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Dear members and friends of the IAPA, Denver, Colorado, a young and vibrant city in the center of the "Old West" is the site of the next IAPA General Assembly that is already taking form as another milestone in the history of the organization.

The IAPA heads for the 'Old West' General Assembly in Denver, Colorado, October 18-22, 2013

Dear members and friends of the IAPA,

Denver, Colorado, a young and vibrant city in the center of the “Old West” is the site of the next IAPA General Assembly that is already taking form as another milestone in the history of the organization.

The dates are October 18-22 and the venue will be the historic Brown Palace Hotel that opened its doors in August 1892 and that since then has hosted such figures as Buffalo Bill, Lillian Russell, Theodore Roosevelt, The Beatles and Bill Clinton.

If you were in Puebla in March of this year, you heard Edward Seaton speak of the details of the program, which will include relevant panel discussions and personalities. President Barack Obama has already been invited and there is a good possibility that President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and the president of another hemisphere nation would be present in Denver. The discussions will be focused on the implications of legalization of marijuana – Colorado is one of two states that have recently approved it – and immigration issues and significant changes in the U.S. newspaper industry. Warren Buffett, the richest man in the U.S., recently bought 27 dailies and has been invited to speak. Also, of course, there will be a review of the situation being observed in the Organization of Americas States (OAS) and the functioning of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its Office of the Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. Along with Edward Seaton, of Seaton Newspapers, Manhattan, Kansas, Elizabeth Ballantine of The Durango Herald, Durango, Colorado, Scott Schurz of the Herald-Times, Bloomington, Indiana, and William Dean Singleton of The Denver Post, Denver, Colorado are part of the Host Committee.

Save the date now on your agenda and make plans to be in Denver in October. As customary, there will be a special registration fee for delegates from the host country attending for the first time. Attached are the hotel reservation and registration forms. Please note that the last day to make hotel reservations is September 16, so make yours in time to be able to attend the General Assembly.

A program with a taste of the Old West

The program will focus on the topics already mentioned, but there will be sufficient time to learn about the beauties of this part of the United States. On Saturday evening, the welcoming reception will be held in the lobby of the city’s leading newspaper, The Denver Post, strategically located in front of the Capitol, the Civic Center Park and the City Council Building. On Sunday afternoon, we will be visiting the award-winning The Fort, located in the Denver suburbs, one of the nation’s most recognized establishments that sells more buffalo steaks than any other privately-owned restaurant. On Monday, during the awards presentation ceremony, there will be a dinner and a reception at the Denver Art Museum, which together with its impressive architecture, showcases one of world’s most important collections of native American art, with more than 68,000 works spanning various periods of human and cultural evolution.

Brown Palace Hotel

The General Assembly will take place at the well-known Brown Palace Hotel. The hotel is connected to the Comfort Inn by a bridge and is the place where the General Assembly’s main meeting rooms are located. The Comfort Inn offers very competitive rates. Please review the hotel reservation form to see price differences. Both are five-star hotels. The Brown Palace Hotel has exquisite amenities, such as renowned restaurants, regarded as the city’s finest, along with bars for smoking.

The attractions of the Brown Palace Hotel are not only its atrium and fine restaurants. Its distinctive flair has always been the fine service and dedication of its staff.

The history of the hotel is singular.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the first United States president to visit the Brown Palace Hotel, although he did not spend the night there, as Teddy had come to Colorado to hunt bears in the spring of 1905. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 –1969) spent the summer of 1955 staying at the hotel.

Nothing that has happened at the Brown Palace Hotel since its opening in 1892 can compare to the one-night visit of The Beatles in 1964.

The hotel was not particularly interested in receiving the English rock group for its appearance at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, but the Beatles’ manager would not accept have it otherwise. Reluctantly, the hotel agreed to host the Beatles, and the city and the hotel followed the advice offered by other cities where the group had been on how to face this cultural phenomenon.

Generally, the Brown Palace has been host to presidents, heads of state and royal visits. The Summit held in Denver from June 20-22, 1997, involved not only the host, U.S. President Bill Clinton, but also leaders of other industrialized nations, including Russian President Boris Yeltsin, French President Jacques Chirac, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The U.S. delegation included the President and Mrs. Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.

Program

The program will be focused on panel discussions and seminars. The latter, still in the planning stages, will review issues concerning United States political and cultural transformation and the influence of the Hispanic world on the country. There will be sessions on investment by media in their own video channels, alternative models for the growth of news companies, analyses of Web designs and apps for tablets, on how information will be disseminated in the future, and on the impact of Big Data on the news media. Great relevance will be given to the emerging Hispanic culture in the United States and to the issue of acquisition of multi-cultural companies and markets, topics that will be developed in coming days.

Denver

With 300 sunlit days a year, brilliant blue skies and an imposing mountain backdrop, Denver was founded in 1858 as a gold mining camp. It is located at the foot of the majestic Rocky Mountains, exactly one mile, or 1,609 meters, above sea level.

Much of the rich history of the “Old West” of Denver is conserved in its architecture and museums, which vividly describe the history of its entrepreneurs, heroes and heroines of the past. When gold was discovered, Denver became a very prosperous city full of fortune seekers, railroad cars and cowboys.

Currently, Denver is Colorado’s sophisticated capital with a downtown  where the visitor can walk and which centers on the 16th Street Mall, a mile-long pedestrian walkway that has open-air cafés and shops, among these the Tattered Cover bookstore. Just minutes from downtown, the Cherry Creek neighborhood is full of hundreds of boutiques, galleries, shops and restaurants that lure both, locals and visitors.

Denver’s artistic and cultural atmosphere is truly impressive – from small art districts in various neighborhoods and innovative public exhibitions in the center of town to the Denver Performing Arts Complex, which boasts 10 different sites for scenic arts, and the Hamilton Building of the Denver Art Museum, covered with titanium and designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. Denver also has professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey teams.

Travel plans

Make your travel and visa plans in good time. You should arrive at the Denver International Airport, which has excellent flight connections. The airport has the fifth biggest traffic in the world, with more than 1,600 flights a day to 150 destinations around the globe.

The climate of the city and the region is strongly influenced by its proximity to the Rocky Mountains to the west. It is considered to be desert, although generally milder in comparison to the climate in mountains to the west and the plains further east, which can be unpredictable in Denver. The weather forecast for the month of October predicts temperatures between 62 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit (16.7 and 17.8 Centigrade).

Make your plans right away and, as we always say, it will be a great pleasure to welcome you, this time at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and in the land of Buffalo Bill Cody, one of the most famous figures of the American Old West.

See you in Denver!

Registration form

Hotel Registration

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Best regards,

Julio E. Muñoz Executive Director