Alliance for Sustainable Colorado’s “Big Tent” to be Archived in Smithsonian Institution

Alliance for Sustainable Colorado (www.sustainablecolorado.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to unifying the sustainability movement in Colorado, today announced that Smithsonian Institution will begin archiving in its political collection, digital clips and memorabilia from the first of its kind “Big Tent” event.

The Big Tent, an 8,000 square-foot two-story structure, served as the gathering place and dedicated work space for more than 500 new media journalists, bloggers, reporters, and non-profit leaders during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The Big Tent demonstrated the power and influence that new media can play in election coverage. As a testament to the influence of new media in politics, Smithsonian Institution will begin by documenting this historic moment in time.

“Alliance for Sustainable Colorado is excited that the Smithsonian Institute has decided to archive the Big Tent in its political collection,” said Aaron Nelson, Project Director for Alliance for Sustainable Colorado. “The Big Tent was a momentous event for new media and we are excited to have played a key role in making it a success.”

As part of their mission of collaboration, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado has undertaken a campaign to reach out to new media in order to unify the sustainability movement in Colorado by building collaborative networks among individuals, nonprofit organizations, business, government, and academia

The Tent also hosted in-depth panels with prominent national leaders including energy executive T. Boone Pickens, Executive Director of the Sierra Club Carl Pope, Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO), Congresswoman Donna Edwards (MD-4); Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Digg founder Kevin Rose, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress John Podesta, and many more (For a full list of panelists, see www.bigtentdenver.org.) Political leaders — including Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) — as well as actors Sean Penn and Darryl Hannah and other celebrities visited the tent, making it one of the places to be during the DNC. 

The Big Tent hosted by Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, Progress Now and Daily Kos, arranged panel discussions on topics such as the economy, energy independence, sustainability, the war, and the role of media in politics. During the event over 4,000 new media, traditional media and thought leaders passed through the Big Tent flap on August 25-29^th, making it a first of its kind event.