2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate

So I am staff in the building where this debate was held. It seemed like it would never get here and now it is already over. I was charged with helping coordinate volunteers, primarily those in parking lots and those who provided information to others. I pretty much worked for a week straight. It was tiring, but it was also a great experience. My credential allowed me debate hall access so I was able to check things out the day before the debate and saw Tom Brokaw in the flesh.

Tuesday was pretty crazy. To get inside the perimeter I had to go through a metal detector and then to get into the building I had to go through another one. During the morning I was busy dealing with transportation issues, concerning shuttles, volunteers, and airport transports. It rained a lot and while we were prepared, some other groups weren't. I spent some time in the media tent in the afternoon where I met David Axelrod. I had a special assignment that night, since I was the only member of the transportation team with debate hall access I had to escort one of the participants to an alternate form of transportation since he had to get to work immediately after it was over. I was all prepared to sit in a room and watch the debate on TV, but then at the last minute I got a ticket! There were just about 1,000 seats in the arena and they were split between the Republican and Democratic parties and the Commission on Presidential Debates. Belmont ended up getting some tickets from the the CPD and most of them went to students. Some students didn't pick their tickets up and I was a lucky recipient!I would say about 30 staff were able to get in. Lots of celebrities and political big whigs in the house. The debate itself was pretty boring, but it was really cool to see how it was all put together.

If you haven't seen this skit and you watched the debate, it is great. The building in the opening shot is the one I book.


Some pictures:
The Ticket


The Program


The Media bag


Food from the Media bag. I mean this is a weight loss blog, so of course I have to highlight the food


Detail view of snack. Moon Pies = gross


Hatch Show Picture from the Debate




I love posters and LOVR hatch show prints. There is an exhibit at EMP that has just opened that people need to go to if they are in the Seattle area :)