CHARLOTTE - About 10,000 people are volunteers at this election cycle’s Democratic National Convention.
One of them is recent Duke graduate Derek Mong, and he is helping achieve the convention’s much-talked about goal of being the “most open and accessible” convention yet.
Mong, Trinity ’12, said he works with the convention’s blog and social media presence, where he copyedits, edits photos and writes blog posts. He noted that the 2012 convention is utilizing more outlets than ever including Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter as well as an online live stream.
This is also the first political convention with an office dedicated to public engagement, he said, the sole purpose of which is to connect with people who do not traditionally tune into the convention.
And for a volunteer job, it takes a lot of dedication, Mong added.
“I get up at 6 or 7 a.m. and work out of the joint press office,” he said. “And during the convention itself, the team produces 15 or so blog posts per hour.”
The hard volunteer work is worth it, however, as he knows he is part of a historic convention, Mong said.
Although the intense work can set him a “Charlotte bubble,” reading the comments and feedback to the content is very rewarding as it allows him and his team members to connect with outsiders and their thoughts about the convention.
“[This job] is really giving you an opportunity to connect and meet users where they are,” he said.
Nicole Kyle contributed reporting.
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