The Corporate Convention

Matt Cooper reports from Denver: A lot's been written about the corporate presence at these conventions. Unlike the election campaigns, corporations can donate directly to the convention operations themselves. And that's just the ones who pay to be official designees.

There's a myriad of other opportunities to get their message across. The Clean Coal people are handing out fans that say, "I Support Clean Energy." Starz, the cable movie channel, has an oasis-like green room near the Pepsi Center where you can catch lectures and films. In the convention center, where many meetings are held, there are corporate booths from HP to AT&T to UPS. There are bicycle pedicabs with Hogan & Hartson, the law firm, emblazoned on the sides.

There's a lot of selling. Google is one of the biggest names, sponsoring a host of activities at The Big Tent, the site near the Pepsi Center that's home to a lot of the bloggers. Eric Schmitt, the C.E.O., will be here tomorrow. And the big end of convention party is being hosted by Google and our sister mag, Vanity Fair.

Benefiting from all the flowing liquor and food and largesse, I'm not one to criticize all of this. Whether the corporations who make a statement here are getting much for their money isn't entirely clear, either. Google doesn't have to be here to be a monolith. And, goodness knows, there's any number of unions and advocacy groups here.

The irony is that as conventions become less and less important to the nominating process and become four-day infomercials, the more everybody wants in on the act.

Matt Cooper

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