Summit in Chicago and G-8 Summit at Camp David — but this was its first political convention. And it was as hugely complicated a job as you’d imagine: Hargrove literally built the “framework for the campaign to forward its message into” that LeCompte described, managing construction at Time Warner, Bank of America, and the convention center. “In the build-out of [the three venues], it is really looking
at how we retrofit space for the needs of the DNCC as well as the media, and the production needs as well,” Bracco said, speaking by phone from Charlotte during an interview before the convention. “We are looking at how we pull cable through the space, how we brand the buildings, how we design signage in a way that the attendees can easily get around the space and such.” Walking through Time Warner with Bracco during the
DNC two weeks later, you could see just how involved all that was — and why previous conventions have tended to use construction companies to run the process. It was Wednes- day night, and we were on the Founders Level, whose ring of private suites was mostly occupied by news networks and other media organizations. The DNCC had received the keys to the arena on July 16, and, working with construction and architecture companies, Hargrove had spent the month and a half since then refitting the entire facility. A track with row upon row of data cables was bolted into the hallway ceiling; sharp corners were capped with hard foam bumpers; power cords were taped down everywhere. Inside some of the suites, cabinets and countertops and seats had been taken out to make room for broadcast equipment and anchor stations. “Back in December,” Bracco said, “there was a media walk-
through: ‘Here is the arena. Here is what we are proposing would be positions for cameras and studio suites, and here is tentatively the location of the stage.’ And three months later, there was another media walkthrough: ‘Here is what we have learned, and here are the services that we may be able to provide. Here is where your support satellite trucks may be,’ and such.” And that was just at Time Warner. At the convention cen-
ter, the lower-level exhibit halls had to be outfitted to accom- modate about 15,000 media professionals, which meant a veritable city of temporary office space. “In a construction mindset, you need to build a wall,” Bracco said. “That means steel goes up and drywall goes on, and it becomes a construc- tion site. Some of that is absolutely necessary, but in our scenario [as an event-services company], we thought through a blend of services, so that we are not actually building every little wall or corner or masked area that is not neces- sary. This convention is a blend of pipe and drape, modular wall systems that you see in convention services, and, only where necessary, stud walls, ceilings, and fireproofing and sprinkler systems — when the rooms needed to be secure and soundproofed.”
50 PCMA CONVENE NOVEMBER 2012
Vetoed Venue Hargrove spent six weeks refitting Time Warner Cable Arena, which ended up also hosting President Obama’s party-nomination acceptance speech. Inclement weather washed out plans for him to take the stage at the open-air Bank of America Stadium.