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Patriotic Bunting Strip


This is not a political post, but it is about the Republican and Democratic Conventions that most of us watched on television.

As an event planner that is part of an event planning, management and production company I found both of thm ver interesting. Here’s why:

They were both very large events with many moving parts, both indoors and outdoors.

The staging was fantastic.

The Republicans naturally had lots of Red, while the Democrats had lots of Blue.

Phil Alongi was the Executive Producer of the RNC. The arena for the event is the same as the one that is used for the Cavaliers, so there was only 4 weeks to prepare. Generally these conventions take 6-8 weeks to prepare.

When I think that most of us plan much smaller events, yet with lot of production and only have hours to prepare and set up. It’s obvious that Alongi knows how to produce an event that informs and entertains.

The RNC and DNC stage and set were both conceived to integrate into the entire 4 days of presentations. Lots of video wall and high level production.

For more than 7 months, Vic Bulluck , along with co- executive producer Ricky Kirshner had been working on the DNC. This, too, was beautifully and effectively staged. I believe that there were more video introductions here than at the RNC. Videos were produced by people that you know about, like JJ Abrams and Shonda Rhimes.

I personally, liked the way the DNC accommodated a wheelchair bound presenter as well as a presenter with achondroplasia (dwarfism).

The lectern and teleprompting could be raised and lowered remotely so the transition for these speakers was seamless. Beautifully done!

Both conventions had lots of celebrities speaking and performing as well.

My only real criticism is the Donald Trump fog entrance. Great entrance for a celebrity event, but not for a political convention.

I did love that for both nominees, their daughters introduced them, each, with an incredibly lovely presentation.

All in all, both conventions were produced really well. Each had its own personality and that probably depended upon the client wishes to a great degree.