National Outreach: We have briefed local, state, and national elected officials as well as representatives of more than 140 national organizations on our 2004 Convention planning activities. We communicate on a regular basis with hundreds of Democratic Party leaders from all across the country. We are continuing to organize briefing sessions for Democratic elected officials, party leaders, and allies in Boston and Washington , D.C. , regarding Convention activities.

Local Outreach: : We have invited several hundred local Democratic allies to our weekly Convention briefings. At these meetings, we update attendees about our Convention activities and distribute procedures for becoming vendors, convention delegates, and volunteers

We are in regular communication with local elected officials, including African-American state legislators and city councilors. We also brief local residents on our convention activities at various meetings, conferences, and receptions each week.

Contracts: We are committed to using minority and women-owned firms as much as possible. We are already using minority and women-owned vendors for our most immediate convention-related business – including a minority-owned printer, minority-owned caterers, and a minority-owned transportation service.

Last month, we issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for our construction manager position. We placed advertisements announcing this contract in numerous mainstream and minority publications including – the Boston Herald, Bay State Banner, El Mundo and the Boston Chinese News, and called several minority and women-owned construction firms to let them know about this opportunity.

Our proposal makes clear that if the selected construction manager is not minority- and/or women-owned itself, the manager will be required to partner with a minority- and/or woman-owned contractor. We are also requiring our construction manager to maximize the use of minority- and women-owned businesses as subcontractors.

Media Outreach: In December, we hosted national and local media walk throughs for several hundred organizations to give them a preview of some of the potential media space options where they will be spending close to a week to cover our event. We are working on identifying the media workspace near or inside the FleetCenter . We will announce the designated workspace by early this year.

Official Sponsors: Last week, we announced that General Motors automobiles will be the official vehicles of the 2004 Democratic National Convention. GM will provide 300 vehicles to help transport equipment and people during Convention week. We have named US Airways and United as the official airlines for the Democratic National Convention. Each airline will provide discounts of up to 15% off the lowest available on-line fare for all delegates, media and guests traveling to Boston for the convention.

Housing: In December, we announced a list of official hotels for each of the 56 state and territorial delegations. Most of the delegate hotels are within walking distance of the FleetCenter , no more than 3.5 miles away. This is in stark contrast to the 2000 Convention in Los Angeles where the furthest delegation hotel was 17.6 miles from the Staples Center . In addition, we are currently processing housing requests from Democratic Party committees, network media, and other affiliated groups. Every hotel currently under contract is within 12 miles of the FleetCenter .

Security and Transportation: In early January, the Democratic National Convention Committee appointed a new security and transportation team for the Convention. Mr. Ed McNelley will serve as Director of Security, is a veteran of the Vietnam War and served in the Boston Police Department for thirty-three years, most recently as Captain Detective and has managed his own law practice since June 2003. In addition, the Annapolis Group, a security consulting firm located in Annapolis , Maryland , will work as security consultants to the DNCC. The Annapolis Group is comprised of veterans of the United States Secret Service and provided security consulting services for the DNCC at the 1996 Convention in Chicago , Illinois , and the 2000 Democratic Convention LA. The DNCC also named Kirkwood Buckman as Director of Airport and Motorpool Operations, and Lou Vasta and Associates will serve as Site Transportation consultant.

As for general security planning, federal and local law enforcement agencies have developed a draft security plan for the Convention and have briefed city and state agencies, elected officials and Convention officials on the plan. We are developing an airport transportation system for delegates and a dedicated delegate shuttle to and from the FleetCenter .

Technology: The Host Committee entered into a $2 million agreement with IBM to provide computer hardware and support for the 2004 convention. Discussions are underway with several major technology companies to provide additional services for the convention. We have begun development work on our Convention website and are planning a launch of the site sometime in February.