CNN Helps Republican Convention Delegates Skype Those They Represent

Deep in the heart of Tampa, there is a CNN Grill. And deep inside the CNN Grill -- a combination working news studio and restaurant for participants in the Republican National Convention -- the 24-hour news network has deployed social media platforms to help different kinds of people connect.

These social tools include a Tumblr blog (which looks like a Pinterest pinboard, more or less) and lunchtime "hangouts" with special guests via - what else? - Google Hangouts.

But perhaps more interesting and useful, in the sense of meaningfully connecting people who wouldn't ordinarily have an opportunity to talk to each other, is what CNN is calling "Delegate Cam." While the electoral college and the rest of the mechanics of how the United States chooses its leaders may seem mundane or inaccessible to many people, at the end of the day human beings underlie the whole process. Delegates who attend the convention are people, just like you and me (mostly).

Delegate Cam allows citizens to talk with their local delegate attending the GOP's convention via Skype video every day during a designated time window.

CNN will also have Delegate Cam at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.