Rep. Jim Matheson’s (D-UT) new chief of staff, former AT&T lobbyist Amy Andryszak, is planning not to attend a party in her honor, according to a report in Roll Call.

Hosts on the event invitation include CTIA (the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry), the United States Telecom Association and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. (Unfortunately, we do not have the event invitation in our database.)

Andryszak said she made the decision [not to attend] because of her new role, which she starts Monday. Matheson is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over telecommunications issues.

While the conflict of interest may not be explicit, Andryszak acknowledged that the event might seem questionable:

“This is something put together by my friends, and I think it’s a wonderful gesture that they wanted to host this event for me,” Andryszak said. “Even though this is completely legal and ethical, to avoid any appearance of impropriety, I will not attend this event.”

The Democratic and Republican convention parties are over. I can’t say that I’m sorry. After spending two weeks–the first in Denver, the second in Minneapolis/St. Paul–trying to crash as many corporate and special interest-sponsored parties as I could and blog about them here, I’m in recuperation. Enough with the security guards and their omnipresent earpieces, the black limos and SUVs depositing their politician cargo, the red velvet ropes-and most of all, the constant rejection as I was turned away from yet another party.

That said, I can’t help looking back fondly and blogging some highlights. Party Time documented in our database some 400 parties at both the Democratic and Republican conventions. We’re pretty sure there were more, but we didn’t have inivitations for all of them. There’s no official requirement that these parties be reported anywhere, so our knowledge was limited to what ever information we got from our anonymous lobbyist sources. We also don’t know how much money was spent on these parties. Some of this information may be reported months from now on federal lobbying disclosure forms under ethics laws, but it’s doubtful it will be comprehensive.

We don’t have a full list of sponsors of these parties, either, although we know that the ones we saw-companies such as AT&T, Qwest, and Visa-were also donors to the Democratic and Republican convention host committees. A loophole in campaign finance law allows unlimited contributions to these groups. We don’t know how much they gave yet-those reports aren’t due until October.

Certainly what we saw in Denver and Minneapolis/St Paul was that the parties continued, despite new restrictions in ethics law in effect for the first time this year. Members of Congress made merry with lobbyists, even if the rules were a bit different. Here are the highlights.

Best slogan. “Vote for real estate!” read the placards free for the taking at a party thrown by travel industry associations at the St. Paul airport. (We’re still trying to figure out what that means.) We got a photo of Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty doing photo ops with lobbyist attendees. The same list of sponsors had thrown a party at the Democratic convention.

Best “toothpick exemption” food: We saw caesar salad in a shot glass at a reception thrown by the lobbying firm Akin, Gump for senior council Vernon Jordan attended by several members of Congress and a long list of corporate lobbyists. “You’ll notice the absence of forks,” said Jordan, in the speech he gave as part of the reception. “I must admonish you not to try to eat the food with spoons served with the coffee.” That got a chuckle. Jordan was referring to an exemption under ethics laws that allows members of Congress and senior staff to attend receptions where finger food is served.

Best no show: In Denver, a reception to honor the freshmen class sponsored by U.S. Bank and Visa appeared to be missing a crucial ingredient: members of Congress. The party had gotten a lot of attention in the press-perhaps it was all the sunlight that scared the lawmakers away.

Most creative application of ethics law: The House ethics committee ruled that members of Congress and staff were required to pay the face value for tickets to a Kanye West concert in Denver sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America, the One Campaign, and a long list of corporate sponsors. But the Senate ethics committee said the same event was a “widely attended event” under the ethics law and therefore it was ok for Senators and Senate staffers to go free.

Best party-attendee perk. These luxury porta-potties were reserved for guests at a private party in Denver. You had to show an ID before you could use them.

Best definition of a “customer”: A Qwest spokeswoman explained we couldn’t go in a party sponsored by Qwest CEO Ed Mueller at the Denver Art Museum’s Pallettes restaurant because it was a “private event.” When we asked why Qwest was a donor to both the Democratic and Republican conventions, she explained that Qwest believed Democrats and Republican convention attendees alike were their “customers.” I mentioned that as a Denver resident I was a Qwest customer myself-the company provides my telephone and DSL service-but that still didn’t get me in.

Party Time doesn’t end now that the convention parties are over. In our database we have thousands of invitations to fundraisers and members of Congress that are ready for scrutiny. There seems to be plenty of partying going on in September, not a surprise as congressional candidates will be reporting their third-quarter fundraising totals to the U.S. Federal Election Commission on September 30. Please keep visiting!

All day there have been private parties at Brit’s Pub here in Minneapolis. I know because I’ve been holed up for much of that time working at a Caribou Coffee next door, where there is a free wireless connection. The velvet rope is out, the security guards are stationed, and there’s a sign that says “private” out front. Earlier today one of the barristas said that he’d seen Laura Bush go inside.

According to our database, most of these events appear to be delegation parties sponsored by AT&T. A few minutes ago I walked over and asked if I could enter–there’s a party right now for the Georgia delegation. No, I was told–this is a private party, and “not even press are allowed.” I can’t have any way of knowing what they are doing in there, but it certainly seems all the worse that it’s so hush hush.

In the “why not play some golf with lobbyists while we’re all here,” department, Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) played golf today with supporters at Colorado’s Buffalo Run Golf Course.

One of the hosts was Lyndon Boozer, a lobbyist for AT&T. Boozer and Baca are avid golf players. Golf Digest included them both in its 2008 list of the top 200 “senators, representatives, appointed officials, lobbyists and other power brokers [representing] a Washington golf scene still vibrant despite post-Abramoff limits on golf as entertainment.” (Baca likes to play golf while fundraising, thus this April fundraiser at a Miami golf resort.)

In 2006, Baca was one of 26 House Democrats who sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission “praising AT&T for its commitment” to win approval for the AT&T – Bellsouth merger, according to Technology Daily.

The group was scheduled to move on to a reception at the Oceanaire Seafood Room in downtown Denver from 5 to 7:30 p.m., ending just in time for folks to scoot over to the Blue Dog reception – Baca is a blue dog –at 8:00 pm sponsored in part by—AT&T.