NOTICE from the Commission on
Presidential Debates
January 3, 2011
2012
Site Selection Guidelines
NOTICE:
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is accepting
applications to host a 2012 presidential debate. The deadline to submit
a proposal to host a debate is March 31, 2011.
Below is an overview of the requirements:
- A debate hall of at least 17,000 square feet that is air
conditioned.
- A large parking area close to the debate hall for up to 30
television remote trucks, trailers and/or satellite trucks up to 53
feet in length.
- A media filing center, located either in the same facility as the
debate hall or extremely close to the debate hall, that is a minimum of
20,000 square feet; this space must be air conditioned.
- A media parking lot, located approximately one-half to one mile
away from the media filing center. The space should include parking for
approximately 500 passenger vehicles.
- An accreditation center of at least 3,000 square feet, located
approximately one-half to one mile away from the debate hall, with
parking for up to 75 vehicles.
- A ticket distribution center, located approximately one-half to
two
miles away from the debate hall. The facility's parking should allow
for up to 600 vehicles.
- Availability of approximately 3,000 hotel rooms for the event,
preferably located in a minimum of three hotels, with a maximum of
seven hotels, within 30 minutes by car from the facilities.
- The event requires that host sites be located near adequate air
and ground transportation networks.
- The CPD will need the host's guarantee of complete city services,
including public safety personnel.
Sites interested in applying to host a debate should contact Nancy
Henrietta at nancy@debates.org
for complete site selection guidelines and an application.
April 1, 2011 [releases added by Democracy in Action]
CPD Announces
2012 Debate Host Applicants
The following have submitted applications to host a 2012 general
election debate:
Belmont University (Nashville, TN) +
Centre College (Danville, KY) +
Dominican University of California (San
Rafael, CA) +
Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, KY) +
Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY)
Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) +
Lynn University (Boca Raton, FL) +
Saint Mary's College of California (Moraga,
CA) +
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
(Pomona, NJ) +
University of Denver (Denver, CO) +
Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC) +
Washington University in St. Louis (St.
Louis, MO) +
(By comparison, in 2003 14 venues applied and in 2007 19 venues
applied).
In 2007 CPD followed this timeline:
April-June 2007 Site surveys scheduled and
conducted by CPD production staff
June-September 2007 Review of proposals and site
surveys
November 19, 2007 CPD announces 2008 sites, dates,
format and candidate selection criteria