My
trip to the Boston Democratic Convention
was awesome beyond anything I could
have imagined. I traveled back to
New Jersey on Thursday morning on
my MSNBC-funded Amtrak Acela Express
train and had the chance to think
back over the six days that I spent
with Chris Matthews and the MSNBC
team.
My MP3 player was
on shuffle as I was gazing out of
the train window watching the Connecticut
landscape wiz by. John Denver’s
Country Roads played. “Country
roads, take me home, to the place
where I belong.” That’s
where I was going, back home to New
Jersey. Not with a wealth of knowledge
about politics or television production,
but with a better understanding of
people. I had the chance to interact
with producers, stars, like Chris
Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and Ron
Reagan, and various commentators and
analysts.
My experience was
great. I didn’t get a chance
to be in the Fleet Center, the site
of the convention, but I was more
than happy with my position as guest
coordinator at the Faneuil Hall set.
Read on and you’ll find out
more about my experiences. I’ve
listed some info and also the day-by-day
happenings. I think my writings will
give you some interesting insight
and a behind-the-scenes look at the
2004 Democratic National Convention.
Contents
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Difference
Between a Runner and an Intern
MSNBC's
Set
The
Players
My
Schedule
Pictures
Day
By Day
Difference
Between a Runner and an Intern
There were two
types of non-MSNBC employees that
I worked with during the DNC. First
were the runners. Runners are hired
by NBC to help run errands and do
miscellaneous tasks. All of them are
pre-college or college students, but
they have not worked with and are
not familiar with putting together
a show. They don’t know the
programs that MSNBC uses to access
wire stories, don’t have access
to MSNBC e-mails, etc.
The interns either
intern with MSNBC or NBC and are a
valuable asset to MSNBC during the
DNC. They receive the MSNBC e-mails
and can effectively navigate through
the programs that MSNBC uses for wire
stories and show rundowns. The runners
are paid $10 an hour and the interns
are free labor. The MSNBC staff generally
entrusts the interns with more important
tasks only because they are familiar
with the way MSNBC functions.
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MSNBC’s
Set
In an effort to
keep from spending millions of dollars
on DNC coverage, MSNBC opted to base
their coverage from outside the Fleet
Center. They built a stage that measured
approximately 20’ by 30’
in the middle of Fanuiel Hall plaza
in Boston, MA. For those who have
visited the plaza, you know that it
is hustling and bustling with tourists
and people all afternoon and evening.
The area has shops,
restaurants, and a food court section.
The stage was sandwiched between two
restaurants in the Fanuiel Hall area,
Plaza III and The Salty Dog. The set
was complete with lights, cameras,
teleprompters, etc. and was the base
of live DNC coverage for all of MSNBC.
The set was surrounded
by metal fences, for crowd control,
from which MSNBC and Hardball banners
hung
During the day
(from 9 to 5) the set was used for
interviews with an anchor at the MSNBC
headquarters in NJ. From 6-8 and 9-12
Hardball with Chris Matthews was shot
with a live audience. From 12-2 was
Convention After Hours with Joe Scarborough,
Ron Reagan, and a thinning live audience.
MSNBC had 2 floors
of offices on the 5th and 6th floors
above the shops.
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Day 1 –
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Today was a day
of travel for me. My dad brought me
to Penn Station in Newark, NJ. The
most remarkable thing I realized is
the lack of security. Even though
it was a few days before the security
needed to be stepped up, I didn’t
even see any friendly m-16 totting
military police. Nonetheless, my train
was late by about 20 minutes, something
you can always count on from Amtrak.
I traveled with
another intern from MSNBC NJ’s
Hardball so the time passed quickly.
When I arrived
in Boston I made the mistake of trying
to take the T (Boston’s version
of a subway – both underground
and above ground) during a Red Sox
game—certainly should have taken
a cab.
So I arrived at
the place where I was staying tonight.
Since MSNBC wasn’t paying for
housing I needed to find it on my
own. Luckily, Marissa, Courtney, and
Liza were nice enough to let me stay
at their place for my trip. If you
remember back to February, Courtney
and Marissa were the two that purchased
me at the WTBU Date Auction. How much
again? Oh, yeah, $78.
I took them all out to dinner. It
was the least I could do for them.
We went to Pizzeria Uno and had some
good food and good conversation--two
things in life that I love. And, of
course, there's always room for dessert.
I got to sleep
on an air mattress—didn’t
mind at all. I actually enjoyed it.
I got to pick how firm or mushy my
bed could be. Goodnight all.
Day 2 –
Friday, July 23, 2004
Today is my first
day with MSNBC up in Boston. I expected
to answer a lot of telephones, make
a lot of copies, and fetch many, many
cups of coffee. I’m supposed
to report for duty at 10, but I was
there at 9:15. Everyone who knows
me is probably thinking “That’s
so Nick—showing up early.”
I walk up to the
MSNBC offices that are above the Godiva
store in the Quincy Market shops.
In the Hardball area there was only
the Executive Producer, Tammy Haddad,
who I only met once before, and the
Coordinating Producer, Christina Jamison,
who I first met that morning.
Both were on the
conference call with the NJ Hardball
team. Christina gave me the NBC corporate
card and told me to go buy some bagels
for the crew that would be arriving
shortly, but to also get something
for myself. I love buying things on
the company dime.
It was extremely
hot and humid outside. Today was not
the day to be an MSNBC runner!
By 11 the entire
Hardball staff had arrived at the
office and we were working at full
capacity preparing for the 6 o’clock
live show from Faneuil Hall plaza.
Today would be my first Kinkos run
of many. Those of you who know the
Boston area know that the walk from
Faneuil Hall the Kinkos (using the
corporate card of course) near the
Government Center T stop isn’t
far, but there are a lot of steps
involved—not very fun on a hot
and humid day.
The 6 o’clock
show rolls around and goes off without
a hitch. It’s over at 8 and
I figure I’ll be leaving after
the post-production meeting, probably
around 8:30 or 8:45. I called the
girls I’m staying with and let
them know I should be home around
then. That time comes and goes.
Before I can leave
I get the task of printing, collating,
stapling, highlighting, and hole-punching
all of Tammy’s e-mails from
the day. They all need to be put in
a binder so that she can read them
and have a hard copy. We used a ream
and a half of paper and completely
filled a 3-inch binder. Finally, at
11:30 it was time for me to leave.
A 12-hour day! It would be the first
of many.
Day 3 –
Saturday, July 24, 2004
No show today,
but some editorial stuff for the upcoming
week needs to get done. I came in
today at 9:30. Today would be the
last day that I get to sleep until
a semi-normal wake up time.
Of course it’s
pouring rain from the time I leave
the house until about 3 in the afternoon.
The set was tented so not much was
getting wet, but the wind was misting
water over all the equipment that
was under the tent. The crew from
the night before draped three of the
four sides of the tent. Christina
sent me down there along with a security
guard to drape the fourth side of
the tent and save the equipment. Afterward
I needed to call all the technical
managers and assure them that I saved
their hundred thousand dollar investment.
Ron Reagan, the
son of former president Regan and
now MSNBC correspondent, arrived around
lunchtime. It was really strange having
watched Ron deliver his father’s
eulogy and now finally meeting him—such
a friendly guy. He didn’t have
a cell phone so MSNBC had to provide
him with one. We charged the battery
the night before I had the honor to
present him with his new mobile device.
But as soon as
the executive producer got back from
lunch she took it away from him and
said “We need to have a ‘presenting
of the cell phone.’” Unfortunately
that never happened and Ron didn’t
get his cell phone for the remainder
of the DNC. Oh well, sorry Ron.
After lunch and
after it stopped raining I had to
get Tammy two cups of coffee. "Get
it from anywhere," she said.
"Ok, I'll go to Starbucks,"
I replied. "No, not Starbucks."
So I was off to search for a non-Starbucks
cup of coffee. I went into Quincy
Market, which is a foodcourt-type
area and went to one of the bakeries.
I figured bakeries need to have good
coffee. So I got her the two cups
of piping hot coffee and brought them
back to the office. Later in the day
she yelled and said, "Nick!!
That coffee..." I figured I was
in trouble big time. She continued,
"Were the best cups I've ever
had!" Kudos to me for a job well
done!
I only had an 11-hour
day—Christina let me leave around
8. She wanted me in at 7 the next
morning. Tammy said we had a “big
day” tomorrow and to be ready.
Later that night
while I was back home with my friends,
my cell phone shows a call from "Erin,"
one of the fellow interns. I thought
I would be called back in to work
so I was hesitant to answer, but I
did anyway. "Nick," Erin
said, "Tammy wants anothe cup
of the coffee you got. Where did you
get it?" Ha! Unfortunately the
place was closed.
Day 4 –
Sunday, July 25, 2004
My cell phone alarm
clock woke me up obnoxiously early
at 5:45, but I didn’t seem to
mind. Always seems like when I sleep
later I’m more tired than if
I wake up earlier. I was also excited
at the prospects of helping produce
a live television show tonight.
Today the President
of MSNBC arrived with his assistant.
In the pictures above you can see
that the set was surrounded with metal
security gates for crowd control.
We had about 4 or 5 vinyl graphic
signs that said "MSNBC Hardball"
hanging from the gates. But our president
wasn't satisfied and wanted all the
gates covered with the signs. So 26
signs later and a $4,000 bill from
Kinkos, the gates were covered.
I got off from
work around 7 because I wanted to
make sure that I could see the free
Boston Pops concert at City Hall Plaza.
I’ve never actually seen the
Boston Pops in concert, but I’ve
performed with them about a dozen
times during their Holiday Pops season.
The concert started
at 8 and featured the O Jays. Don’t
know who the O Jays are? You know
the song “Money Money Money”
that is played at the beginning of
The Apprentice? The O Jays sing that
and a plethora of others.
I met up with Amanda,
a friend I met through WTBU who is
living and working in Boston for the
summer. We spent about 20 minutes
or so with the O Jays and then realized
the concert wasn’t exactly aimed
at our demographic and decided to
leave and find a place to eat dessert.
That was tough. We were in one of
the greatest cities in the US with
some of the greatest eateries and
couldn’t decide on where to
go for dessert.
We tried to get
into the Marriot Customs House, but
that place has no entrance! The one
place we could find that had an entrance
required a room key to get in! So
what happens if you’re checking
in for the first time and don’t
have your room key? I guess you don’t
get in.
We ended up at
Legal Seafood and I got a sundae and
Amanda got some warm chocolate pudding
gooey thing. It was good. We caught
up and by the time we finished talking
and eating it was about 9:20 and decided
to swing by the Pops concert (since
it was on the way home and only a
10 minute walk). To our surprise the
Boston Pops and Maestro Keith Lockhart
were taking the stage.
Around 10 we saw
the reflection of some fireworks in
the glass buildings of downtown Boston.
On the other side of City Hall was
a beautiful fireworks display that
drew the Pops crowd away.
The fireworks
were spectacular and the setting couldn’t
be any better. We were on steps across
the street from Fanueil Hall. The
fireworks were exploding just above
the gold dome on the Hall. It was
great. Too bad that night wasn’t
a date (ha!)
Day 5 –
Monday, July 26, 2004
This morning I
started off with a morning Starbucks
run for Christina. I felt so silly
ordering a triple grande non-fat latte
at Starbucks, but she assured me that
it wasn’t too girly of a drink.
Later in the day
Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s
Scarborough Country and co-host of
Convention After Hours, arrived at
the offices. I wanted to tell him
that my mom really loves his show.
It’s on at 10 on MSNBC and has
a somewhat conservative slant. Funny
that I even thought that because later
in the day I was in the elevator with
him, his assistant and some other
MSNBCers, and wanted to mention my
mom’s love of his show.
He said to one
of his colleagues “You know,
when everyone sees me they tell me
how much their parents love my show!”
With that being said, I figured it
would be best to just keep my mouth
shut.
Today MSNBC had
quite the on-air snafu. We had on
a guest from Boston who was being
interviewed by Randy Meier, one of
the morning anchors at MSNBC in NJ.
The guest was Doug Brinkley, an author
and MSNBC commentator during the DNC.
Prior to Doug being on-air, MSNBC
played a 5-minute package chronicling
the life of David Brinkley, famous
NBC broadcast journalist who debuted
in the 1950s.
After the package
finished playing, Randy said, “And
now joining us from Boston, son of
David Brinkley, Douglas Brinkley.”
Doug responded and said, “I
hate to break it to you guys, but
I’m not related to David Brinkley
at all.” Woops! Someone screwed
up and probably lost a job in the
booking department. But Randy was
as cool as a cucumber and handled
the situation tactfully and masterfully.
Those are the real skills of a veteran
journalist.
Throughout the day, Christina had
me in charge of guest coordination.
So I get the whole days guest list
and their hit times (when they’re
supposed to be on air for the interview.)
I met the guest (and sometimes the
guest’s entourage—especially
the case with politicians) at the
security desk, bring the guest back
to hair and makeup, get the a water
or coffee, then bring the guest down
to the set for the live shot with
one of the anchors from NJ.
Problems arise
when the guests is late, which is
often. I then need to call down to
the network desk in NJ and notify
them of the tardy guest. They then
call the booking department and booking
attempts to round up the missing guest.
I was very surprised that I played
such an integral part in MSNBC’s
coverage of the DNC. Christina told
me I could have this job on Tuesday,
because I was good at it.
Day 6 –
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
What better to
start a day off than a Starbucks triple
grande non-fat latte. Not for me,
of course, but for the coordinating
producer. And honestly throughout
the entire time I was in Boston I
had absolutely no problem with running
errands for food or copies. I felt
useful by doing those jobs and I enjoyed
getting out into the city.
I was in charge
of guests again today and recognized
some from previous days. Doug Brinkley
(remember, not related to David) remembered
my name! That was surprising.
A huge shipment
of promotional items arrived at the
office today. Ten boxes of MSNBC T-shirts,
10 boxes of MSNBC hats, 1,000 Hardball
pins, thousands of MSNBC stickers
and 1,000 Hardball pens. All of it
was for give-aways to the audience
during our show. I took some shirts
and hats for my dad, brother-in-law,
and the 3 girls that I was staying
with.
That night during
the show I learned how vicious some
people get when it comes to free stuff,
especially whiney little kids. During
the commercial breaks hands would
dart into the air and screams would
come from all directions. “Over
here!” They shouted. Some fans
even used their Kerry Edwards posters
as backboards for the shirts and hats.
Hit one of those babies and bingo,
down slides a hat or shirt.
The woman who was
temporarily in charge of coordinating
the audience (making them applaud
in and out of breaks, and tosses shirts
and hats) put me in charge for Wednesday
since she was leaving that night.
She was the assistant to the President
of MSNBC and he needed to leave Wednesday
morning to fly back to NY, then fly
to Athens to scout out prospective
broadcast areas for MSNBC.
Day 7 –
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
I was supposed
to be traveling back to NJ today,
but I was roped in to staying an extra
day. I actually made the choice to
stay because I was having so much
fun, having a great experience, and
meeting so many new people.
I played guest
and audience coordinator today. I
was still very surprised that the
producers would place this much responsibility
on a lowly intern, but they did and
I didn’t let them down.
Today the President
of NBC stopped by and it was a humbling
experience for all, especially Chris
Matthews. Chris has reached the point
in his career where he doesn’t
have too many people to answer to,
but the President of NBC does pull
rank on Chris Matthews.
There was hubbub
around the entire office when Bob
Wright arrived with his entourage,
including a personal photographer,
in tow. Chris even ended a telephone
call to talk with NBC’s head
honcho. I don’t think Chris
would hang up the phone for me! So
that was the big excitement for the
day.
I had some excitement
of my own when I thoroughly impressed
the producers, I think. MSNBC had
a few thousand postcard-sized color
flyers the hailed MSNBC’s “Unconventional
Convention Coverage” with pictures
of Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, Chris
Matthews, and others. Two of the runners
were in the Quincy Market area handing
out the flyers promoting the live
Hardball show that evening.
I knew that no
one would remember random times being
shouted at them with a flyer that
had nothing to do with Hardball. So
I find an empty computer and quickly
work some magic with Microsoft Word.
Ten minutes later I’m printing
the first copy of the updated postcard.
I used the back of the card and printed
up “Hardball with Chris Matthews
LIVE! From Faneuil Hall TONIGHT 6-8
and 9-12.” For a nice finishing
touch I placed a border around the
card and the MSNBC logo at the bottom.
I showed the binder to the producers
and they all loved it.
Tammy said, “Nick,
that’s the way we do things
around here.” The technical
director said, “Good job Nick,
you’re really taking the initiative.”
So there we go, that was my contribution
and good deed for the day. I printed
up a few hundred and sent two runners
down to pass them out.
I got to take a
few excellent pictures today. I figured
it was my last day, I was dressed
up in my nice blue polo dress shirt
and my stars and stripes tie, I might
as well take a few shots with the
talent. Chris was more than willing
to let me take a picture with him
on the set. I also got a picture with
Ron Reagan. That was good too.
After I took the
picture with Chris he said to me,
“Thanks. Thanks for all your
hard work.” He mumbled it under
his breath so that only I could hear
it. I guess he didn’t want anyone
to know that he really is a softy.
Day
8 – Thursday, July 29, 2004
Unfortunately, today was my last day.
I wish I could have stayed for another
week. I didn’t even mind my
12-hour days. I was working with great
people, meeting great people, and
living with great people—what
more could I ask for?
Two of the
three girls left before I even got
out of bed. I was able to sleep for
an extra two hours (got up at 7:45).
Courtney was nice enough to make an
elaborate and great tasting meal for
me. We had toast, scrambled eggs,
a cut up peach in a bowl, orange juice,
and cinnamon apple tea. When I told
my mom what I had she said jokingly,
“You need to marry her because
there’s not too many women who
would cut up a peach for you.”
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