SeniorWomenWeb






Culture & Arts button Relationships & Going Places button Home & Shopping button Money & Computing button Health, Fitness & Style button News & Issues button

 You are here:   Home > Articles

Articles banner
Help  |  Site Map
Articles
Sightings
What's New
About Us
Sponsors
Recommend the Site
SWW Gift Shop
Letters
Feedback

 

 
Page Two


 
Most volunteers were local; some flew in from abroad. They tend to be younger or older (i.e. retired)  All I spoke to paid their own expenses and found their own housing.  None were recruited; they looked for opportunities to volunteer.  They wanted to be in Denver where the action was.
 
What did they get for this? A t-shirt, and, if they worked an eight hour shift, a box lunch.  Those who worked shorter shifts didn't get fed. They also got their own entrance into the Convention Center (not the Pepsi Center) where they didn't have to go through a Security screen and a metal detector to get in. Most who came wanted a ticket to something, especially the acceptance speech at the Invesco Center Thursday night.  Some got something.  But with demand so great, most didn't get tickets to anything.

Press support
 
I have a lot to say about the DNCC's press support — or lack thereof — some of which is unprintable.  Suffice it to say that in the name of being "green" the DNCC reduced the amount of information made available on paper by telling everyone to find it online.  This shifts the costs from the press office to the media.  Fine, if you are hot-shot, big-time media, with paid-for workspace, staff, and lots of electronic devices.  If you are from minor or alternative press, it just makes it harder to do your job.
 
That said, let me tell you about the one bright spot in the DNCC press operation: the Specialty Press Lounge. 
 
Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats view themselves a party of constituencies.  One can see this in the numerous caucus meetings.  It's also apparent in the DNC's desire to appeal to media with specific audiences — such as "African American, U.S. Hispanic, Asian, Women, Youth, Native American, GLBT, Senior Citizens and Military audiences in the United States."   (Sound like the caucus list?)

The few hundred representatives at the convention from these media are mostly small fry, without the means to pay for media workspace. So the DNCC found a benefactor: Microsoft.
 
Microsoft paid for a large room in the Convention Center and supplied it with couches, TV screens, food, electrical outlets and three computers for those who didn't bring their own.  It gave out free flash drives to all registering and provided some technical consultants to help with computer problems.  Microsoft products were available to play with, including some I never heard of before.   
 
I asked the Microsoft rep how much this all cost, but he wouldn't (or couldn't) tell me.  He did say that they offered to do the same for the Republican Convention but were turned down.
 
After struggling for years with Windows and for weeks with Vista, I never thought I'd have warm, fuzzy feelings for Microsoft, but this week I do. So do all the other press people I heard praise the Specialty Press Lounge.
 

Jo's other Democratic convention articles:

Recreate 68? —  A Protesters' Pipe Dream

At the Convention: Diversity In Play in the Caucuses

What Do (Democratic) Women Want? Hillary....   and Obama

Return to Page One<<

Share:
  
  
  
  

Follow Us:

SeniorWomenWeb, an Uncommon site for Uncommon Women ™ (http://www.seniorwomen.com) 1999-2024