SWISS to Inaugurate San Francisco-Zürich Service

Airbus 340 slated for long-haul flight; SWISS service will make the time pass

SWISS just announced a new non-stop between San Francisco and Zürich, and I cheered, both for European skiers heading for North American mountains and for U.S. skiers heading for the Alps. The service is scheduled to begin on June 2, so skiers from both continents will have to wait until the winter of 2009-10. There will be six flights a week, and flight numbers and timetable are already in place:

San Francisco-Zürich (SFO-ZRH) LX 39 dep. 7:25 p.m. arr 3:40 p.m + the following day

Zürich-San Francisco (ZRH-SFO) LX 38 dep. 1:15 p.m. arr 4:30 p.m.

Deep-pocketed flyers will travel in the incomparable luxury of a SWISS First class cabin or the enhanced comfort of SWISS Business class with a new fully reclinable seats innovative air seat cushions that can be individually adjusted. Even for the rest of us, the carrier promises "a more comfortable SWISS economy experience."

And I don't doubt it. A lifetime ago, I worked as a sales promotion writer in New York for Swissair, the predecessor to the current SWISS. In those days, the airline's North American gateways were New York, Boston, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto. Today there are seven (Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, and Montreal), and come June and the addition of San Francisco, there will be eight.

Convention Volunteering - The Grand Finale

Convention wraps up at Invesco Field for Obama's acceptance speech; energy, enthusiasm and optimism prevail

The 2008 Democratic National Convention closed with a bang -- of fireworks, that is. Delegates, guests, politicos, media, celebs, security and we volunteers moved from one sports venue (the Denver's Pepsi Center, an arena built for basketball and hockey) to another (Invesco Field at Mile High, the awkardly named but imposing football stadium nearby), where there was also room for tens of thousands of attendees from "the community."

For us media distribution volunteers, it meant very long work day. We had to be at the Colorado Convention Center at 9:00 to pick up credentials, which included a lot of waiting around. I was on a bus at 7:30 a.m. Then by noon, we transferred to Invesco Field, where we also did a lot of waiting around -- but I did manage to get onto the field with a borrowed "Floor Pass." We had fewer distribution venues for the speech transcripts but security was even tighter, the elevators even more crowded and the distances greater. With longer speeches but fewer speakers, there was a lot of waiting around in a windowless room until it came time to distribute the text for Barack Obama's much-anticipated acceptance speech.

The public was admitted after 3:00, and the lines were imposing. People streamed in steadily, enduring the slow pace through the security screening station (set up in the white tent, below). Some sat down and wouldn't move. Others saved seats for more family, friends and colleagues who might still be in line or were milling around, buying food or souvenirs. By the time Obama's scheduled time approached, there was hardly an empty seat to be found in this huge 75,000-seat stadium.

Even though Stuart Shepard, director of digitial media for an arm of Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs-based evangelical group, reportedly produced a video asking Christians to pray for torrential rain, during Barack Obama's acceptance speech, the evening could not have been nicer. If rain would have demonstrated God's objection to Obama's candidacy, the wonderful warm, windless summer evening must have been a sign of the Almighty's approval of the Democratic nominee.

Some people thought that the Doric colonnade that served as a backdrop for the podium was a bit much, but after all the day's speakers and entertainers were finished, it was a suitable setting of Obama's acceptance speech as a presidential nominee -- and it made the brief fireworks display that followed his speech possible. After all, you can't have a balloon drop in a stadium that is open to the sky.

Celeb Sightings

In addition to the well-known people pictured below, I saw (but was too close to photograph) Wolf Blitzer, George Stephanopolis and Oprah Winfrey. Here are the ones I did capture with my camera:

I photographed Ted Koppel (below) as we were leaving the stadium floor at the same time. Then, since we were going in the same direction, I hustled to catch up with him to tell him how much I enjoyed his China series on PBS and how much I preferred the old single-subject "Nightline" format when he was the host. He said, "It's now for 32-year-olds." Then, we reached the ABC area and he introduced me to two "Nightline" producers. I said, "I know I'm not your demographic, but I preferred the old format." I didn't have a chance to add, "The current format is for people with the attention span of fruit flies." So there!

I didn't get to see Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show," but I did see the crew hanging around and horsing around. Rob Riggle was in the mix somewhere.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who had ample reason to be proud of the manner in which the Mile High City hosted this convention -- and relieved that it all went so well.

Air America's Randi Rhodes:

And the man whom everyone came to see, hear, celebrate or report on, Barack Obama:

Convention Volunteering - The Penultimate Day

Democratic All-Stars speak at the Democratic National Convention's penultimate evening

Barack Obama's official nomination as the Democratic candidate for president was anticipated, but the way in which it occurred surprised many. While the roll call ("The great state of Wherever proudly casts XX votes for Senator Hillary Clinton and XX votes for Senator Barack Obama"), Clinton, accompanied by her New York colleague Senator Chuck Schumer entered the floor of the Democratic National Convention to join the New York delegation. There, in a gracious speech, she moved to suspend the rules and nominate Barack Obama by acclamation.


The evening was highlighted by some of the party's and the nation's best speakers and most highly regarded leaders. This Who's Who included former Secretary of State Madeleine Allbright, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, present Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, Evan Bayh, Senator John Kerry, Governor Bill Richardson and former President Bill Clinton, who spoke to honor both his wife's candidacy and to support Barack Obama's. The final scheduled speaker, Senator Joseph Biden and vice presidential nominee, was joined at the end by Senator Barack Obama, Democratic candidate for president. But you don't need me to tell you what you have seen on television or read in the paper. But I can offer you a few more images of people I had a chance to snap at the Pepsi Center today (some up close for the second time).


Ralph Nader being interviewed:

Former President Bill Clinton:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:

Senator Joseph Biden:

Asian Airports Top Traveler Satisfaction Survey

Seoul's Incheon International number one once again

On Monday, I wrote a post about The Daily Beast's take on 27 US airports, the best of which isn't all that great when compared with others on the world stage. The Beast called its post "Airports From Hell." Thanks goplantit.com for calling attention to a Business Week story called. "Why Asia Has the World's Best Airports." It reported on the results of the latest annual Airport Service Quality Survey  of some 200,000 international travelers conducted by Geneva-based Airports Council International. The top five are Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Halifax. Four in Asia, none in Europe and one in North America.

"Seoul's Incheon International Airport snagged first place in the ranking for the fourth straight year," wrote Business Week's Moon Ihlwan. "Two years before opening the $5 billion airport in 2001, airport administrators set up a task force that analyzed what some of the world's best airports were doing right. The task force looked at Singapore, Hong Kong, Denver and Atlanta. Then planners set about figuring out how the new Seoul airport could offer services that would outdo those hubs. The airport, which last June completed the $3 billion addition of a passenger terminal and runway, has earmarked $120 million for further upgrades in parking and other amenities this year."

Beyond improvements that run into the millions, Ihlwan wrote, "airports in the U.S. are widely viewed as public facilities, while those in Asia are seen as service-oriented businesses....To attract airlines and travelers, Incheon airport has cut down on waiting times. Administrators reassigned terminals for planes making a brief stop and reprogrammed computerized baggage handling systems. The result: Last year the airport reduced to 45 minutes from 55 minutes the minimum connection time for passengers who are traveling through Seoul to other destinations. The airport authority also spent around $7 million on a new 240-seat lounge, which opened last June for departing passengers and offers free showers, Internet connections and movies on giant-screen TVs."

State-of-the-art technology, efficiency and facilities to make travelers' experiences as seamless and pleasant as possible are the winning combination. The Business Week story and passengers' comments are illuminating. If US airport authorities could put just a fraction of these into practice, fewer American airports would be "from hell." Interestingly, even though Denver ranked far down on The Beast's list, it is one that Seoul officials deemed worth looking at.

Convention Volunteering - Second Day

Day 2 of the convention; Day 3 of volunteering

Here are some famous people whom I saw up-close while volunteering at the Democratic National Convention. Again, my photographic disclaimer is that I'm using a digital point and shoot with limited range to the built-in flash. As they walk along the hallway where the media volunteers hang out, Secret Service agents move most political VIPs along quickly and also keep people at a distance. The result, some blurry images.

Below, "Today Show" anchor Ann Curry, on her cell phone. When I looked her up online to make sure that she was Ann and not Anne, and Curry not Currey, I found out that her father was from Pueblo, CO. Maybe she was calling some kinfolk here in Colorado.

Below is Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley with some constituents he encountered at the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau information and hospitality booth (hizzoner is the short guy in the middle).

Below, retired NBA superstar and now television sports commentator Charles Barkley taking his leave from some fans (Barkley is the tall guy in the middle).


Here is Colorado Governor Bill Ritter being interviewed by a Denver television station.

And New York Governor David Patterson also gives a hallway interview:

Below, Senator (and Barack Obama's running mate) Joseph Biden moves quickly down the hallway.

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton arrive for Hillary's "unity" speech asking the entire Democratic Party to support the candidacy of her primary-season rival Barack Obama.

Before Bill Clinton entered this section of the hallway, Secret Service agents moved us all to one side, which they did for no one else. Agents, who by now are accustomed to his habit of shaking every outstretched hand, probably figure it's more efficient to organize a receiving line rather than have him dart back and forth along the route.

And here he is, strolling down the hallway, shaking everyone's hand (including mine just before this photo) as if he nothing else in the world to do.

Convention Volunteering - Opening Day

Convention draws political and media celebs, and they draw stares and applause

As a volunteer on the "media distribution team," my view of the Democratic National Convention is a narrow one. I am a very small cog in a very large wheel. I and more than a dozen volunteers on my shift pick stacks of photocopied speeches and deliver them to media pods all over the Pepsi Center and in the surrounding parking lots. Sometimes we hand them to individual media desks; sometimes we leave a stack at the press information centers (PICs) for reporters themselves to collect.

There are several outdoor routes to four pavilions (i.e., large air conditioned tents with plywood floors and partitioned or curtained-off "offices") that house most major and some minor print media. There are runs to individual network complexes -- ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox -- with trailers and satellite dishes. There are areas within for within the Pepsi Center for print, broadcast and online media: Radio Row, Radio Suites, Writing Desks, Bloggers Alley, International Media. I had my pedometer on and walked just shy of nine miles today.

En route to the convention center to pick up our day's credentials, my Boulder friends were delayed due to a couple of demonstrations. Marching placket-wavers took up street as well as sidewalks, causing the shuttle on the 16th Street Mall to run only intermittently, because protesters were blocking the bus lanes. One group chanted, "No We Can't!", but it was unclear as to whether they were disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters or were grinding some other ax. Another group waved signs with clearer messages that were both evangelical and homophobic -- and also predictable. Then, we veered away from the 16th Street Mall, which had ceased being energizing and fun and was just annoying.

In the Pepsi Center my friend Laurel shook Jimmy Carter's hand but didn't get a picture. I saw media stars Anderson Cooper and Donna Brazile and soul singer John Legend but didn't get pictures. Here are some famous people whose pictures I did manage to snap with my little digital point-and-shoot, which doesn't allow for the rapid sequential shots of the bigger SLR:

Here's Dan Rather in the hallway (too far for my camera's modest flash to reach):


Here's Senator Ted Kennedy, riding to and from the podium area, ailing but inspiring by his very presence on the podium, let alone finding the strength to speak. As he rode along, he blew kisses to onlookers (trust me; that's what he was doing, which might not be apparent from the expression I caught in the one picture I managed to snap):

Here's Michelle Obama (just behind the sleeve of someone who walked into the one frame I managed to snap), heading down the same hallway en route to giving her evening-ending speech (someone behind her was carrying a garment bag with that beautiful teal green outfit she wore):


Here's (I think) fast-moving Caroline Kennedy (in black and mostly blocked by a women in a white jacket) who introduced her Uncle Ted:

Here's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Happy Thanksgiving