LIVE: Check our running updates for the latest on the President's visit.
Housing enough electronic cable to stretch to Washington DC and back and enough donuts to give a small nation diabetes, the National Press Club is all but ready to host the American media contingent covering the visit of President Barack Obama.
The normally sedate surrounds of the Press Club have been transformed into a media command centre for the 100 journalists and technicians who will make it their collective home for the 23-hour visit.
About 40 of the media pack are newspaper journalists, another 40 are television journalists and technical support and the final 20 are White House press.
While the press will have rooms at the neighbouring Realm Hotel, the Press Club is expected to remain open to them right throughout the night, allowing them to file news and analysis of the President's long-awaited Australian foray.
For the club's chief executive Maurice Reilly, it's been a matter of anticipating everything a jet-lagged, exhausted, overstressed and hungry media pack might need. In other words, business as usual.
There will be ''a pile of donuts you can't jump over'', gallons of ''soda'' and a generator on hand in case, horror of horrors, the power fails mid-broadcast.
For marketing manager Marietta Rudolf, it will also be a chance for cultural exchange as she slips some lamingtons and Tim-Tams into the mix.
The Press Club traditionally hosts the United States media corps during official visits, and Mr Reilly said the aim was to help the journalists have a professionally successful and personally enjoyable visit.
He was keen to stress that the donuts would be supplemented with an array of healthy fresh food to fuel their round-the-clock work.
''We understand the pressures they will be under, we will be doing everything we can to help them if they need it,'' he said.
Ms Rudolf said the American press would get a warm welcome.
''The Press Club is all about supporting working journalists.''
.gif)
