One of the highlights of attending the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota was a conservative bloggers luncheon hosted by Captain Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com.

Indeed, the Kurdish food at Rodwan Nakshabandi restaurant, Babani's, was authentic and incredible. No blogger left hungry. And the conversation with A-list bloggers and modern blogger relations experts was even better. But what I want to talk about are the nuts-n-bolts which brought this event together and why I think it was a great example of effective blogger outreach.

First and foremost, credit where credit is due. The event was engineered by current New Media Strategies employee and The Next Right co-founder, Jon Henke. Henke organized the event with the sponsorship of a client, Verizon Communications. The event was hosted by Minneapolis-native, Captain Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com.

@JonHenke is a known and very well-regarded quantity in this space. He earned his blogger stripes years ago at QandO, and was thrust in to the professional blogger outreach scene when he was tapped by former Senator George Allen's campaign (post-macaca gaffe). Henke then went on to work in Sen. Mitch McConnell's communications staff before he left public service for the private sector. Wisely, Henke has remained a relevant force in the scene partnering with a few of the GOP's best to launch a conservative activists focused group blog, The Next Right.

Professionally, Jon and I sometimes find ourselves working on opposite sides on issues, particularly with regard to Open Internet/Net Neutrality. Personally, Jon is a colleague and friend that I respect deeply. I consider him one of the best in the industry with an honest heart of gold and I'm really pleased when I find him in my corner on other professional/political issues like Slatecard, the need for smarter conservative online infrastructure, and the rise of the New Guards.

Without a doubt, Jon could have easily pulled off a successful bloggers luncheon that everyone in the room would have attended. Given the backing of Verizon, he could have held the luncheon at the swankiest joint in town.

But, he didn't.

Jon made the smart move of reaching out to one of the blogosphere's finest, HotAir's Ed Morrissey, who no doubt welcomed the opportunity to help pull together the event in his neck of the woods and expose us to some truly unique food. Indeed, in an email inviting bloggers to the luncheon, Morrissey's tone was perfect:

Welcome to the Twin Cities, fellow convention bloggers! I'm Ed Morrissey from Hot Air, and like you, I'm excited to have the opportunity to cover the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. As one of the credentialed bloggers to the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City, I can tell you that meeting and working with fellow bloggers from around the country was the best part of the experience.

In order to facilitate that same kind of atmosphere, I'd like to invite you to a private blogger's luncheon, sponsored by Verizon Communications, at Babani's in St. Paul, right around the corner from the Xcel Center, on Wednesday at noon CDT. Babani's is a Kurdish restaurant owned by Rodwan Nakshabandi, who has a tremendous life story.

By reaching out to Morrissey, Henke was able to accomplish two goals with one stone. First, Jon extended an opportunity to the influential Morrissey to let him pull the event together how he thought it should be done. It was easily one of the best events I attended. And secondly, Henke was able to softly associate his client with Morrissey and the attending bloggers. This subtle approach to client/blogger relations was the right tone and has now opened the opportunity to keep that conversation going over the next days and weeks. Heck, I work against Verizon on some issues and here I am writing about the event. That's gotta be saying something.

Smart move Jon. To you sir, two scoops of porridge.