Politics 2.0: Minneapolis: Culture and Convention Politics

It was just announced that Minneapolis-St. Paul will host the G.O.P. Convention Sept. 1-4 2008. Until today, it had also been one of three cities contending for the Democratic Convention to be held the preceding week. I'm interested to see how hosting a convention of this scale will impact the city. Current press coverage cites the usual heightened media attention and economic benefits as attendees descend on the city seeking entertainment (and perhaps cheese curds given the convention's coincidence with the Great Minnesota Get Together). But what really interests me is how this new political catalyst will drive national perception of the Twin Cities brand?

Minneapolis has received increased attention in national travel press in the past year due to a number of new architectural openings: Jean Nouvel's Guthrie, Cesar Pelli's Minneapolis Public Library, and Michael Graves' addition to the Minneapolis Institute of Art over the summer alone. And let's not forget the 2005 Herzog & de Meuron Walker Art Center addition, the upcoming Shubert Performing Arts Center, the new MacPhail Center for Music building - we've even built a Chambers Hotel.

Repositioned as a (relatively) diverse cultural hotbed, how will the Twin Cities brand incorporate and respond to the convention's influence over the next two years? Only time will tell.

Until then, I'm off to camp out by the Excel Center in hopes of appearing in the Daily Show's 2008 election coverage. Look for me on YouTube.

(photo credit: Sharkey M. on Flickr)