i L i n d . n e t

The rather uprecedented public interest in tonight’s Democratic Party caucuses might bode well for the party, but it also means a very long day of hard work for those involved. A friend observes that “we have the largest press corps that’s ever shown up here for Democratic caucuses. CNN., Fox, the original networks, major Mainland dailies, international media.”

A media advisory containing the Democratic Party’s media guideline was distributed over the weekend (marked “For internal media use only”) and gives some indication of the problems caused by all the interest.

Here are the guidelines for party headquarters:

Caucus results will be announced at DPH headquarters at Ward Warehouse. In order to accommodate all of the news media and give party volunteers adequate work space, we have set up a media room next to headquarters, which will be available to you for scouting and set up from noon on Tuesday, February 19. Please note that you are on your own for computer, internet, electrical and telephone hookups. We anticipate a very large media presence, so please make appropriate arrangements.

All interviews must be conducted in the media room. Access to the party office will be limited and must be arranged through me. Elisa Yadao will be assisting with media duties Tuesday night and will also serve as a point of contact for you. She can be reached at 808-286-3693.

Our landlord, General Growth has prohibited the set up of cameras on the lanai area and hallway outside our office and there will be security on-hand to enforce these rules. While it’s going to be crowded, we ask that you confine yourselves to the media room.

And from an accompanying e-mail:

Also, although apparently some media people have not gotten the word, all interview requests for Florence Kong Kee, Executive Director, must come through me at 220-3496. We will not accept an interview request from anyone who simply shows up at out office without forewarning.

You may have noticed that we are quite busy right now. We accommodate you when we can, but we have too much to do right now to make the caucus happen to drop everything for you because you may be on a deadline.

It remains to be seen whether blogging will be possible from the caucus sites. Check back this evening for my experience.

I couldn’t help noticing Rep. Kirk Caldwell featured in the news last night as a Clinton campaign spokesman. There must make for some interesting discussions in Caldwell’s office at the Capitol, where Chuck Freedman, often cited as a spokesman for the local Obama campaign, is a key legislative staffer.

A comment on yesterday’s entry clarified that it will be possible to register to vote as well as register with the Democratic Party at tonight’s precincts. If you have to register to vote, you are advised to download and complete the Wikiwiki voter registration form before getting to your caucus site in order to reduce waiting time.

And Kauai’s Andy Parx commented at length on the party’s rules.

Good luck this evening!

Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser has started sending unsolicited e-mail ads for “Exclusive Honolulu Advertiser Discount” Offers. The latest a $5 discount on tickets for the Pan Pacific Championship 2008. The fine print claims these are only sent to those who requested to be notified of special offers, but I question the assertion. I may have provided an e-mail address when asked, but I don’t think I would have done so if it had been clearly described as a vehicle for unsolicited advertising.

The Star-Bulletin may pitch its deal with Monster for online job ads, but for its own recruitment it also uses…Craigslist. A job posting for an online news position appeared both on Monster and Craigslist over the weekend. I wonder if this position falls within the Guild contract or is this an end-run such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer case?

Yesterday was such a beautiful morning that I decided to share several photos from this single day’s walk. It was a holiday morning so we didn’t have to rush, and could enjoy all parts of the experience. In any case, please enjoy.