On Monday, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and convention CEO William Harris unveiled the final stage for the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Now, I’m not cool enough to get to see the stage during the official media unveiling, but I did get a sneak peek yesterday when I got to take an advance tour of the hall. In one week, I’ll be back in the hall as the eyes of the world (well, at least America) will be focused on governor Romney as he accepts the Republican nomination for president of the United States. In two weeks, I will be at Bank of America Stadium, I mean, the football stadium, when Obama does the same thing for the Democrats. And I’m thrilled. But first things first. I’m in Tampa. There’s a hurricane looming, but I just got to see the stage kinda before everyone else 😉
The centerpiece of the forum will be an “American Prairie style” wood framed stage with 13 LED screens in the backdrop. As the New York Times reports, convention organizers and campaign staffers are working hard to try and sell the Mitt Romney story, embracing his faith and family. Throughout the hall, pictures of the Tampa Bay Lightings winning Stanley Cups have been replaced with family vignettes like this one:
Of course, the big news right now isn’t so much the stage as much as whether the delegates will get to see it at all… For days now we’ve been hearing about a tropical storm that could become category one hurricane Isaac by the time it heads up the Gulf of Mexico towards Tampa. Isaac or not, I’m ready for the big show and hope it goes on as planned…
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