CONVENTION DAILY

Denver Operatives: Mike Dino

by Brian Friel

Mon. Jul 28, 2008



Denver's welcome wagon chief

Host Committee CEO

The job of host committee CEO for a Democratic convention requires someone with deep local connections, political savvy, fundraising prowess, and the ability to balance the needs of event planners, area residents, and business leaders. The person for that job in Denver is Dino, a native of the Mile High City who attended local Regis University and worked for former Mayor Wellington Webb before becoming a senior policy adviser at the office of Patton Boggs.

Dino is a veteran campaigner, having helped to elect current Mayor John Hickenlooper, Gov. Bill Ritter, and Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo. Raising at least $40 million for the city's convention effort dwarfs those political campaigns, however. Convention fundraising relies on one-on-one contacts between host committee leaders and potential donors, Dino said, plus a call to civic pride that differs from candidate-based money hunts. Of course, having Obama, a fundraising juggernaut, as the convention's central figure has helped to offset Denver's small corporate base.

"With the excitement and the enthusiasm that Senator Obama has brought to the presidential race, it's certainly an asset," Dino said. On a spring walk-through of the convention site, Dino was struck by media representatives' inability to take their eyes off the snow-capped vistas awaiting delegates. "They were in awe of the spectacle confronting them," he said, noting that the last Rockies convention was Denver's 1908 gathering.

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