UPDATED 18:43 EDT / AUGUST 21 2012

RNC and Partners Create a “Convention without walls” on YouTube

Ahead of the Republican Party’s Tampa convention on the 27th, organizers are busy putting together a digital “convention without walls” on YouTube with the help of social tools and WiFi. The RNC partnered up with Google, Microsoft and Facebook in order to piece together an entire list of features.

Google is the “social platform and livestream provider”: it’s hosting the landing page, and is also providing custom Google Hangout integration that will let speakers chat with peers and constituents even when they’re off the podium.

“Say Congressman So-and-So has a speech, they may elect to go to the Conversation Room before the speech and do a Hangout with constituents back in their home state,”  RNC spokesman James Davis said.

This Conversation Room will be split between Google and Microsoft. Another component is going to be a Skype station that will allow politicians, experts and journalists – each in their own booth – to conduct remote interviews.  Another Skype implementation is going to be used on-site at the Tampa Bay Times Forum arena, and another will be found at the Tampa Convention Center.  About 15,000 journalists are expected to arrive at the Tampa Convention Center, the secondary site for media.

The whole setup is expected to feature better wireless coverage, thanks to partnership with AT&T and Verizon. Virtual attendees can expect social media integration via a partnership with Facebook, as well as infographics and other data.

The latter point in particular has been an area of interest for political parties just as much as it has been for consumer-facing companies. Vendors such as Thismoment, which recently promised tighter Facebook integration, are capitalizing on this trend by giving organizations the tools they need to appeal to their audiences.  In this case it’s social media.


A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU