When will the DNC hall fill up? It is looking a tad sparse at the moment.

but it'll gradually fill up over the next 2 hours or so

The hall won't fill until there's a good speaker or issue on the agenda.

Same as with any convention.

This is all the pre-game show for today, more or less.

Lots speeches and events are happening all over the place for various organizations, in addition to what happens onstage from 3-7pm.

it'll fill up this evening, I'm sure.

If you're watching C-SPAN, you can see how boring...even for us diehards, most of these opening speeches are.

There's a ton of other activities going on. Right now it's dinner time and you can be sure all these delegations are at one party or another...wining and dining and then they'll hit the Fleet Center for Carter and Clinton.

You'll see the same thing at the GOOPfest. Actually that will be funnier, that's when they schedule the "panderers"...the lone black repugnican woman, the lone latino in New York who likes Bunnypants and so on. It's also when they shove the bodies they don't want the nation to see...DeLay, Frist, Ralph Reed...anyone who they need to "keep in the tent"...video materials for church groups...but not for everyone to see.

Enjoy.

BUT, they should have asked all of the delegates to show up
for the opening ceremonies (gavel, presentation of colours,
pledge of allegiance, etc), wouldn't cost the delegates all that
much and would have made for good TV. Banging the convention to
order to an almost empty hall is not good TV.