they were a part of the nomination and a part of this historic event. And we did a great job.”

THEY BUILT THIS While the GOP demonstrated that the political convention of the future is within reach, it also suggested that it doesn’t come cheaply or easily. The Tampa Bay Host Committee, the nonprofit, nonpartisan group charged with raising money for the 2012 RNC, wasn’t scheduled to release its full financial report until mid-October, but previous estimates placed the total cost for the mega-event at $73 million. The Federal Elections Commission kicked in $18.2 million — with an equal amount going to the Democratic Party for its conven- tion — while the rest was raised by the Host Committee through corporate sponsorships and individual donations. Long before the 2012 RNC was gaveled into session,

preparations were under way to transform the Tampa Bay Times Forum — home to the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning — into a media-friendly coronation hall. Nearly two years ago, Dallas-based general services contractor Freeman, which has managed design and installation services for the past eight GOP conventions, began working with the COA. On July 15, Freeman, along with COA’s staff of 150, took over the Forum and the nearby Tampa Convention Center, which served as the media center, for full-time preparations. Over the next six weeks, a Freeman crew of about 250

removed ceiling panels and bolted-down stadium seats so the media seating, stage, and production platform could be installed. They covered floors with plywood, installed carpet, and suspended nearly 250,000 pounds of lighting, audio, and video gear from the building’s roof. The crews also remodeled skybox suites into media studios and transformed hospitality areas into clubby, U.S. Capitol–style “cloak rooms”— com- plete with deep leather chairs — for members of Congress. Powerful back-up generators were put in place in case of weather-related electrical outages; it’s a standard precaution for any political convention, but in fact a major storm — Hur- ricane Isaac — ended up threatening the Gulf Coast during the 2012 RNC. The week prior to the convention, Convene visited the

Forum for an all-access, behind-the-scenes tour hosted by Tampa Bay & Company. During our visit, crews were putting the finishing touches on the stage, testing lighting and laying down the floor. Lumber pallets lay stacked throughout the arena “bowl” (the area that normally holds the ice rink), and the site was filled with the sound of hammering, saws, and forklifts. With just six days to go, the venue looked far more in progress than ready, which spoke to the huge amount of work that went into the build-out. “On the logistics side, I don’t think the basics of the build

are that different from what we do for anybody else,” Greg Lane, national project director for Freeman, said in a phone

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