Here are some of the numbers thrown around as to the kind of man power, organisation and size involved in the Democratic convention and the Olympic Games. Bear in mind some are estimates and others not direct comparisons yet included for sheer interest factor.
Press
Reporters from 130 countries were covering the convention in Denver, and 15,000 members of the media are expected to be there. There have also been 120 bloggers accredited, however there will be many who are not officially listed.
In Beijing, 21,600 journalists were accredited
Hotels
17,000 hotel rooms were booked out in Denver, while in Beijing, 420,000 rooms were booked with more than 800 star-class hotels and 4,000 hostels
Volunteers
21,000 people signed up to volunteer at the convention.
The official Olympic and Paralympic volunteers numbered 100,000, with 400,000 city volunteers who provided tourist services and there were another 1,000,000 at community level
Capacity
80,000 people were expected be in the audience for Obama's acceptance speech.
There were 91,000 seats in the Birds Nest stadium and there were also 6,000 athletes and officials in the Olympic village
Beijing was expected to host 550,000 international visitors and 2.4 million domestic ones
… and a few more from Denver
Over the four days in Denver, 45 lawyers volunteered to defend protesters who were arrested. The Department of Justice estimated security costs at around $50m (£27m).
The convention was expected to bring about $150-200m in revenues into Denver.
And finally, 43 miles of data cables have been laid through the Pepsi Centre and 160 miles of copper wire.
… and Beijing
The 16 days of the Beijing Olympics were expected to reach a global audience of 4bn.
It cost China £20bn to host the Olympics and an opening ceremony seat cost 5,000 yuan (£400)
There were 1,800 sites around Beijing from which fireworks were launched during the opening ceremony.
