GOP Convention-Goers to Have Workshops on User-Generated Content
Republican conventiongoers will get a “crash course” in social media and mobile Internet platforms Democratic foes have used to “run circles” around them, a convention organizer told us. Debi Jones, a former Netscape, Palm and Microsoft executive, will produce GOP Unconventional, a social media workshop track and Web site focused on the Republican convention in Minneapolis.
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Lifelong Democrat Jones wanted to take emerging technologies and new media to both conventions, she said. But the Democratic National Committee credentialed only a few bloggers, keeping them mostly offsite, she said.
The Republicans have given media passes to more than 200 bloggers, according to Jones and a party spokesman. Both said the party was impressed with a similar educational project that Jones ran this year at CTIA and invited her to produce an educational track and online channel emphasizing live video.
The workshops will train and equip delegates to “create their own media,” Jones said. Two pre-convention classes will explain how to use Qik live streaming via Nokia and Samsung hardware to produce “behind the scenes” video, and how to upload photos to the Web and use microblogging platforms like Twitter.
Content created by Jones’ “students” will be collected and organized on GOPUnconventional.com. Jones will produce a nightly special highlighting “best of” moments ignored by broadcasters. The workshops, software and infrastructure are sponsored by Qik, Mogulus, Cradlepoint and Microsoft.
Several prominent Republican politicians and their aides will participate, Jones said. She wouldn’t identify them. She hopes the experience inspire lawmakerss to use the technology in their daily work, she said. - Andrew Feinberg