This year’s conventions will be the first in which mobile devices take center stage. Tech giants head to conventions

Republicans call Tampa “a convention without walls.” Democrats say Charlotte will be “the most open and accessible convention in history.”

They’re not talking about breaking down partisan barriers that drive people away from politics. Instead, they’re hoping that the thousands of politicos attending the party gatherings, and the many more back home watching from afar, will happily engage through social media.


( Also on POLITICO: Full convention coverage)

This year’s conventions will be the first in which newer social media platforms like Twitter, as well as mobile devices like iPhones and iPads, will take center stage and other, older online tools and sites — like Google and Facebook — have come into their own.

It’s the first time the conventions have really gone digital in a major way.

“This really will be the first national political convention in the social-networking era,” said Kyle Downey, press secretary for the Republican convention. “Even just since four years ago, the entire universe of social networking has changed — we’re going to take advantage of this.”

The big tech firms will also be there, including Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Google is planning a big presence at both conventions and will run a YouTube livestream of all prime-time speeches and events, meaning people who aren’t at the convention can watch the proceedings on any device back home.

Facebook will also have staffers on hand in both cities running a series of workshops and events aimed at helping people use the social-networking platform.

They’ll have “Apps & Drinks” events where Facebook developers can demonstrate how election-related apps work, a series of “Innovation Nation” receptions and are participating in briefings on 2012 and the impact of social media. Employees on the ground are also setting up “Photo Spots” that will allow convention-goers to upload pictures directly to their Facebook timelines.

The tech company also sees one of its major goals at the conventions as “giving delegates and convention attendees easy ways to share what they’re doing, seeing, and hearing with family, friends, and others on Facebook,” Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement. “This will also allow people who are not in Tampa or Charlotte to easily experience what it’s like to be at the conventions alongside their Facebook friends.”

And while Twitter has yet to announce all of its plans for the confabs, Mindy Finn, who heads Twitter’s strategic partnerships in Washington, said the company will have several representatives on the ground to help the parties and politicians optimize their Twitter use and utilize promoted tweets.

“What we want to do is work with elected officials and campaigns and journalists and others to make best use of the platform around an event where there’s going to be such an intense focus,” she said.

It’s not just parties and tech titans that plan to leverage the rise of smartphones and social media: Tampa and Charlotte will see an unprecedented amount of mobile advertising by outside groups, not to mention all the social media activity from convention-goers and speakers themselves.

Ensuring social media is fully incorporated into the conventions is something both parties are focused on: In addition to the large digital staffs inside the campaigns of Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, the convention committees in each host city also have designated staff to work on digital and social media efforts.

“The VP selection, convention and three debates are structured events where people will be paying attention,” said Zac Moffatt, digital director for Romney’s campaign. “Any campaign that didn’t leverage that would be doing a disservice to the candidate.”

And leverage it the campaigns will: While many plans are still being finalized, Romney and Obama both plan to spread their messages via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other digital platforms, taking advantage of the fact that most convention-goers — and many people watching around the country — have smartphones or tablets.

And in a move that further reflects the growing dominance of smartphones, both Republicans and Democrats have been developing mobile apps related to the conventions.

Democrats released their “DNC 2012” mobile app on Tuesday, which will feature videos and photos from the convention as it unfolds as well as maps and information about the city of Charlotte. Republicans plan to have an app available before their Aug. 27 convention begins.

Both parties plan to provide behind-the-scenes video and blog access that will be available for people inside and outside the convention hall, plus live chats or Google+ hangouts to give people a chance to chat with major players.

Features like this will give people not at the convention “almost voyeuristic access to what they’re not seeing on TV in prime time,” said Vincent Harris, a GOP digital strategist who worked on Rick Perry’s presidential campaign.

In January, the Democratic convention committee asked supporters to share their ideas on how to engage more people in the convention process. They responded, said Nikki Sutton, director for digital media at the convention in Charlotte — and increased social media presence was one of their main demands.

And last month, when Democrats got the keys to the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte to start transforming it into the convention site, the committee held its first-ever “Tweetup” — an effort to give Twitter followers an inside tour of the venue and the ability to ask questions along the way.

“From the very beginning, we’ve used social media as a tool to have a back-and-forth conversation — a two-way conversation with Americans from all over the country,” Sutton said.

Both conventions are also a rich advertising market for issue-based advocacy groups to deliver their messages to likely voters and political activists — particularly through various forms of mobile advertising, targeted geographically toward people at the conventions.

“It’s pretty safe to assume that the majority of delegates and media who are in Tampa and Charlotte will have smartphones,” said Rob Saliterman, who oversees Republican political advertising at Google. “And that provides a lot of new opportunities for issue-advocacy groups to reach the people who they most want to be in front of.”

One such group is the U.S. Travel Association, which is buying mobile search ads around terms like “Tampa hotel” or “Charlotte restaurants” to promote its “Vote Travel” ad campaign.

“We figure there’s going to be a lot of folks on mobile and tablet in those areas so we’re focusing in,” said Blain Rethmeier, the group’s senior vice president for public affairs. “If people are on the bus waiting to get to the convention center, or shuttling from once place to another, mobile is one place we’re primarily focused on.”

Some of the advertising, both at the convention and around the country, may come from the convention speakers themselves, Harris said.

“What will Mike Huckabee do during his speech? What will he do after his speech? What will he do to capitalize on the attention after the speech?” Harris asked. “I think you’re even going to see speakers run things like promoted tweets and promoted stories nationally to help capitalize on attention to the convention.”

And given the generally scripted nature of conventions in recent decades, the all-encompassing presence of social media at this year’s gatherings may actually help create more buzz about the conventions around the country.

“When there’s breaking news, the political class turns to Twitter,” Finn said. “There will be different news unfolding throughout the day … with everyone moving around those events; we’d expect Twitter to play an enormous role in how they are communicating.”

“Really all the blogosphere and the hyperengaged Twitterverse are going to be talking about is what’s going on at the conventions, even when major prime-time speeches aren’t going on,” Harris said.

But there’s also a downside to all the extra attention, said Democratic digital strategist Jeff Jacobs.

“Twitter (and Facebook to a lesser extent) allow the conventions to more quickly go off-script,” he told POLITICO via email. “Minor gaffes, celebrity sightings, after-hours events: all will now have an instant audience of millions.”

Another major aspect of the social media buzz around the conventions will be the huge volume of tweets and Facebook posts that convention delegates and attendees will share with their friends back home.

GOP convention spokesman Downey agreed.

“The vast majority of convention participants are going to have a cellphone in their pocket, and they’re going to be able to share their experience in an unfiltered way with the rest of the world that’s never been done before,” he said.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Elizabeth Titus @ 08/16/2012 05:17 PM CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect Facebook’s role in the briefings on 2012 and social media. They are participating in the discussions, not co-hosting them.