I was Cool

Yesterday, I accompanied a client to a luncheon at the CNN Grill, a bar and restaurant adjacent to the Pepsi Center where the Democrats are holding most of the convention this week.
CNN has rented the facility for the duration of the convention and completely converted it for their use. The beer taps pour CNN beer. There is a giant CNN Grill neon sign on the outside of the building. Every inch of the place, including the glassware, sports the CNN logo. A pass to the CNN Grill is pure convention gold. The media and political elite flock to the place. It is the spot to be seen.

The cost to CNN must be enormous. The place has CNN neon in every corner and everybody eats and drinks free. T-shirts, hats, buttons and other freebies are handed out like it is Christmas. It is simply cool.

For a news network, the political conventions are the Super Bowl equivalent and the CNN Grill appears to be a brilliant investment. Cool and news coverage seldom go hand in hand. For this week in Denver and next in St. Paul (they are doing it there, too) the CNN Grill will be hottest ticket for political types in the country. And, for one day I was cool too.

Yes, I saw Anderson Cooper. And, as I told my wife, “I do not have any idea whether he is as hot in person as he is on TV.” Wonder if I will wear my new CNN hat when I get home.