RNC memories and thanks

I’m still not even close to being fully recovered from the last five days in Tampa. (As my fabulous misspelling of “towel” in the title of my first post this morning will attest.) But before we slide back fully into the normal coverage routine here at Hot Air, I wanted to take a moment to recognize some of the people and organizations who rolled out the welcome mat for us and made it such a memorable convention.

First, I’d like to thank the folks at the RNC. And even more importantly – as I’m sure they themselves would agree – the army of volunteers who turned out every day in the blazing sun, driving rain and oppressive humidity to do the myriad thankless tasks required to keep the wheels turning on an event of this magnitude.

Next, I’d like to thank the Romney / Ryan team, and in particular the folks they assigned to do outreach to the “special press” (read: bloggers and social media folks) during the convention. They made sure that people outside of the traditional, mainstream media had a way to get in. And once inside, they worked with us to ensure that we not only had internet access, but lined up interviews and visits from high level surrogates, members of Congress and more. There had been some grumbling early in the year about the campaign’s availability but they really got on board with us.

Of course I have to thank our team from Townhall and Hot Air for an amazing experience, particularly our General Manager, Jonathan Garthwaite. In addition to having to wrangle up last minute plane tickets and hotel rooms, he spent his time ferrying people around for interviews and story research, locating cameras, memory cards and sundry items needed to keep the team moving. (We won’t mention his advice for his secret method of getting a good night’s sleep on the road.) Also, working with MaryKatharine Ham, Erika Johnsen, Guy Benson, Elisabeth Meinecke, Kevin Glass and Linlee DuBard was an experience not to be missed. (You should be following all of them on Twitter.)

Thanks also go out to the many groups who sponsored and put on a slew of great events while we were all in Tampa and welcomed us to them. These include the American Conservative Union, GOProud, American Taxpayer Union, American Petroleum Institute and too many others to name. These gatherings really rounded out the event, provided tons of great information and got people motivated and involved in important issues for this campaign.

And last, but far from least, (most, actually) I know that the entire team wants to join me in thanking the people who are really responsible for this… you. The loyal readers of Hot Air and Townhall.com are the only reason we’re here and able to continue doing what we do. The way you all participated in the convention with us and drove traffic to the site was the real reward. We went well over a million hits just during the day shift more than once this week and the comments sections and reader responses at both sites were off the charts. I hope you enjoyed the chance to share the convention experience with us and the behind the scenes look at the biggest shindig every four years.

And with that, we return you to our regularly scheduled blathering.

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