How Democrats have tightly choreographed the use of signs at party convention

CHICAGO — Shelia Smoot runs the Alabama delegation sign choreography operation like a drill sergeant.

“Jill is coming up — the ‘Jill’ signs please,” Smoot said, turning toward her state’s delegation in seats of the United Center and flashing a forest green sign bearing a single word — “JILL” — in honor of the first lady. “The ‘Jill’ signs! Give it the ‘Jill’ signs!”

Then, as Jill Biden took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, Smoot and her fellow Alabama delegates joined the entire arena in a massive display of sign-waving and waggling.

“JILL.” “JILL.” “JILL.”

As the Democratic convention opened in Chicago this week, placards emblazoned with various slogans appeared, seemingly effortlessly, as the backdrop to a long procession of speakers.

Pro-America talk? Blue-and-red “USA” signs flooded the arena. A surprise appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris? Her “We Fight, We Win.” slogan materialized, lofted high. And when United Auto Workers chief Shawn Fain took the stage? A sea of “UNION YES!” signs appeared.

The synchronized sign-waving was the result of a meticulously planned operation that started weeks before the convention — when preapproved designs needed to be sent to a single longtime vendor — and continued up until the very end of the first evening, as nearly 300 volunteers marched through the aisles of the United Center, passing out the appropriate signs at the correct moment.

A “Floor Visibility” team helped to coordinate the use of signage throughout the convention hall, from printing, assembling and distributing the signs to coordinating just which signs the delegates would lift — and when, said one person familiar with the operation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share private details about the convention’s inner workings.

The same person has been leading the signage effort for Democratic conventions for nearly three decades — since Bill Clinton’s reelection in 1996 — and this year’s operation features tens of thousands of signs, including some that were assembled by union workers at IUOE Local 399 in Chicago, this person added.

“It comes from the back, floats to the main floor, then it comes to each delegation and we pass them out,” Smoot explained, gesturing at volunteers clad in neon yellow safety vests making their way down the floor of the United Center, with the latest placards discreetly concealed in large plastic bags.

Smoot then pointed to the white landline phones that are attached to each delegation’s signpost, adding that the delegation will periodically get a call on “the Bat Phone,” explaining which speaker is on deck and which sign to wave.

“We don’t know who is coming up until the Bat Phone rings,” she said.

Other delegations were slightly less organized, relying more on instinct than official directive.

“There’s no directions or anything like that,” said Ryan Middleton, a delegate from Maryland who is running for Prince George’s County Council, early in the evening as he flipped through the roughly half-dozen cardboard signs in front of him. “It’s kind of intuition.”

Middleton explained that when Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr — who just led the U.S. men’s basketball team to an Olympic gold medal victory over France this month in Paris — took the stage, the crowd simply knew the moment called for the “USA” signs.

“He won a gold medal, so we did ‘USA,’” Middleton said. “‘USA’ has been the default one.”

Similarly, Washington state delegate Heather Young said she chose from her heap of signs based on “whatever mood I’m in, whatever feels right for the moment.”

“I like the ‘UNION YES!’” Young said, explaining that both her father and grandfather were longtime union members and railroad workers. “I like the ‘We Fight, We Win.’ And I like the ‘USA.’”

Another benefit, she added: “We get to keep them. A lot of people back home would love to be here but can’t, and they say, ‘Bring me something.’”

As Monday evening wore on, however, the sign choreography became more elaborate, complete with surprise signs.

A little before 10 p.m., right as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was set to take the stage, the Alabama “Bat Phone” rang. A delegate picked it up, listened carefully and then whispered a message to Smoot, who relayed it to her entire delegation.

“If there is a protest when Joe Biden comes out, we do the ‘USA’ sign,” she told the group. “Only if there is a protest, we flip this sign.”

Then, turning to a reporter, she added, “We’re supposed to be discreet.”

In fact, a different set of signs did come in handy a bit later in the evening in a another part of the arena: When protesters unveiled a homemade “Stop Arming Israel” banner, the crowd quickly blocked them with their pro-Biden signage.

Of course, even the most carefully laid plans can go awry, and the convention’s inaugural day brought a few hiccups. There were rumors that a large number of the night’s final batch of signs — “WE JOE” lollipop signs on sticks — were still stuck on the East Coast as of Monday morning and might not make it to Chicago in time.

And as President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley, began introducing her father as the evening’s final act, the volunteers were a little slow blanketing the arena with the lollipop signs.

“There’s been a snafu,” Smoot said, glancing down into the crowd already bouncing their “WE JOE” signs up and down. “We don’t have our signs.”

But volunteers, carrying bushels of signs in their arms, raced up and down the United Center steps, passing them out as if running with the Olympic torch.

“Here we go! Here we go!” Smoot said as the sticks made their way to her delegation and she helped disperse them. “Go! Go! Go! C’mon, Alabama — Let’s do it!”

Lowering her voice, she explained: “I was like, ‘Where the hell are our signs?’ We’ll let you slide on the other ones — this one we’re not skipping.”

Then, as if to make up for lost time, Smoot grabbed two lollipop signs for herself — one for each hand — and hoisted them high.

Kara Voght contributed to this report.