Green Mountain Boy
09-04-2007, 09:38 PM
UNH, FOX News and NHGOP Prep for Presidential Debate
By - Beth LaMontagne
http://www.campaignline.com/nh/uploads/UNHdebateprep.jpg
FOX News technicians check the sound equipment with student
volunteers at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore Center
Tuesday afternoon.
For the past six days, the New Hampshire State Republican Committee, University of New Hampshire officials and FOX News staffers have been prepping for the First in the Fall Republican Presidential Debate. Held in the university's hockey arena, the Whittemore Center, 3,622 tickets have been distributed, not counting campaign and debate staff, security and press. Of those tickets, about 1,000 have been put aside for university students. State party Executive Director Steve DeMaura said the debate might be the largest event of this New Hampshire primary season.
During a walk through on Tuesday, less than 24 hours before FOX News begins airing live from New Hampshire, the staging and lighting has been set, the filing room wired, and the tickets and press passes printed. To accommodate the power demands of such an enormous event, three generators had to be brought to the university arena. They were loudly humming Tuesday afternoon as the FOX technicians tested the sound equipment with a group of student volunteers standing in for the candidates. The lights were on, including the floor-to-ceiling curtain backdrop, beaded with thousands of tiny lights, which, at a distance, come together to make the image of an American flag.
Scheduled to kick off with the first question on Wednesday at 9 p.m., the event will be aired live on air on FOX News, FOX Radio and four New Hampshire radio stations; WGIR, WGIP, WGIN, and WTSL. FOX News will begin airing live from the arena at 6 p.m. Wednesday and the network plans to air a Hannity & Colmes post-debate show live from the Spin Room. After going through individual walk-throughs on Wednesday afternoon, the candidates will be asked to arrive by 7:30 p.m. Once in the building, each will be allowed up to 10 staffers in their individual dressing rooms, equipped with two phone lines and a catered dinner. Each candidate gets 10 "preferred seating" tickets on the floor of the Whittemore Center. A number of floor seats will also be reserved for UNH and state party officials, said DeMaura. The rest of the seats are first come, first serve.
About 250 members of the media have been issued credentials, not counting those working for FOX News affiliates. According to DeMaura, only FOX reporters will be allowed to view the debate from within the arena. The rest will watch from the Spin Room or filing center, both of which are located within the school fitness center.
The debate will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks, one of which, according to the NHGOP, will feature a Fred Thompson ad. Candidates will have a set time to respond to each question, with the flashing green, yellow and red lights warning them when time is short. Some of the questions will come from FOX News correspondent Carl Cameron, who will be fielding questions from about 15 voters in a local restaurant.
To make sure the debate audience, media and campaign staff have a good time before the debate, the state GOP is throwing a pre-debate reception in Field House, another large athletic building across from the Whittemore Center. From 6-8 p.m., guests will be able to rub elbows with the party officials as well as campaign chairmen, consultants and top supporters.
http://www.campaignline.com/nh/articles/index.cfm?id=606
.
By - Beth LaMontagne
http://www.campaignline.com/nh/uploads/UNHdebateprep.jpg
FOX News technicians check the sound equipment with student
volunteers at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore Center
Tuesday afternoon.
For the past six days, the New Hampshire State Republican Committee, University of New Hampshire officials and FOX News staffers have been prepping for the First in the Fall Republican Presidential Debate. Held in the university's hockey arena, the Whittemore Center, 3,622 tickets have been distributed, not counting campaign and debate staff, security and press. Of those tickets, about 1,000 have been put aside for university students. State party Executive Director Steve DeMaura said the debate might be the largest event of this New Hampshire primary season.
During a walk through on Tuesday, less than 24 hours before FOX News begins airing live from New Hampshire, the staging and lighting has been set, the filing room wired, and the tickets and press passes printed. To accommodate the power demands of such an enormous event, three generators had to be brought to the university arena. They were loudly humming Tuesday afternoon as the FOX technicians tested the sound equipment with a group of student volunteers standing in for the candidates. The lights were on, including the floor-to-ceiling curtain backdrop, beaded with thousands of tiny lights, which, at a distance, come together to make the image of an American flag.
Scheduled to kick off with the first question on Wednesday at 9 p.m., the event will be aired live on air on FOX News, FOX Radio and four New Hampshire radio stations; WGIR, WGIP, WGIN, and WTSL. FOX News will begin airing live from the arena at 6 p.m. Wednesday and the network plans to air a Hannity & Colmes post-debate show live from the Spin Room. After going through individual walk-throughs on Wednesday afternoon, the candidates will be asked to arrive by 7:30 p.m. Once in the building, each will be allowed up to 10 staffers in their individual dressing rooms, equipped with two phone lines and a catered dinner. Each candidate gets 10 "preferred seating" tickets on the floor of the Whittemore Center. A number of floor seats will also be reserved for UNH and state party officials, said DeMaura. The rest of the seats are first come, first serve.
About 250 members of the media have been issued credentials, not counting those working for FOX News affiliates. According to DeMaura, only FOX reporters will be allowed to view the debate from within the arena. The rest will watch from the Spin Room or filing center, both of which are located within the school fitness center.
The debate will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks, one of which, according to the NHGOP, will feature a Fred Thompson ad. Candidates will have a set time to respond to each question, with the flashing green, yellow and red lights warning them when time is short. Some of the questions will come from FOX News correspondent Carl Cameron, who will be fielding questions from about 15 voters in a local restaurant.
To make sure the debate audience, media and campaign staff have a good time before the debate, the state GOP is throwing a pre-debate reception in Field House, another large athletic building across from the Whittemore Center. From 6-8 p.m., guests will be able to rub elbows with the party officials as well as campaign chairmen, consultants and top supporters.
http://www.campaignline.com/nh/articles/index.cfm?id=606
.