The Party (9/3)

Today has to be a summary rather than a hour by hour update, mostly because of how busy everything got in the Xcel. Big time speakers took down the house, with serious cheers coming for Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. While I was not able to be on the floor as much tonight, and no where near it for any of the major speeches, the atmosphere in the Xcel was nothing short of electric for these two Republicans. Each jab Palin took at Sen. Barack Obama got more cheers and excitement from the crowd than the last; Giuliani rocked the house with his views on national security and the threat of terrorism.

An interesting article from the UK Telegraph profiles Palin’s rise to the national spotlight. Europeans seem to have a bit of a Carla Bruni complex with Gov. Palin.

The Boston Herald profiled Rudy Giuliani’s support for the Republican VP choice in his emotional speech delievered before Gov. Palin took the stage.

While most of the action was occurring on the delegate floor, ‘radio row’ was probably a close second. This is the area where radio stations from all over the world set up. It is located in the main RiverCenter lobby. I had a John Voight sighting, and supposedly Robert Downy Jr. was here as well; though, nobody seemed to know where he was. 

As a formality, each state got to cast their votes (after a lengthly explination on why their state was the best in the Union) for McCain, this lasting later into the night than ANY AP reporter wanted. The mood in the AP workspace was electric after the Giuliani and Palin speeches; then the time of day set in. Most of these reporters, especially photographers, have been working very taxing hours. This is only getting worse leading into Thursday.

McCain is expected to speak tonight; the content of his speech is probably very much like that of previous speakers. The Republican party has used the convention to go on the offensive on behalf of Palin, who has remained very quiet this last week despite the crushing media attention about her pregnant daughter.

I will add to this as I continue to read through my notes. I will also start linking up major news stories–it will be interesting to analyze just how well Palin came across in the eyes of the media.

The pictures will come once they are sorted and aggregated, possibly on their own page all together. Sorry for the delay, but a few should turn out pretty well even if they were shot from the hip.

Time for the Floor (9/2)

12:00–Home here I come. 

10:47–I have the pictures in my possession, and will post them later tonight or tomorrow morning. The Xcel is mostly empty now. Most are eagerly awaiting tomorrow and the arrival of McCain.

9:51–I am off the floor for now, and can reflect on the prominent speakers of the night. The two most well received speakers of the night were obviously President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. This was thanks in large part to the enormous delegation from Texas. Norm Coleman and Michelle Bachman were also local favorites. Fred Thompson conveyed very passionate (for Fred Thompson) support for Sen. John McCain. Overall a very successful, but not overdone, night for the Republican platform. Still, it is going to be very difficult to upstage Sen. Barack Obama’s convention. 

9:49–Pictures will come as soon as I manage to get the proper connections and hardware in place. This should be at any moment. 

9:46–The protesters are back at it. No story quite yet but the photographers tipped us off to a group collecting to the north of the Xcel. We were also advised not to leave the convention yet, because the situation was not under control. On a lighter note, I bro-hugged Sway from MTV, got a polite “Hello” from Cindy McCain and managed to rub shoulders with Wolf Blitzer, a majority of the Fox News team, Minnesota Vikings owner Ziggy Wilf and Vikings defensive lineman Jared Allen. It was quite the night on the convention floor.

9:36–It has been a crazy night so far. One of the tasks tonight was to collect unusual, colorful and otherwise unique delegates from the convention floor for a simple interview. One question was asked: “What qualities do you want in a leader?” While a very simple question, the answers were almost as unique as the collection of delegates we managed to coerce, beg, push, pull and bribe to the AP workspace. Overall we did well, scouring the delegate floor during the night’s activities for interesting personalities or appearances. 

4:29–I will be on the floor tonight pulling delegates to have their photos taken by the AP photographers. More information will come as I receive it. Posts may be more spread out tonight depending on how busy I am.

Here I am. 75 feet and a battalion of armed guards away from the convention floor (8/31)

12:00–Bed is sounding good right about now.

11:14–The Xcel is mostly dead now, not many reporters remain. News is slow to come from the higher-ups as to the change in the convention schedlue for the next few days. Now I have to figure out how to get back home. I’ll be sure to provide pictures and perhaps a few interviews tommorow.

9:47–Almost to spite my last update, a photographer with a very foreign accent just noted to me as he passed by how beautful Minneapolis was. Luckily for all parties involved he passed by before I could respond.

9:44–If I read one more article saying the Republican National Convention is being held in Minneapolis, I am going to completely loose control of my temper.

8:11–Security is a little bit oppressive, obviously due to the threat of protesters. There are multiple layers to get to any one point through any of the three entrances. Most of it is similar to airport security, but with little platoons of soldiers manning each gate. I’m tempted to say it is a bit comical, but we live in a very unusual age where the margin of error is measured in lives. So we have soldiers.

8:09–Things are still very slow. Most of the basement of the RiverCenter where I am located is empty. The few remaining reporters are busy trading company pins (more on my collection later). I plan to bring my camera tommorow to share a more comprehensive view of the event from my perspective. Unfortunately, my credentials only let me in the first ring of security–I won’t be seeing the convention floor unless something very unusual happens.

6:57–No Bush or Cheney for the convention. The convention hasn’t started and it is already loosing steam. Most of the reporters won’t stick around tonight, and the entire photography department has left.

6:54–Gas masks are delivered to the AP workspace near the AP workspace. I have no idea why or who they are for. Evidently they have items like this staged around the entire convention, for no purpose other than to be prepared.

5:12–Our duties as office assistants for the AP will range from taking out the garbage to stocking supplies to tracking down individuals and answering the phones. Should be an interesting night.

4:37–I finally got my credentials. It is now time to pass through the iron gates, metal detector, armed guards, secret service, attack dogs, and soldiers. I am no longer considered a threat to national security.

4:13–The bus schedule has been turned completely upside down. The 16, which should all but drop me off in front of the Xcel, no longer serves an entire half of downtown St. Paul. So I arrive late. Luckily for me, EVERYONE is showing up late.

There’s no fighting in the war room!

 

The War Room

 

The work has begun. Above is a picture of the AP nerve center. The guts of the operation, this is what I have to protect. This basically means I am a glorified steward who has to make sure nobody walks in accidently steals a plasma TV. During the convention, this room will be nothing short of a chaotic mess. There is sure to be fighting in this war room. I can’t wait.

To update how I actually got in: It was just about as bad as I anticipated. It took two hours to finally get my credential, but I got it. This involved anywhere between 5 and 25 phone calls to people who may or may not have been in the same time zone, all in an effort to work my way up (in most cases sideways) the phone tree. Once in communication with people who actually knew what was going on and vaguely understood who I was, or at least pretended to know, I got my credential. Hard fought battle. Joe-1 AP-0.

 

Inside the Xcel Center

 

This is currently what the inside of the Xcel Center looks like. Still very rough around the edges, but most of the infrastructure is up and running. It is the weekend so there is much less activity than usual. I’m told during the week you can’t even count the people working inside.

More updates to come today, including possible interviews. I have an outside internet connection. Yesterday, I couldn’t access the web because I would be using the AP hard line. Supposedly they don’t want non-reporter intern-types to be able to access the inner-workings of the Associated Press network.

Weird.

The Blogging Begins

As a student at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC), I frequently receive emails that give notice to events and opportunities related to the journalism field. One of these emails paved the way to the opportunity I have now–working for the Associated Press inside the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I am completely clueless as to what I will be doing. My paperwork is most likely being processed in some manner as I write. Once this process is complete and the NSA or CIA is certain I am no danger to the democratic process, I should receive some sort of assignment. Most likely I will function as a photography runner or office assistant. 

At the very least, being inside the Xcel Center during this event will be an experience not soon forgotten. Exposure to mass media at this stage will certainly shape how I view the purpose and function of news agencies–if not how I am cut out to function within the organizations themselves. 

So now begins the semi-daily, and eventually daily or even hourly blogging of the duties, tribulations and triumphs of a low-level intern at the Republican National Convention for the Associated Press.