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!

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R)–who had been on the short list for a vice president pick–and a long guest list of lobbyists mingled this afternoon at a fete sponsored by the travel industry in the Carlson Hangar at the St. Paul Airport this afternoon. (Pawlenty is pictured here doing photo ops with attendees.)

They munched on doughnuts, Philly cheese steaks, popcorn, roast peanuts and enjoyed the open bar as they mingled. Around the venue were signs proclaiming, “Vote for travel! Vote for hospitality! Vote for real estate!” Sponsors included the American Hotel & Lodging Association, National Real Estate Organizations, Carlson, International Franchise Asssociation, Marriott, Starwood, and the Travel Industry Association.

And Party Time was there, thanks to our intrepid communications director, Gabriela Schneider. She  found an invitation to this event at another party the other night. We breezed right through the five checkpoints as we drove through a maze of roads at the private airport.

Inside we recognized Robert Dibblee, a lobbyist for the National Association  Real Estate Investment Trusts, who is the host of many congressional fundraisers back in Washington, D.C., why the industry hosted this event and a similar one in Denver.

He said that it was an opportunity to educate people about the tourism industry. I asked him what sort of audience they were aiming at, hosting events at political conventions. He said that it was a chance to talk to lawmakers, although there was “nothing specific” that they were discussing. I mentioned that these events were closed to the public. He said that was for “security concerns” but that they could give out inviations to the public, and that there were regular Minnesotans in attendance. (We have all this on tape but the audio is far from perfect.)