Minnesota Public Radio and Citizens League to Host "Election Night Policy and a Pint" November 7 at The UBS Forum

Media are invited to attend; direct audio feeds available to broadcast journalists

October 26, 2006

(St. Paul, Minn.)—October 26, 2006—Minnesota Public Radio and Citizens League will host an alternative election night event in Minnesota Public Radio's UBS Forum: "Election Night Policy and a Pint." The event will bring together political bloggers, news junkies and interested citizens together to talk about politics and election results in an informal and non-partisan atmosphere.

Minnesota Public Radio's Steve Seel (The Current), and Tom Crann (host of MPR News' All Things Considered) will anchor a four-hour live webstream on www.mpr.org from The UBS Forum and live election updates to be broadcast on The Current.

Seel and Crann will talk politics with local political analysts and commentators, including Citizens League Executive Director Sean Kershaw, and will also connect with candidates themselves. High-profile political bloggers from the region will update their blogs and participate in the hosted discussion. Monitors throughout The UBS Forum will display the latest results from Minnesota Public Radio News and other sources while The Current provides entertainment and continuity during breaks in the action. Refreshments (a limited amount of beer and wine) will be served.

Note to broadcast journalists: Mult boxes will be available for a direct audio feed.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 7, 2006. 7-11 p.m.

WHERE: The UBS Forum, Minnesota Public Radio, 480 Cedar, St. Paul

TICKETS: Limited seating for the public is available through the Citizens League Web site: http://citizensleague.net/events/past/2006/11/election_night.php

Attention journalists: Limited seating will be made available for journalists. RSVP to Christina Schmitt at cschmitt@mpr.org or 651-290-1449.

TUNE IN: Coverage from Election Night Policy and a Pint from The UBS Forum will be streamed live on www.mpr.org.

Election updates will be broadcast throughout the evening on The Current, KCMP 89.3 FM in the Twin Cities, KMSE 88.7 FM in Rochester and online at www.mpr.org/thecurrent.

LIVE VIDEO: Live video streaming of Election Night Policy and a Pint event will be available at mpr.org, allowing MPR's online another portal to experiencing the event. The live video streaming marks the first major online event for mpr.org.

BLOG UPDATES: Regional political bloggers will join in the Election Night Policy and a Pint discussion. Some of the guest bloggers include:

• MPR's Polinaut, Bob Collins, Tom Scheck and Mike Mulcahy
  http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/



• The Power Liberal, Robin Marty
  http://powerliberal.blogspot.com/



• Across the Great Divide, Charles Quimby
  http://greatdivide.typepad.com/across_the_great_divide/



• MNSpeak, Matt Bartel
  http://www.mnspeak.com/



• Minnesota Campaign Report, Joe Bodell
  http://www.mncampaignreport.com/



• Minnesota Democrats Exposed, Michael Brodkorb
  http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/



• North Star Liberty, Matt Abe
  http://northstarliberty.blogspot.com/

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Press Contacts:
Christina Schmitt
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1449
cschmitt@mpr.org