Political Parties
Author: Zach Chouteau
September 2008
Features
Preparing for the Biggest Conventions of the Year
For a behind-the-scenes look at the Democratic and Republican national conventions, Smart Meetings spoke with key members of both political parties as their events entered the final countdowns. From site selection and lodging coordination to travel and technology details—and, of course, sustainability—we gained a comprehensive perspective on the moving parts behind such massive functions.
Our thanks go to press secretaries Joanna Burgos (of the RNC) and Natalie Wyeth (of the DNC) for generously providing their time and input during a very, very busy planning stage.
What is the biggest challenge in organizing an event of this proportion? How many attendees are you responsible for?
NATALIE WYETH, DNC: I think it’s the basic fact that we have no choice but to be ready on August 25th; we don’t get another day. That is something our CEO reminds us of quite often. We have a set amount of time to cross every “t” and dot every “i,” and we have no flexibility on that. With that said, we have a veteran event-planning team on board that’s perfectly familiar with this kind of deadline and pressure, and planning a massive event of this historical significance. We have folks on board that have done four conventions, five conventions, even nine conventions, with experience with doing Olympic Games, Super Bowls, presidential inaugurations. This is nothing new to them, this is their business, this is what they excel in.
We expect about 50,000 people in Denver for the event—that includes 6,000 or 7,000 delegates, plus alternative delegates serving for each state, and delegates’ family and guests. This year in particular we are finding that so many delegates want to bring their family, because it is such a historic event.
We are also responsible for coordinating the logistics for 15,000 members of the media, quite a large group. And we’re also responsible for hosting members of the Democratic Family, everyone from former presidents to former chairs of the party, to various allied groups—NAACP, La Raza, just to name a few.
JOANNA BURGOS, RNC: It’s probably getting all the different parties involved together. With an event of this magnitude, there are so many people who play a part in it. It’s definitely part of the experience. We have a big staff and are working with a lot of committees. We are working with Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Bloomington, Roseville, some great cities. We’re definitely pulling everyone together. There are some people that have been working on it for almost two years now. Republican Convention staff is close to 100 and we have 10,000 volunteers in addition to our staff. That’s a pretty large number. We have about 40,000 attendees, and about 15,000 are members of the media.
What has been the most significant change over the past five or 10 years in the planning of this event?
BURGOS: Technology has played a big part—our CEO has really run the organization as a business, really focused on technology helping us do our jobs. Being more green is another one.
Also, our hotel reservation system; we reserve about 16,000 rooms. It’s quite a process that used to be done on paper; now we have a software system that does it all for us. There are so many things we now do online. It has really helped us streamline a lot of our planning.
WYETH: I think the primary difference that affects our planning is the media attention on this convention. And I think the growth of the 24-hour news cycle, the growth of cable news, the growth of blogs and online news, so we do need to plan for around-the-clock media coverage; we’ll have our media pavilion workspace open and active at all times.
Media will be using our hotel shuttle system all hours of the day and night to and from Pepsi Center, Invesco Field; it’s more of an around-the clock-news cycle—and that does have implications on our planning as far as media logistics go.
What are the most crucial “Do’s” and “Don’ts” when planning an event of this size and magnitude?
WYETH: A “do”: plan for all scenarios, build flexibility in at all levels, so you can adjust to last-minute changes, so we can turn on a dime if needed. A “don’t”: don’t be too wedded to your plans, to not build in flexibility to be able to adjust.
BURGOS: “Do’s”: take your time in planning, plan way ahead of time, make timelines and budgets and implement different controls. Be as detailed as possible in every part of planning. Our production schedule is in 15-minute increments, with everything that needs to be done and everything that’s going to occur during the four days of the convention. Set prices and quotes extremely early in the process. And now, as we turn into the implementation stage, things are set to run very smoothly—and I think that’s due to all the planning we did ahead of time. Don’t procrastinate.
How much emphasis has been placed on sustainability during the event? Any specific strategies you can tell us about?
BURGOS: Since the beginning, there really has been a focus on it. Our [committee] president and CEO wanted it a part of the culture here. Everything we do all day—we always think about how we can be more green. We all walk to work. Throughout the day, there’s a big book about recycling. If you really have to print, print double-sided. A lot of focus on that. Using wind and solar power. The few cars we drive are hybrids. Waste Management includes Coca-Cola helping at Xcel Center during the four days.
WYETH: I think what’s different this time around from previous conventions is our efforts to make the [entire] event more sustainable. The difference is that in previous conventions, we really looked to make the convention week a sustainable event; we did that, looking back, in L.A. in 2000 and the Boston convention in 2004.
What’s different this year is we looked to make our planning process more sustainable. So we looked for a LEED-certified office space for our headquarters. We’ve selected GM as our official vehicle provider because they provided us with an entire fleet of cars that are one of three things: they’re either high-fuel efficiency, use alternative fuels or are hybrids. So we’ve really looked to sustainable principles for the year-long planning process, rather than just the four days of the convention.
What type of technology did you find helpful?
WYETH: There are a few things. We’re looking to use technology to make this convention more accessible than it’s ever been before. One way we’re doing that is by streaming live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the convention, in high-def, through our website, at demconvention.com, so I think folks will be pleased with that kind of access.
We’re also working with Microsoft using their online viewing platform—it’s called Silverlight, to offer streaming coverage, and it allows online users to see some very exciting things. The features it offers are interactive: People may be able to choose their own camera angles, be able to roll the mouse over a speaker and see their bio. We’re still looking over some of these details, but those are some of the basic features that Silverlight offers. It’s really exciting technology.
We’ll also have quite a sizeable blogger presence at the convention. We have credentialed more than three times the bloggers we credentialed just four years ago. We’ll have more than 120 blogs credentialed for the convention. We are really looking at tech to bring more people in than ever before, and really bring down the walls of the convention to make this an accessible event.
BURGOS: We’re definitely using social networks a lot more—MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, youStream, LinkedIn—which really has helped us engage so many more people than we usually do, especially people that haven’t been part of the political process or a political convention before. [We’re] going to provide a lot of content online so people can see gavel-to-gavel coverage of all our official sessions online. Also, we’ll be taping a lot of behind-the-scenes content.
In terms of planning, it makes a world of difference. We have specific software programs created, and it has helped us streamline the process, cut costs on staffing and helped us be more green. Technology has definitely made our planning a lot smoother.
Can you tell us a bit about the selection process used to choose your host city for the event?
BURGOS: There’s a bidding process. We looked at several cities about two years ago: Tampa, somewhere in Ohio, New York. New Orleans was in it at first, but just wasn’t ready for it.
In Minneapolis/Saint Paul there were three different venues that were looked at: the Target Center, the Metrodome and the Xcel Center. The Xcel Center is just “eight years new,” as we say; it’s a great facility and has two adjoining centers, which was key—[as that] could accommodate the media and our staff. It was an excellent location. The Xcel Center is just beautiful inside.
WYETH: There is a site-selection process that goes on, and this probably happened two or three years ago. The party put together a site-selection committee made up of various people that have done this before and some who haven’t—because it does help to have a fresh perspective on the process.
What we did differently this year in the site-selection process is Governor Dean picked a few operations folks to sit on the site-selection committee. Previously it had been more of a political-type person, who had worked on conventions before, but may not have been familiar with all the different operational pieces that go into planning a convention—like housing, security, transportation, credentialing .This year we chose to go with an operations person and a credentialing person on the site-selection committee, in addition to some of the more political folks. It proved to be an excellent combination of backgrounds, because we chose Denver for a couple of reasons, [including] the fact that it was set up so well on the operational front—one airport, which means one single point of entry for all of our guests. In New York, or Chicago, where you have multiple airports, you’re coordinating arrivals at all of them.
What advice would you give to a meeting planner organizing an event of this size?
WYETH: Start early, start early! We got an earlier-than-ever head-start here on our planning about three months before any convention committee had opened its offices. Governor Dean, the chair of our party, announced the senior management team back in April 2007, almost a year and a half before the convention. That team was on board, but working from D.C. for the first three months. We all sat in one conference room together going through archives from previous conventions to really be thoughtful about the planning for this event, to see what we could do better, what we could do differently, what kind of successes from four years ago that we could build upon.
So we really took that time to be thoughtful about planning the convention. Once you hit ground in the host city, it is full-steam ahead, and you don’t have a lot of time to look back at what you did four years ago. That kind of planning ahead has really paid big dividends now that we are just 20 days out; we are on track, as far as our schedule, or even a day or two ahead of construction at the Pepsi Center, where we’ll hold the first three nights of the convention. I think it does say something that we are holding the final event at Invesco Field the fourth and final night. There’s no way we could have committed to that move if we weren’t so far ahead on our schedule.
BURGOS: Be as detailed as possible, [planning out] 15-minute increments. When you have so many planners, and so many things going on at the same time, it’s important to know excactly what’s going on. Practice it, have flow exercises—so that you can solve problems. Be proactive all the time. Always consider the other parties and always consider what their reaction might be and how you can all coordinate ahead of time.
What details can you share regarding the lodging and air transportation?
BURGOS: We handle [air transport] on staff, but Northwest Airlines is actually our travel provider. They really have helped us get all of our guests and media flights. [There are] about 100 hotels that we are using in the metro area. There is a list online [at gopconvention.com] showing which hotel each delegation is using.
WYETH: We announced our housing assignments for all of the delegates back in November, right around Thanksgiving. In contrast to previous conventions, all 27 of our delegate hotels will be within a half-hour drive of the Pepsi Center. The majority of [attendees] will be able to take public transportation to downtown, to the Pepsi Center. Denver has great light rail, so that’s accessible to most of the hotels. Of course, we will also have our official shuttle system.
We have quite a few hotels set up in downtown, where folks can just walk to the center and other official convention venues. We are very pleased with the hotel setup in Denver.
We appointed a director of housing that comes from the hotel industry. She knows the hospitality side incredibly well—we think it is something we will continue to do in the future.
We announced United Airlines as our official airline provider for the convention. This is part of any standard convention planning—we announce them as our official airlines and they provide our delegates with a discounted fare; they just need to enter a code.
“Tech” Support
With events of this enormity, it’s no surprise that the two parties would seek outside help to ensure things run smoothly. The RNC, for example, turned to Travel Technology Group (ttgonline.com) to assist convention guests with their lodging plans—designating the firm the Official Housing Bureau for their 39th annual convention. TTG Managing Director Bob Derham shared some info and insights on the event with Smart Meetings.
“Travel Tech was selected because of our ability to handle reservations completely online; everything is web-based—no paper, no faxes—and upholds green commitment; RNC has a commitment to hold the most technologically-savvy and ‘greenest’ convention in Republican Party history,” he explains.
“The use of an easy-to-use online system simplifies the process and prevents thousands of sheets of paper from being used to manage the hotel block. All reservation information is posted in ‘real-time’ allowing for an always-accurate snapshot of the hotel block statistics for the RNC, accessible electronically 24/7,” he adds.
Derham also praised the COMPASS Reservation System employed by Travel Technology Group, which includes: Flexible sub-block management, a complete dynamic management for groups/delegations through a web-based system; flexible reservation management, which allows each delegation to manage each of their members’ stays; flexible commerce, such as individual payment plans for each attendee; and instant electronic hotel confirmations and notices.
Political Ambassadors
As for the DNC, it turned to Ambassadors Events (ambassadorsevents.com) for its housing support needs, a recognized industry leader in full-service housing for trade shows, associations, and conventions. Ambassadors’ full spectrum of services maximizes both the attendee’s visit and the quality of housing services.
Its support ranges from helping select the ideal locale and negotiating the most client-friendly hotel agreements to site visits that ensure that every reservation is done properly. The company employs the unique ShowPro event-tracking software, which defines and communicates event goals, responsibilities and measurements for success.
Also, Ambassadors’ Loss Prevention Service accounts for and reduces booking around a client hotel block, with tools that maximize the size of a hotel block and the importance of client events to hotels and host locations.
These services make sure that rates are the lowest available and continue during the show with Ambassadors’ onsite audit teams—determining that every room is accounted for and preventing the loss of credit for any rooms generated by attendees.
