Wowing 'Em With Wizardry

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson may not see eye to eye on every issue, but when they go to Atlanta next week, they should have no trouble communicating. The Democratic National Convention promises to be the most thoroughly automated political gathering ever held, a million-dollar showcase of advanced technology, featuring such wizardry as computer terminals controlled by a touch of the screen, high-speed electronic mailboxes, computerized diagrams of hotel meeting rooms and even a smidgen of artificial intelligence. Says James Sterling, the Democrats' telecommunications director: "This is without a doubt the most high-tech convention in history."

Political conventions have boasted sophisticated telecommunications systems in the past. The Democrats balloted by computer for the first time four years ago in San Francisco, and when the Republicans gather in New Orleans next month, they will bring with them the usual arsenal of portable computers, cellular telephones and fax machines. But this year the Democrats, eager to portray themselves as the party that champions economic growth through high technology, seem to find pride and political symbolism in the fact that their convention will significantly out tech the Republicans'. "We just really knocked ourselves out to make sure we ended up with a state-of-the-art information system," says Arleigh Greenblatt, general manager of the convention and the man credited with the Democrats' technological blitz. "We wanted very much to be respected for our business prowess."

To some extent, of course, the Democrats are trying to make a political virtue out of what began as a logistical nightmare. Having failed to snare the 72,000-seat Louisiana Superdome for its convention, the party was faced with the task of squeezing 35,000 delegates, press, VIPs and security staff into Atlanta's 17,000-seat Omni Arena. The solution: to funnel the overflow into the adjacent Georgia World Congress Center and nearby hotels and then tie the whole conglomeration together with video monitors, shared computer files and electronic mail. The result is a computer system that, the committee claims, "equals or excels ((that of)) many FORTUNE 500 companies."

The backbone of the system is a vast temporary network connecting 9,000 telephones and 250 computers. To handle the torrent of news and messages passing among the machines, the Democrats laid down 23 miles of fiber-optic cable, each strand of which can simultaneously carry thousands of digital signals. The flow of information will be managed by software from Novell, a Utah-based firm that specializes in getting machines of different makes to work together.

On the floor of the convention, each delegation will be issued one IVIS -- integrated voice information system -- that looks like a portable computer with a telephone at its side. Votes recorded on the IVIS terminals are instantly tabulated by a larger computer on the main podium. The IVIS is also an electronic mail drop, allowing, say, the party chairman from New York to flash a message to the Connecticut delegation on the other side of the hall. The built-in telephone can be dialed in the conventional manner or, for frequently called numbers, "speed-dialed" with a touch of the screen. For example, if a floor manager finds himself calling National Chairman Paul Kirk over and over, he can add Kirk's telephone extension to a list of preprogrammed phone numbers. From then on, the caller can press a spot next to Kirk's name on the screen of his IVIS, and the chairman's phone will ring.

The computers will also give delegates access to more than 100 special data bases, ranging from the phone numbers of press contacts to the master list of 7,500 convention volunteers. Want to throw a party? Tap the right computer keys, and the names of Atlantans willing to help organize a fete appear. Tap again, and a list of available facilities fills the screen. Tap once more, and up pops a screenful of eager hosts and hostesses.

Any information can be sliced countless ways. A candidate may get a list of delegates arranged in alphabetical order, by state or by the candidate those delegates support. There are even lists of VIPs and limousines. Should a transportation shortage develop, planners can tap the computer for a roster of limo users who are not considered VIPs. The organizers can then try to convince those people that the party brass deserve priority.

To help plan the innumerable powwows and get-togethers accompanying any political convention, a "facilities management system" stores data about ballrooms, dining halls and other public areas in the Omni and 53 nearby hotels. A sonic "gun" was used to measure and record the dimensions of every ! available meeting room. Now, by tapping the proper keys, convention staffers can call up colorful, detailed floor plans, complete with dotted lines to indicate partitions that can be drawn or pulled back. Using a computer-aided design program like those used by architects, they can quickly lay out the seating arrangement that best accommodates the number of invited guests to the dimensions of a room.

To make the system as user friendly as possible, party programmers have installed a feature derived from artificial-intelligence research that allows computer illiterates to pose queries in simple English sentences. For example, typing the question "How many super-delegates are there?" into a terminal should instantly elicit the proper numerical response. Despite such conveniences, each staffer will be issued a Convention Computer Network User's Manual and be required to go to two introductory training sessions. There will also be a half-hour "get-acquainted" computer class for delegates. Should anything go wrong during the proceedings, a 45-member "swat team" of computer technicians will be standing by 24 hours a day, ready to swoop in and set things right.

With reporting by Don Winbush/Atlanta, with other bureaus