance Team" and I was so happy that someone was there to help organize and coordinate things because truthfully communication and information are so hard to come by that you get used to it here fast. All the same, I really was happy to see someone, anyone trying to do something afterall I am all about easy access to organized information.

Afterwards, I hung around watching the media frenzy and while not wanting to be part of it, I felt the pull to met some of these leaders. I did make a few contacts etc., so it was fine.

After that I had lunch as I had been watching everyone else eat their lunches and had developed a mighty fine appetite by then. Finally made it to the Pepsi Center and setup camp and somehow managed to post 80+ stories in between chatting with other bloggers, journalist etc. I have to admit that it was a good day and I thought Hillary’s speech was very good.

So take a look at HispanicTips.com’s homepage for the latest.

Now I am headed to see Pancho Sanchez and if for some reason I can’t get in there is another event/party put on by the National Latino Institute but that is a good stretch of the legs. (edit: didn’t make it to either) I guess it is good that I am getting so much exercise but my feet are hurting. Tomorrow is another big day and I finally got an invite to the big Voto Latino party.

Lesson for the day :: Again levels of access - but maybe if you are in the right place at the right time and either know someone or have a big blog and a great smile some barriers can melt away.

…he would only potentially reach 66% of Hispanics. Advertising on a national Spanish news TV program would reach only 39% of Hispanic voters⁴ Check out the stats below granted these aren’t the latest numbers but it all boils down to relevancy and for a very large percentage of Hispanic Spanish Language marketing and media is not the best way to go.

Out of AdAge.com “Paul Mendieta, director of Hispanic marketing at Coors Brewing Co., said, “Hispanic media is not doing a great job. They depend upon the fact that Latinos like to communicate in Spanish. But more and more of the growth is coming from the U.S.-born Latino who is bilingual and chooses according to content [quality], not langauge.” This is where HispanicTips and other blogs comes in.

Some Interesting Hispanic Data:

• 44.3 million Hispanics in the US ¹
• 33.5 million (75%) of us speak only English or are bilingual ⁴⁺
• Of 28.2 million Hispanic adults (18+) ²
  • 15.8 million (56%) use the internet. ⁵⁺⁺
  • 4.6 million (29%) get news from the internet ⁴⁺⁺
  • 3.5 million (75% of 4.6m) get all of their news on the internet in English ⁴⁺⁺
  • 64% of native-born Latinos get all their news in English. ⁴
  • 78% of English-dominant Latinos use the internet, compared with 32% of Spanish-dominant Latinos. ⁵
  • 51% think English media does a poor job of providing relevant news - this jumps to 65% for English-only Hispanics ⁴
  • Of those expressing an interest in news
    • 53% were English-only ⁴
    • 40% were Bilingual ⁴
    • 23% were Spanish-only ⁴
• Where do Hispanic voters get their news
  • 53% get all their news in English ⁴
  • 40% get their news from English and Spanish media ⁴
  • 6% get their all their news in Spanish ⁴
• Advertising on a national Spanish news TV program would reach only 39% of Hispanic voters⁴
• 54% of eligible voters registered in November 2006 ³
• 5.6 million (60%) of these registered voters actually voted representing 13% of the total Hispanic population ³

1. US Census - 7/1/2006 - PDF
2. US Census - 7/1/2005 - Excel Spreadsheet
3. Hispanics and the 2006 Election - 10/2/2006 - Pew Hispanic Center
4. Changing Channels and Crisscrossing Cultures: A Survey of Latinos on the News Media - 4/19/2004 - Pew Hispanic Center
5. Latinos Online - 3/14/2007 - Pew Hispanic Center
6. + means that I calculated a number using statistics from 3,4 or 5 with Census data #1
7. ++ means that I calculated a number using statistics from 3,4 or 5 with Census data #2

Sunday picked up my media credentials and went to the College Democrats Hispanic Caucus where 30 people showed up and elected new leadership.  They were so happy with the big turnout as at the last one only 4 had shown up.  I was the only media there and there were no Latino elected officials or other reps from Hispanic orgs.

Monday the big first day of the convention saw me attending the Democratic Hispanic Caucus in the Colorado Convention Center.  Big room maybe half filled. Various Hispanic politicians spoke but the big event was the appearance of Hillary Clinton.  The room erupted and she backed Obama.  As soon as she left the room Ramona Martinez the chair of the Caucus and Superdelegate was asking everyone to calm down and stay because there were more speakers coming up. Yet one can’t stop the tide because once things calmed down the room was less that a third filled and most of the media had left the room.  I did manage to speak to Ramona, see a few old friends, etc. I posted some audio from this event.

After that I headed over to the Pepsi Center to see the Blogger Lounge.  The Nuggets weight room, it turns out.  At least it doesn’t smell like sweat like my old high school’s.  Lots and lots of security and walking but it had AC and free water.

I high-tailed it back towards the Colorado Convention Center to go to a presentation put on by NDN about Immigration and the New Administration and while it was probably the only event that I have seen that dealt with the important subject of immigration, it was mostly preaching to the choir.  info at NDN website - more audio at hispanictips although I haven’t had time to check and title yet.

After that I met up with some fellow bloggers ate and talked for a while before we all went to the MySpace cafe because one of us - not me - was going to be interviewed by the Washington Post. Did that and then went to the big Democratic HIspanic Caucus Party. Unfortunately, while I had managed to get on the list my fellow bloggers couldn’t attend so we parted ways but I ended up staying a whopping 30 minutes because being on the list was nice and I am grateful, all the poeple I would have really liked to have talked with were in the VIP section.

I forgot to mention that I might be doing 15 minute live cut ins for HITN’s Destination Casa Blanca.  That would be cool.

Lesson for the day: It is all about levels of access - press, perimeter, delegate, guest, hall, floor, VIP, not VIP and on and on - so much for freedom.