BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JULY 24, 2000 ISSUE
GOVERNMENT Getting Down in Philly and L.A. Political conventions have become the Super Bowl of Lobbying. And the schmoozing all takes place at private events sponsored by Corporate America. Here are BUSINESS WEEK's Top 10 Tickets to the real action: REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, July 31-Aug. 3, Philadelphia SALUTE TO LATIN CULTURE The entertainment biz will throw an Aug. 2 extravaganza. Kicking in up to $30,000 apiece are Disney, America Online, Time Warner, Sony, and Seagram's Universal Studios. RED, WHITE & BLUES PARTY House Majority Whip Tom DeLay will host this Aug. 1 event for 5,000. Pop band Blues Traveler will entertain. Some of the sponsors: SBC Communications, American Trucking Assn., American Airlines, Union Pacific, Continental Airlines, and Coca-Cola. AMERICAN BANDSTAND REDUX Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) is treating his Commerce Committee colleagues--who he hopes will choose him as chairman next year if the GOP remains in control--to a dance on the former soundstage of American Bandstand. Oxley won't reveal sponsors' names. MARDI GRAS Some 2,000 lobbyists and lawmakers will mingle at a $400,000 Mardi Gras-style event in honor of Billy Tauzin, head of the House telecom subcommittee. Corporate sponsors include SBC Communications, Coca-Cola, and United Distillers & Vintners. SALUTE TO J.C. WATTS The Temptations will headline this July 30 party for one of the GOP's most visible African Americans. Place: The Train Shed. Main sponsor: DaimlerChrysler. DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, Aug. 14-18, Los Angeles HISPANIC UNITY Representative Loretta Sanchez will host an Aug. 12 event for some 600 guests at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion. The party will be paid for by donors to her Hispanic Unity PAC, Playboy, and other corporate backers. LATE NIGHT WITH THE DNC The open-air Skybar atop the Hotel Mondrian will be rocking on Aug. 15 at an after-hours Democratic National Committee shindig. Washington law firm Verner, Liipfert Bernhard, McPherson & Hand is sponsoring, along with UPS and AOL. SALUTE TO TERRY On Aug. 15, at the Sunset Room, a select group of 200 will fete fund-raising impresario Terry McAuliffe. Hosted by Washington law firm Patton Boggs and political Web site Voter.com. DINGELL'S HOUSE OF BLUES Some 1,000 people will honor John D. Dingell, House Commerce Committee's ranking Dem, on Aug. 16. Sponsoring the Motown-themed bash: top energy trade associations, including American Gas Assn., Edison Electric Institute, Nuclear Energy Institute, and National Mining Assn. FIELD OF DREAMS Lawmakers, lobbyists, and staff will try out their pitching and catching talent with retired ballplayers at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 15. Sponsors include Dodgers owner News Corp. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The Conventions: Don't Forget to Nominate Someone TABLE: Getting Down in Philly and L.A. INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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