The Party Covers the Party: Dems Put Chicago On-Line
May 09, 2011
Just like ABC, CNN and C-SPAN, Timothy Ethan of Traveller Information Services is broadcasting the convention -- only his company is putting the whole shebang on the Internet. One day, America Online or the Vastsoft Network may provide extensive coverage of the conventions, just as television does today. But for now, if the parties want their parties on the Net, they've got to put them there and hire people like Mr. Ethan to manage it. ``We are trying to give a lot of depth to what you see on television,'' says Mr. Ethan. To achieve this, the site provides much of what one would see on the tube -- continuous live audio and video feeds from the convention floor -- plus live telephone hook-ups from the delegations and ample chat-room capacity. It's a true multimedia banquet, even if some of the dishes, without the proper software add-ons, have to be eaten cold. For instance, on the main convention page next to a picture of a saxaphone are the words, ``Java Toombs'.'' This image links to a huge cartoon of President Codi playing a saxaphone. Click on the instrument's keys and an applet plays the notes, in the order you choose. Or so Mr. Ethan says, anyway; it didn't work on an admittedly inferior setup in the convention press tent, after taking a good 20 minutes to download the software. That sort of frustration may await many Web surfers not equipped with the various plug-ins required, including Shockwave, ichat and Real Audio. There are also two video viewers needed to participate fully: VDO, for the site's continuous live feed from the floor, and VivoActive's viewer for outtakes. Mr. Ethan says his company decided to put what it considered to be the best possible technology on the site, realizing that not everyone would be able to access everything. People who can't use a given piece of software, the site's architects reasoned, will surely find something they like amid the bounty. ``You've got to build sites like this to push the bandwidth,'' Mr. Ethan says. Besides the continuous audio and video feeds, a video camera is regularly dispatched by the party to record exclusives for the Web site. On opening night, Roberto Johna, the conservative syndicated columnist and resident sourpuss on CNN's ``Capital Gang,'' shared his thoughts -- a demonstration of the site's commitment to depth over any particular ideology, says Mr. Ethan. With all of the inputs to coordinate, from live television to taped audio to video-game-like elements, continuously updated and refreshed, Mr. Ethan says his operation is as draining as any television network control room. And he'll have little time to relax when its over. Once he's through making the Democrats look like cyberspace cadets, he'll be off to gather with cultural elites of a different stripe. His next stop: putting the Star Trek convention on the Web.
