After lots of travel and very little sleep (with a brief stop over back home in North Carolina), I'm back at my desk. (Sorry for the lack of post on Friday, by the way -- the Charlotte Airport does have wireless, but it was spotty).

At the risk of gushing, just let me say, the 2008 Democratic National Convention was a pretty spectacular experience. I enjoyed all the proceedings that I had the opportunity to watch, and I snapped some great pictures while I was there. I ran into friends and former colleagues I hadn't seen in years, which was exciting and surprising every time.

And from a work perspective, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet with so many legislators from all across the country, all excited about this election and all proud to be Democrats. For them, and for me, I think the Convention served as a motivator -- an inspiration to draw upon for all the hard work ahead.

I'm about to leave for Invesco Field, so I can't flesh this post until later. Yesterday was a fairly incredible experience, which I'll have much more to say about, and we ended the night with one last reception for our legislators.

I just typed a 500 word post about yesterday that I lost because of our hotel's Internet access. This is my attempt to recreate it.

Much of the media attention at a national convention is necessarily devoted to the party's elite. It's easy to watch the news and see nothing beyond the speeches at night and the interviews throughout the day.

But that big picture ignores a lot of good work at the grassroots that is happening this week in Denver.

There have been panels on campaign strategy and round tables to consider public policy. I managed to sit in one one discussion that had been organized by Matt Glazer -- from Burnt Orange Report -- and Jim Walsh -- from Wired for Change -- about wiring local candidates.

With Jim and I sitting in the room, much of the conversation turned on DLCCWeb, and the feedback we received was very, very positive.

This is what Matt wrote about the discussion afterward:

Florida, Alabama, Michigan, D.C. California, Texas, and other states were all represented well represented. ActBlue was there along with the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and Wired for Change.

We talked about the $40 a month package for state legislative candidates for unlimited e-mail and a new web site. We talked about how ActBlue can be used to raise tens of thousand of dollars for state and federal candidates. We talked about how we can win today and be ready for redistricting in the future.

I began this job believing that future success would depend on working with passionate, plugged-in activists. I'm even more convinced of that today.

Once that panel wrapped up, I headed to a couple meetings before heading over to the Pepsi Center. That was probably a mistake. As you might have heard from the news reports, the convention was packed last night. Eventually, the fire marshals decided that there simply was not room for any more people. Those standing in line were turned away, and those who were in their seats were told that they could not return if they decided to leave.

I made it through security and into the Pepsi Center, but not without waiting in line for an hour.

I'll be headed over MUCH earlier today.

We only have so many chances each year to see our lawmakers in person. The National Conference of State Legislatures organizes a week of policy discussions at their annual meeting, and obviously, that's one opportunity. We also try to set up our own events -- chances for our elected officials to meet with each other and our staff.

This week gives us a chance to do that on a scale that is hard to match.

Yesterday afternoon, we held our first event of the National Convention -- a luncheon to celebrate our majorities. For two hours, several hundred legislators joined us as the Downtown Aquarium in Denver for a tour of the exhibits and an opportunity to connect with each other. Some people brought their families, others brought friends, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

After we packed up, we almost immediately headed to the Pepsi Center. Given that this was the first day, no one knew how long it would take to walk there or get through security. We knew that we had been given a cloakroom for meetings during the convention but not where it was or how the room was laid out.

As it turned out, many of our fears weren't necessary. The walk was easy (and there were many transportation for those who needed it). The security process was efficient and quick (and kind of fascinating -- convention staffers had some sort of hand-held scanners to test the authenticity of the credentials worn by all of those headed inside). And our room was great -- a perfect place for legislators to pop inside for a snack and a couple moments of conversation.

The convention opened with an invocation from former Colorado state Sen. Polly Baca. The Pepsi Center was full and energetic, and the stage looked great.

I'll be back with Tuesday highlights tomorrow.

We're here in Colorado for the Democratic National Convention. So far, the weather has been lovely, folks have been excited, and the atmosphere has been great.

I want to try to give you as much flavor for this week as possible. My plan is to recap, briefly, the previous day's activities each morning.

If there's anything in particular that you want to hear about, or if you're in Denver and want to say hello, I hope you'll shoot me an email or leave a comment here on the blog.