To Go Or Not To Go

Monday in St Paul, there is going to be a protest march were they are expecting 50,000 people. This is unbelievable to me. Mind you, I will not be protesting, I only want photos for this daily photo site. But my thoughts are....where are all of these people going to be staying for the next week or so? Those are the protesters, 50,000 people, we not even counting the real reason for next week when the Republican National Convention gets underway. How many people will be involved with just that? What an economic boom for the Twin Cities areas.

So keep in mind, tropical storm Gustav [as of 11:00 PM Thursday] and currently located over Jamaica [hang in there Jamaica] could make landfall sometime during next weeks RNC. So there is talk of delaying the convention a couple of days to make sure we have everything in order where ever the potential hurricane makes landfall. What does that do to all of these protesters plans? I would imagine many are flying into the Twin Cities just for the RNC and have a schedule time to leave, but if the convention is delayed, will the protesters just go away?

Also keep in mind, people have been arested/detained for taking photos before the convention has even started. Fox 9 News Report

Republican National Convention Sept 1-4

The big news in the Twin Cities happens next week from September 1-4 when the Republican National Convention moves into the Xcel Energy Center. Right now, the Democrats are having their turn in Denver. I've been following the protests outside of the convention in Denver mainly. I do plan on taking photos during the RNC, but I'm starting to worry about being around the negative environment. It's a rare photo event and I'm finding myself losing confidence in getting out there.

I was reading a local Twin Cities blog about taking photos at the RNC, this reply is what has me worried. Keep in mind, this is worst case scenario

1. stay close to the cops (even in this day and age, you're safer around them than in the crowd)
2. if you have goggles, take them. if not, consider getting some
3. take a water bottle and a couple of rags... not for drinking, but for soaking the rag in case the tear gas starts flying
4. try to have someone go with you to watch your back... when you've got your face pressed against the back of the camera, it's not easy to see the bottle flying your way
5. know your exits
6. be prepared to lose your equipment (one tv cameraman got between the kkk and a group of protestors and had to use the camera as a shield)

this is all worst case scenario kind of stuff, but it's better to be prepared.

So do I still go? Do I need to worry?