Via Mediashift
Laura Hertzfeld
Shame on us, the media, for thinking the Republican National Convention would pale in comparison to the Democrats’ show in Denver last week. For bloggers on both sides of the aisle here in St. Paul, what the RNC has lacked in strawberry-lemonade smoothies, it has more than made up for with juicy stories.
While Hurricane Gustav may have stopped the convention activities on Monday, it didn’t put a halt to the protests — more than 15,000 strong by most counts — that filled downtown St. Paul and continued in fits and starts throughout the week. The biggest bump for bloggers came from TheUptake.com, whose bloggers used Qik video streaming technology to broadcast live, while wearing shirts saying “I Am The Media.”
Riot police and protesters at the RNC
Inside the Xcel Energy Center, Internet video is still treated as something most attendees aren’t all that comfortable with. At the YouTube booth, set up so delegates could share their thoughts on the RNC directly with the YouChoose08 channel, there have been fewer videos submitted than at a similar setup in Denver. People working the booth said they are seeing some interest, but that there are about 60 to 70 videos coming in each night, compared with more than 100 at the DNC.
