Gina Montagna: Democratic National Convention

August 25, 2024

ESD Alum and University of Chicago student Gina Montagna shares her internship experience at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Currently taking classes in Paris, Gina continues pursuing her passion for journalism. 

The DNC was incredible! I worked with ABC News for two weeks, helping with the pre-show work and then during the convention as well. We did a lot of basic menial runner work, which was sometimes stressful but fun.

We were genuinely fortunate for our bosses. The top DNC producers on the ABC team led us, and they were very kind and truly wanted us to enjoy the experience to the fullest while also doing the work. During the week before the convention, we saw the United Center being built up and got to help as stand-ins! We were also lucky enough to get to see almost all of the speeches every night and sit in the Press section. 

During the week of the convention, I saw so many famous politicians, including Pete Buttigieg, Jack Schlossberg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Ben Shapiro, and many more. The best part of the experience is that I finally got to meet my idol, Kaitlin Collins! One of the ABC News producers was kind enough to go out of her way to get me a floor pass for five minutes, so I could go down to talk to her. She was incredibly kind and we spoke for a little bit. She noticed that I had an ABC News lanyard and congratulated me, telling me to keep doing what I've been doing and that I would get to where she is soon. 

I feel so lucky to have been a part of that team. I learned a lot and enjoyed it as well. Our boss cried at the end when we all left because of how much he appreciated our work! That truly made us feel how special we were to the team. We also got to celebrate with the ABC News team after the convention.