Big crowds, a big venue, a big personality center stage: Coordinating the 2016 Republican National Convention, which kicked off Monday in Cleveland, is a big job. And it is falling to Marcia Lee Kelly, who serves as director of operations:
[Kelly] leads a team of 25 people, juggling a master production schedule, 45 pages long for an event tagged with a $27-million budget for infrastructure. She is helping to supervise vendors, volunteers, credentialing, programming, security and venue logistics for the gathering — dubbed a National Special Security Event.” It requires blueprints for all manner of protection — as well as monitoring airspace, transportation and pedestrian safety and trash collection. Whitney Nichols, the RNC’s deputy director of operations, said Kelly is made for the task. "She does not stop. Her brain runs in a way I’ve never seen before. She holds on to minute details while still seeing the 10,000-foot view,” Nichols said. “Somehow, she does it all with humor. Marcia keeps everybody laughing" … Los Angeles Times
