I certainly wouldn’t call myself a political junkie, but I definitely like to be as informed as I can be when I cast my ballot, particularly in a presidential election year, but for state and local races as well.
I also really enjoy the pomp and circumstance of a major event, whether it’s pregame ceremonies at the Boston Red Sox home opener, opening monologues at awards shows when I don’t even know any of the nominees and, yes, even a week of non-stop cheering during political conventions.
The absence of that rah-rah spirit and excitement was notable on the first night of the Democratic National Convention last night, the latest event on the calendar that was forced to go virtual as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the U.S. and around the world.
It clearly would have been a bad idea to pack hundreds or thousands of people into a convention center in Milwaukee as part of the weeklong coronation of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the 2020 Democratic nominees for the White House, but it was strange to see such a subdued event.
AV integrators could play a role in adding an element that was clearly missing, based on how they’ve run the myriad virtual events on the pro AV calendar since mid-March.
Here’s more from The Guardian about the transformation of this year’s Democratic National Convention:
The party’s four-day presidential nominating convention has been entirely reshaped by the public health crisis. Originally planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in mid-July, it has been forced into a compacted, virtual affair, renamed the “Convention Across America.”
The event, which usually draws thousands of the party faithful to a single city for days of celebrating, deal-making and politicking, will now take place from remote locations across the US. There will be no roaring crowd, bespoke thunder sticks or oversized balloons.
Biden is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, delivering the most consequential speech of his decades-long career from a mostly empty ballroom, near his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
DNC Needs More Back-and-Forth
Perhaps the Democratic National Convention organizers should have been paying closer attention to some of the more dynamic virtual offerings across the pro AV landscape and incorporate some of the techniques of engagement into the event—and maybe they will before it wraps up on Thursday.
While AVTweeps haven’t been thrilled about missing the chance to rub elbows, shake hands and hug their longtime friends and meet new ones at InfoComm 2020 and some of the other industry events that have been relegated to videoconferencing and collaboration platforms, they’ve made the best of it.
Related: ISE 2021 Adding Virtual Component to Barcelona Debut in February
One thing that’s been particularly impressive during virtual pro AV events has been the variety of ways attendees can engage with presenters, speakers and each other. While some people are there to take away high-level content, others are focused more on the live chats where they’re available.
I know the dynamic is obviously different when you’re talking about speeches at a political convention, but imagine if those who were watching Michelle Obama speak last night could have asked her to answer their specific questions during the speech rather than reading from a teleprompter.
Wouldn’t viewers get more value by having interaction with Biden, Harris and even host Eva Longoria during the DNC? It’s hard to believe it could be less entertaining than canned speeches from home offices by people who are all about saying lots of words but never really saying anything.
We’ll see if the Republicans learn any lessons from the boring Democratic National Convention and approach the nomination of Donald Trump for a second term differently in a few weeks. Here’s hoping there’s more of an interactive element to the rest of the DNC this week and all of the GOP convention.
