Damn Near Perfect

Back from Beijing, Gabriel Dance of nyt.com puts the viewer there during Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. I was struck by this pano in that I can't find a single stitching error anywhere, which is impressive given the situation and subject matter.
I asked Gabriel about the shoot and his gear. Here's his response, which sums up the difficulties of making panos in these situations:

Camera: 5D, 15mm fisheye lens
Rig: ballhead tripod, nodal ninja 5
Stitching: PTGUI Pro
"The most difficult thing about these shots is getting them (which
sounds obvious), but really in these types of situations, as you well
know, all the photogs are trying to get their shots and it's a
balancing act between getting the pano, and not getting shanked by an
angry photog's monopod after blocking their shot. And the space is at
a premium as you can tell from the pano. For this one I was on the
stage left cut-stand and I made sure to get their a good hour before
the shot. Shake hands with the other photographers and let them know
what I'm doing. Let them know that I'll keep my tripod tight and in
my spot. Then, when the time is right, hit the shots as quickly as I
can, making sure not to push/move/lean on the tripod.
And hope for the best...
Then it's some Photoshop, just a little bit of layer blending is
sometimes necessary in case anybody is obviously cut in half, and then
we're done. With these speed is essential. I had this up a lil over
an hour after it was shot."

The embedded audio (recorded by Lisa Tozzi) is an excellent addition.