Hitting the blog big time in the Big Tent

Not far from Denver's Pepsi Center, but far enough from the heavy politico and media hitters at the Democratic convention, is the Big Tent. A two-story, 8,000-square-foot temporary structure, the Big Tent offers facilities for bloggers to work out of. And unlike the Pepsi Center, which has no wireless for security reasons, the Big Tent is completely plugged in. Our Observer Joe Sudbay is all praise for the alternate blog-spot hotspot at the convention.

"A little oasis in the middle of the madness"

Joe Sudbay writes for AMERICAblog. He's attending the Denver convention.

For me, the Big Tent is like a little oasis in the middle of the madness of the convention. At times, it could be crowded, at times it could be loud, but for me, it was a homecoming.

I know it sounds very corny to say this, but there's a great energy in the place. It's all very collaborative. I think it's because bloggers don't come from traditional media and they don't have the mind-set of the traditional media. We're willing to differ to the expertise of other people. The energy here is due to a combination of two things: the people and the venue.

The Big Tent was conceived by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder of the popular political blog, ‘Daily Kos'. In the last elections in 2004, he got nosebleed seats. So it was his dream to have a space like this.

At the Big Tent, for the price of $100 for the duration of the convention, we bloggers got free wireless, plus free lunches and dinners and of course coffee. And I'm sure there was beer as well. You just can't beat that."