The law also outlaws parties financed by lobbyists to honor elected officials. In years past, these parties were a centerpiece of convention entertaining and were seen as a way for corporations to curry favor with lawmakers.
It's been a confusing time for party planners and many have just canceled events altogether:
[P]arty planners are trying to come up with innovative ways of providing protein to hungry conventioneers without crossing the line into an actual meal. Some lobbying groups have become so exasperated with the new rules that they have canceled events entirely.
Others are going the finger food/no chair route.
The new law is filled with loopholes and inconsistencies.
For instance, members of Congress cannot be singled out to be honored at events, but if they are members of a state delegation, the whole group can be honored. And the rules can vary for House and Senate members; senators can be “featured speakers” at events, while House members cannot. Meals, tickets to events and entertainment cannot be paid for by lobbyists, though those gifts can be accepted if provided by the Cities of St. Paul or Denver or if part of a fund-raising event is sponsored by the parties themselves.
.... People are trying to organize parties around conflicting and inscrutable rules,” said Jan Baran, a campaign finance expert at Wiley Rein, a Washington law firm. “It drives the lawyers crazy to give advice. We are having to decide if a group is a cover band, a string quartet or a name band.”
Tamayo on Larimer St, where 16 events are being held , serves great food. You probably won't know it from attending the parties.
At Tamayo, a Mexican restaurant in Denver that has been hired for 16 events, Amanda Burk, its head of private parties, said a simple formula was adopted: no forks and no chairs.
Most of the regular tables are being removed, to be replaced by tall cocktail tables. The convention menu will include finger food like mini empanadas, mini sopaipillas and sushi, something that Ms. Burk admits is “outside our normal menu” but fits within the rules. “We’re trying to comply with the law and still make sure that people get enough to eat,” she said.
Among the cancellations due to the new rules:
Peggy Beck, who runs the Denver catering firm Three Tomatoes, said she had two cancellations, including a major party from a lobbying firm that was to have featured Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Question: What are the rules on alcohol?
Bottom line: It sounds to me like if you are hungry, you should skip the parties by corporations and lobbyists and look for those sponsored by Denver or the Democratic Party.
