A Virtual Convention
Conventional wisdom in March 2020 was that the pandemic would likely be brought under control by June.  Over the next several months, convention planners at the Democratic National Convention Committee in Milwaukee worked through many different scenarios, always placing safety first.  On April 2, 2020 the Democratic National Committee announced Democrats were moving the dates of their convention from July 13-16, 2020 to the week of Aug. 17 and said they were exploring all options to avoiding risks to public health, from "adjusting the convention’s format to crowd size and schedule."  Meanwhile, the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee, charged with funding the Convention, was affected by the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and cut its staff significantly in April.  Various ideas were floated as to what form the convention might take.  In May, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested the convention might be held in a gigantic stadium to allow for social distancing.  There was talk of a virtual convention with an in-person component.  On June 24 the DNCC announced a "Convention Across America" plan wherein "state delegations should not plan to travel to Milwaukee and should plan to conduct their official convention business remotely."  Planners stated that, "The host city Milwaukee would anchor the events for the week, and that programming would include both live broadcasts and curated content from Milwaukee and other satellite cities, locations and landmarks across the country."  On Aug. 5 the DNCC announced that convention speakers including Vice President Biden would not travel to Milwaukee, completing the transition to a virtual convention.