This is Not Your Father’s Democratic Convention

The first night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver was watched by 22 million people who watched the speeches and commentaries on the major networks and cable outlets.  Apparently, more people watched the convention proceedings than in previous years.  But the real story is the proliferation of alternate news outlets that are providing real-time photos, video, news and commentary on the convention activities.

The array of outlets for political junkies is truly breathtaking.

The official DNC Web site offers a real-time feed in HD, in English and Spanish.  There was about a 15 second delay, presumably to encode the feed.  But HD in real-time?  Amazing.

The DNC blog features news and videos.

A search on YouTube for “democratic national convention 2008” yielded 2,420 results.  Most videos are clips from the convention, but there are lots of homemade videos, some funny, some serious.  BTW, this number jumped by nearly 250 videos between 10-11pm tonight.

A search on Flickr for “democratic national convention 2008” yields 2,476 results.

There are dozens and dozens of delegate blogs.  Here are a few:

• Pam Cahill from California
• Naki Stevens from Washington
• Allison Cotton from Colorado

Dozens of delegates are Twittering (is this now a verb?) about their experiences at the convention in Denver.

Within minutes of the conclusion of Hillary Clinton’s speech, a Ning group was announcing her call for unity within the party.

I’m struck by the fact nobody on my staff watched the convention on TV, but most watched a clip or read news and commentaries on the Web.

I’ll be watching the Republication National Convention next week and monitoring the blogosphere, the social networks and the video and photo streams.