The Grand Old Party is having a big week as thousands of delegates, party leaders, celebrities, and honored guests are broadcasting themselves from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. At upload booths stationed in the Xcel Energy Center, and on a mobile camera roving through the convention hall, the party faithful are taking the opportunity to tell the world why Senator John McCain should be the next President of the United States.

Among those to upload from the Convention were Jon Voight, Tom Delay, and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Even former Virginia Senator George Allen, whose "macaca moment" arguably kick-started the era of politics on YouTube, stopped to say hello to the YouTube community. In addition, the GOP Convention staff has been studiously uploading all speeches to their YouTube Channel, as well as behind-the-scenes footage and videos from events around the Convention center.

Of course, the most anticipated speech of the week came from VP choice Sarah Palin, who addressed the crowd Wednesday night:



YouTube has been abuzz with Palin chatter and her selection has solicited viewpoints from all over the spectrum.

Stay tuned for the biggest speech of them all tonight, as the Senator himself takes center stage in St. Paul to accept the nomination. If you don't catch it live on TV, you know where you can find it.

Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics

The country watched as Hurricane Gustav swept through the Caribbean and into the Gulf this weekend, making landfall in Louisiana on Monday. Memories of Hurricane Katrina, the powerful storm that devastated New Orleans exactly three years ago, remain fresh in the minds of area residents. To ensure that no one relived that experience, Louisiana leaders ordered a mandatory evacuation on Saturday that has pushed more than two million people to leave their homes and seek safer lodgings.

Those living in areas affected by Gustav have been uploading videos documenting the storm from their vantage points -- whether it be from inside their homes, braving the elements in their backyards, or even surveying empty streets while riding on a bike.

Check out this playlist of Hurricane Gustav videos:



Though thankfully Gustav's impact turned out to be less destructive than initially feared, many members of the YouTube community stood by with prayers and messages of support, including attendees of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.


Yours,
Olivia
YouTube News & Politics

This week it's the GOP's turn to nominate their candidate for President, at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. With Hurricane Gustav on the horizon, the GOP has announced that the Convention will take on a muted tone - and the videos coming in from St. Paul will likely be overshadowed by the footage being uploaded from the Gulf Coast. Here on the YouTube news and politics team, we'll be keeping track of both.

Like everyone, our thoughts are with those in the Gulf Coast. We hope that Gustav's damage is limited, and that the GOP is able to proceed with at least some of the Convention programming. If they do, our Convention channel will have a 360-degree view of the proceedings, and will house the latest video coming out of the Xcel Energy Center, including speeches that might not receive prime-time TV coverage. We'll also have behind-the-scenes footage from party leaders, and attendees will be uploading their video nominations of Senator McCain at booths set up around the venue. And as the Party manages and reacts to the events in the Gulf Coast, we'll post that footage to the channel as well.

Finally, our RNC convention contest winner, Shawn Summers, will be vlogging from St. Paul and keeping you in the loop on what's happening there. Shawn was on the campaign trail with McCain just a few weeks ago and says he's excited to witness this historical gathering, no matter how it plays out. Check out this mash-up of some of the best entries to the contest:



Stay tuned to YouTube for the latest in videos from both St. Paul and the Gulf Coast - our thoughts are with those facing the storm.



Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics

This week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, delegates, party leaders, celebrities, and voters from every state in the nation gathered to officially nominate their candidate for President. YouTube, an official partner with the Convention, was on the scene with an upload booth that captured the thoughts of hundreds of diverse and enthusiastic Democrats. There was the woman who sang an ode to Barack Obama, a couple of Alaskan fisherwomen who applauded his efforts to protect our natural resources, and military veterans who gave their own reasons for supporting Obama. Here's a full set of highlights from the "I nominate Barack Obama because…" series:



In addition, party and political leaders – among them Governor Mark Warner, Senator Harry Reid, Governor Bill Richardson, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin – and celebrities like John Legend, Charles Barkley, and Louis Gossett Jr. took the opportunity to speak directly to the YouTube community and/or to talk about why they are nominating Obama. Their videos, and a whole lot more, including Senator Obama's acceptance speech, are available on the DNCC's YouTube channel.

Stay tuned next week as we head to Minneapolis/St. Paul to catch all of the proceedings on the Republican side and to hear why that Convention's attendees feel equally excited about their candidate, Senator John McCain.



Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics

Here at YouTube, we're always trying to find new ways to enrich your viewing experience and to help video creators reach a wider audience. As part of this goal, we've added a new captioning feature which allows you to give viewers a deeper understanding of your video. Captions can help people who would not otherwise understand the audio track to follow along, especially those who speak other languages or who are deaf and hard of hearing.

You can add captions to one of your videos by uploading a closed caption file using the "Captions and Subtitles" menu on the editing page. To add several captions to a video, simply upload multiple files. If you want to include foreign subtitles in multiple languages, upload a separate file for each language. There are over 120 languages to choose from and you can add any title you want for each caption. If a video includes captions, you can activate them by clicking the menu button located on the bottom right of the video player. Clicking this button will also allow viewers to choose which captions they want to see.

Some of our partners have already started using captions to offer you a better understanding of their videos (even with the audio turned off):

- BBC Worldwide: captions are provided in five different languages on this clip from Top Gear.
- CNET: tech product reviews from CNET's Crave blog.
- UC Berkeley: footage from the Opencast Project Open House.
- MIT: full lectures on subjects like Physics.
- Gonzodoga: English subtitles on this awesome Japanese animation.

We hope captions will serve to tighten the YouTube community by bringing together international users from different cultures.
We're excited to see what kinds of fun and creative uses for captions you'll be coming up with for your videos!

For more information about how to use captions, visit this page.
The YouTube Team

Did you vote? The time to find out who won has finally arrived.

We challenged you to show off your celebrity reporting skills, and after two rounds of voting for your favorite microphone-toting reporter, we're pleased to announce a winner. Congratulations to Chescaleigh, who will be joining People.com's Michelle Beadle on the red carpet at a major awards ceremony in Los Angeles this September. As your official Red Carpet Reporter, Chescaleigh will have the opportunity to interview some of TV's biggest celebs as they strut their stuff before the big show. Check out Michelle Beadle's announcement video here:



Chescaleigh's trip to L.A. comes complete with a makeover from Revlon and invites to some of the hottest parties in town. You can catch her exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage on the Red Carpet Reporter channel next month.

Well done, Chescaleigh, and special thanks to everyone else who entered or voted.

Cheers,
The YouTube Team

With the outlandish Burning Man festival taking place this weekend, TrendspottingTuesday takes a wide-eyed look at the world of unusual art.

You don't need a Burning Man-style art car to take a tour through this gallery of unconventional materials and quirky ideas. All it takes is a few mouse clicks to witness delicate, water-based calligraphy on the streets of Beijing, fuzzy felt art in New York or a burbling balloon installation in London.

If art is food for thought, our collection of unusual arts and crafts includes some raw materials that are more commonly thought of as, well, food. Though you wouldn't want to swallow bubblegum, have you ever considered sculpting with it? And if you enjoy your cheese sliced, how do you feel about a whopping 1,200 pounds of it, expertly carved? These are all questions you can ponder while watching a butter sculpture meltdown. Here's the full playlist:



All the best,

The YouTube Team

Today in Denver, the Democratic National Convention begins! Thousands of delegates, super delegates, party leaders, media, and political tourists have descended upon this Colorado city for four days of non-stop celebration. Here on YouTube, you can join them.

Visit our Convention Headquarters at www.youtube.com/2008conventions for all the latest video from the Convention floor, in addition to behind-the-scenes footage from party leaders and videos uploaded straight from the Convention by delegates. We'll also have upload booths set up around the Pepsi Center and Convention Hall, not to mention in the the Big Tent, where all the bloggers will congregate for the week. Video will be pouring in from these locations and hundreds of others...and we'll do our best to stay on top of it all on our Convention channel.

Be sure to look out for Rich Peters, the winner of our Democratic Convention contest, who will be reporting all week on the proceedings. He even wants to know you if you have questions you'd like him to pass along to those he meets in Denver.



Every Convention has had its signature moments (like Senator Obama's 2004 speech in Boston), so watch out for this year's defining occurrences and rising stars on YouTube. In fact, check www.youtube.com/2008conventions often for the kind of coverage you won't find anywhere else.

Yours,

Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics