Plumb shares presidential debate experience

 

By Harika Rao '11 '15
Published Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 

 

Scott Plumb '09 graduated with a bachelors of science degree in business administration from Lynn University, where he helped oversee the construction of the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center during 2009 -2010. 

 

“The days of wearing a hard hat and walking through the building seems like yesterday. Everyone on the team always wondered what great events the new building would host, but none of us could have ever predicted that in two quick years it would be the stage for a presidential debate. It just goes to show that Lynn is moving fast and people better buckle up for the ride,” he says.

 

Scott was a volunteer during the presidential debate on campus. He distributed the tickets won by students in the raffle. He was lucky to be recognized by a director of ticketing and credentialing officer who gave him a ticket to view the debate from inside the Wold Center.

 

While seated in the hall waiting for the debate to start, Scott noticed a student seated in the corner front row, having trouble viewing the stage due to the media cameras in front of her. When he offered to swap his seat with this student, the security staff monitoring all attendees approached Scott and inquired about the change of seats. 

 

According to the Commission on Presidential Debates, for security reasons every one in the debate hall is assigned a particular seat and no changes are allowed. After the security staff learned of Scott’s genuine offer to switch seats, Scott’s seat was upgraded to the 15th row, right in the center of the debate hall.

 

Talking about the media coverage on campus during the debate Scott said, “Watching the debate from the other side of the television screen truly gives you a new perspective of the event itself. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the debate hall was the number of TV cameras and crew that put on this production.”

 

He continued, “The experience was first class - filled with members of the press, government and local dignitaries. It was great to be in the audience for the once in a lifetime occasion.”