10,000 tickets for Al Gore event at BSU arena are all spoken for

Interest shown in former vice president's speech on global warming has surprised organizers


Idahoans have snapped up a total of 10,000 tickets to hear former Vice President Al Gore speak Jan. 22 at Boise State University.BSU initially gave away 700 tickets to the event, originally scheduled in the Jordan Ballroom of the Student Union, in less than 10 minutes Jan. 3.
Because demand for tickets was so high, organizers moved Gore's speech to 10,000-seat Taco Bell Arena and decided to charge $5 for tickets in that venue.
Those tickets went on sale Tuesday morning and were gone by 3 p.m..
The Frank Church Institute gave away 785 tickets to students and set aside an additional 2,000 free tickets for students who haven't returned from vacation yet.
Tickets that were handed out or the Jordan ballroom event will be honored at Taco Bell arena.
The interest in Gore's speech took BSU officials by surprise.
There are no plans to look for an even larger venue, spokeswoman Kathleen Craven said.
The BSU-based Frank Church Institute, named after the former Idaho senator, sponsors annual conferences on public issues.
This year's conference is called "Global Warming: Beyond the Inconvenient Truth," a name drawn from Gore's recent documentary on global warming.
Gore, who ran for president in 2000, has long been an advocate for changing environmental policy. He spoke at a Frank Church conference at BSU in 1992 that was named after his book, "Earth in the Balance.".

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