I went to the airport this morning to clarify the Dep Mgt card issue I had last night ....

Here is what came out of it :
-departure management cards do not apply to my case because
-technically I am not upgrading
-technically I am STANDBY for First Class ...

Checking online (and easy checkin) cannot handle STANDBY cases like this ...
You have to see an agent ...

The good news as stated by wimpypipsqueak and confirmed by the GA is that i would be at the top of the list ...
The not so good news is that you need to get to the airport to get on the standby list ....