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I wish I would have known that everyone was gathering at Geoffery's Inner Circle downtown for this event. I'm sure it was quite a site, and definetly one for the history books. I was at home. The heat that the day brought Oakland had myself and all of my neighbors with their windows open, television sets turned up and tuned into Barack Obamas acceptance speech. And that, for me, sent shivers up my spine. We are all a witness to history. The Oakland Tribune's full story below: Oakland abuzz over Barack Obama nomination Sees Obama as bringer of change and symbol of overcoming racism Angela Woodall Oakland Tribune Article Launched: 08/28/2008 10:30:23 PM PDT "I accept your nomination as president of the United States." Those few words from Barack Obama, who made history Thursday as the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party, sent shivers up spines and drove the audience gathered at Geoffrey's Inner Circle in downtown Oakland to its...

This is the first video kicking off our coverage of the Democratic National Convention and events leading up to it. This one was a $2,300 a plate fundraiser for Barack Obama at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, CA, Sunday August 17th, 2008. As part of the event, an Obama Rally was held outside of the hotel. Two, perhaps three people with bullhorns were leading the crowd in "Obama" cheers, and one I recognized. Christine Pelosi, daughter of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the author of the well-received book " Campaign Boot Camp " a guide to successful campaigning, as well as a California Superdelegate supporting Senator Barack Obama. I asked Christine about having Hillary's name placed in nomination and she skillfully ducked the question as only she can do. Instead, she said she was looking forward to the voting process, and reminds us that she's been a delegate since 1996. Then Christine informed me that the California Delegation will have its ...

Hillary Clinton Should Not Be In Nomination: Ignore P.U.M.A Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's name should not be put in nomination for the Democratic Presidential Nominee at the DNC Convention for several reasons. But before I state them, let me explain that I have supported the idea of an Obama / Clinton ticket for some time. But these reasons have caused me to be less enthusiastic about that, and to reject the idea of her name in the nomination process. 1) Senator Clinton lost the primary. For reasons that have been explored in depth, Senator Clinton lost the primary delegate race to Senator Barack Obama, and Senator Obama gained more popular votes than Senator Clinton. 2) I did not like the way Senator Clinton conducted herself after the end of the primary. At first, she was working for party unity, but did not rein in some of her supporters and did not have her husband former President Clinton fall in line and support Senator Obama 100 percent. It's as if they ...

This video presents the "production process" behind the planned use of New Media at the DNC Convention by Sports Business Simulations' SBS Media / Zennie Zeigeist blog. New Media -- DNC Convention Broadcast Objective: to quickly and cheaply bring text, audio, and visual information that generally tells a story to as many people as possible in as short amount of time as possible. Instruments Hardware and Software Hardware: 1. MacBook -- Has "iMovie" software built in that makes editing movies easy. 2. Sony Camcorder -- Used to make videos and feed to computer 3. iPhone -- used to take photos and also to make mobile blog posts which feed to Zennie's Zeitgeist remotely. Software: 1. Blogger -- the online home of Zennies's Zeitgeist blog. 2. iMovie -- used to edit the videos uploaded from the camcorder 3. Google -- used to get information and articles on related subjects that then can be linked to in a blog post. 4. Twitter -- updates on Twitter post at th...

I love United Airlines and have flown them since I was two years old. But currently, United is faced with the same challenges that other carriers face. As the official airline of the DNC Convention, United is on the hook to perform well. The last time I was in Denver for the Invesco visit , there was an enormous customer service line unlike any I've seen before. In this video, I explain how you can avoid that problem. There are several steps: 1) Plan ahead and know what flights are coming in and out. 2) Come to Denver early, like the 23rd of August or the 22nd. 3) Take the Red-Eye. Avoid on-peak hour travel. 4) Get the United customer service number and save it. It's 1-800-864-8331 for domestic flights, and 1-800-426-5561 for Spanish language persons, 1-800-426-5560 for Asian speaking persons, and 1-800-323-0170 for persons who may be deaf or blind. There's no reason why your trip to the DNC Convention can't be a good one. Plan ahead. See you there.

http://zennie2005.blogspot.com - On the morning of July 31st 2008, I boarded a United Airlines morning flight to Denver to attend the final (?) media walkthrough before the Democratic National Convention, this one at Invesco Field. Unlike my first media walkthrough trip, I ended up renting a Saturn SUV for ground travel. The reason was simple: it was cheap. Cheaper to rent than a Prius and because they were in low demand versus the economy cars. In a way it worked out to a savings of about $25. Invesco Field was only 20 minutes away from the airport, so it was a quick trip for me. I arrived at Invesco at 11:20 and ran into a DNCC employee (who I will not name by request) and who walked me around the stadium (we ended up on the field at one point) and eventually into the main briefing meeting. For security reasons I did not film the main meeting discussion, but focused more on the 'broadbrush" tour and interviews of key media people there. On the way to the main pre...

Ok. I'm back from Denver and Invesco Field and a great tour and also meetup and walkthrough with Oreo of the great blog DemConWatchBlog.com Lots of news to report, which I will do in a separate blog. But some teasing. I learned that the total convention schedule is not finalized and that the media's premature in what it's reporting -- not that the Hillary Clinton speak date is wrong -- there's more to come. Invesco Field itself is a huge and well-equipped facility that makes me wish Oakland would wake up and rebuild the Oakland / Alameda County Coliseum. It has miles of storage space, wide cooridors, and a new smell -- still. I also learned that protest groups have filed suit to be closer to the convention than they are. But as you will see in my upcoming video from my trip, they're pretty close already!! I also discovered that the best Spinach Salad's at Brooklyn's bar and grill next to Pepsi Center, and that the facility will become " The Pol...

I present my long form video documentary of the TechCrunch | August Capital Party held Friday, July 25th 2008 at August Capital and hosed by TechCrunch Co-Founder / Editor Michael Arrington. First, let me thank Michael for the opportunity to do this at his event, as well as the time he gave me. Second, let me thank all of you who gave me your time at the party, which was the vast majority of you. I set out to form a pattern of opinions on what the Democratic Party and Senator Obama should address on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. I also tried to give a view of what people were working on in the tech / web community. There's a lot here. But I also tried to make something fun to watch, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The video is 41 minutes long and some of the highlights: TechCrunch's Michael Arrington explaining that he hope Barack Obama sicks to his concern for "net neutrality" as well as his hope that issues regarding H1 Visas, the FC...

Oakland fans of Senator John Edwards will not like the news they're about to get. For the full story, go over to Zennie's Zeitgeist with a click here .

This video is nothing less than a monologue on how some remaining female supporters of Senator Clinton for President are, in pointing out sexism, being sexist themselves. I point to Salon.com's Editor-in-Chief Joan Walsh as a main example and as one who looks the other way when Michelle Obama is the target of sexism and racism, but not Senator Clinton, followed by Harriet Christian, the terrible and outwardly racist Clinton supporter who gained national attention for her racist and sexist rant against Senator Barack Obama at the DNC Rules Committee Meeting of May 31st..... click for the rest at Zennie's Zeitgeist .

Earlier this week I flew to Denver for the DNC Convention Media Walkthrough, which was more of a briefing on various issues concerning the facility than just a walkthrough of Pepsi Center. The video's here: And you can read about my trip here > DNC Convention Media Walkthrough

Donna Brazile , originally uploaded by AFSCME.org . CNN's Donna Brazile Comes To SF For Obama Fundraiser July 15th, Palace Hotel CNN's Donna Brazile is coming To San Francisco For a Fundraiser for the "Obama Victory Fund" July 15th from 12 noon to 1:30 PM at The Palace Hotel, (2 New Montgomery, downtown San Francisco and just off Montgomery BART Station), and you can join us with a $150 contribution or a $1,000 contribution for a VIP reception to host Ms. Brazile. To join us, just click on this link: https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/BrazileJuly15 And as you sign up and donate, type in "Zennie Abraham" in the field "PLEASE LET US KNOW WHO ENCOURAGED YOU TO MAKE THIS CONTRIBUTION:" About Donna Brazile Donna Brazile is Founder and Managing Director of Brazile and Associates, LLC and is the first African-American to direct a major presidential campaign, having done so for Gore-Libermann 2000. Brazile is perhaps best known as the weekl...