Like a kid on Christmas morning – or a global poverty advocate with accreditation to the G20 Summit – I was up early to start the day. Only 2,000 people are allowed into this summit, and we’ve been told that the 50 bloggers of the G20Voice project are the only members of civil society who were allowed accreditation. Below a photo journey of my way in.

I took this during my 5:30 am walk to the Tube -

which opened 6 minutes after I arrived.

I arrived at the proper station by sunrise for the first of four accreditation/passport checks.

Then we boarded the first of 2 shuttle buses.

Where we received our photo badges. (Somehow my passport ID was one number off in their records, but the woman behind the desk remembered my name from the list of bloggers she’d received, so I got in fine.)

We went through security.

Onto a “clean” bus.

And then into the Media Centre for the 2009 London G20 Summit.

Watch ONE’s Executive Director Jamie Drummond lead a roundtable on the G20 (at the G20Voice bloggers briefing day) live now.

(I can upload video from his earlier speech in a bit.)

You can watch the briefing day discussion live streamed at g20voices.org.

Here is how they describe this event on the site:

50 of the world’s most interesting and influential bloggers will be your eyes and ears at the G20 Summit in London, April 2. They come from 22 different countries, and between them represent a global audience of over 14 million readers and online participants. They are journalists who use blogging as their medium to disseminate their views. Some are ‘professional bloggers’, others are ordinary citizens who have become well known through their blogs.

I’m in London at a briefing day as a part of a project called G20 Voice. With an inspired idea and a lot of work, the core group running this project have gotten 50 bloggers, from across the globe, accredited for the official media room at tomorrow’s G20 Summit. It will be the first time that civil society has ever been admitted into a global summit of this size.

The briefing began with an introduction by Karina Brisby of Oxfam GB who spoke of the origin of this project.

She told us that last summer she watched YouTube videos of the bloggers tent at the Democratic National Convention and she was inspired by the bloggers’ abilities to cover so many issues at the DNC that were being passed over by the mainstream media.

Next, Karina watched the November 2008 G20 in Wahsington, DC, on the news, and was worried that the press was not covering how the fiscal crisis was affecting those living in poverty.

So, then Karina got to work, getting buy-in from Oxfam GB, and then submitting lots and lots of forms to the UK government. Over time, Save the Children, Blue State Digital and ONE joined as partners.

Today- 50 bloggers are sitting in this briefing room, bloggers from each of the G20 countries and 15 from the developing world. Tomorrow, we’ll pass through all of the security and barricades to enter the G20 Summit.

OK- I’m getting back to listening to the briefing.

-Virginia Simmons