A Big Egghead

President Obama visits Cross Campus - The Full Story (8+ years later!)

2023-02-15T10:53:00.014-08:00

Over 8 years ago, on October 9, 2014, I was honored to have President Barack Obama spend an afternoon with our team & members at Cross Campus. It was a helluva experience to host a sitting U.S. President at my former business, and one I will never forget. I’d say the same is probably true for anyone else that was in attendance at Cross Campus that day.

I’ve probably told the story of that day, and of the week leading up to that day, a thousand times, but I’ve never put it down in writing. Something happened recently that had me reliving that week (more on that later), so I figured I’d take the opportunity to document the entire experience and share it with you.

Grab a beer and get comfy though, it's about a 20-minute read. Enjoy!

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Thursday October 2, 2014

It was a day like any other at Cross Campus Santa Monica. We had been in business for a little over 2 years and we and our members were doing our thing. For our hundreds of members, that meant the daily hustle of growing their startups, meeting with investors to raise capital, and doing whatever it took to survive and thrive. For the Cross Campus team it meant doing whatever we could to help our startup community grow & succeed.

At the time, we had become ground zero for the LA startup community. Cross Campus was home to some of LA’s most exciting startups, including Headspace and Enervee among others. We were in the midst of opening our second location, which would connect the historic tech hub of CalTech and NASA JPL in Pasadena to the new tech hub of Silicon Beach in Santa Monica. And yet, the thing we had become most known for was building community through our events. We had already played host to famous entrepreneurs and investors such as Elon Musk, Brad Feld and Mark Suster, and it seemed like not a week went by where we didn’t have someone on our stage that would make us just say “wow!”.

As such, we were not unaccustomed to getting inbound phone calls with ideas for blow-your-mind events. However, the understated voicemail that we received that Thursday was different…

“Hi, this is so-and-so from the White House. We are interested in doing an event at Cross Campus next week. Please call me back at your earliest convenience. My number is (202) 456-xxxx.”

Wait, what? Is it really *the* White House? Area code 202?… That's Washington DC. 456 extension?… That's the White House. This looks legit.

I immediately started cyber sleuthing… Who is this person? What’s her job? How senior is she? (Did you know you can Google the salaries of anyone that works for the White House?) I found out that she’s a junior staffer in the White House communications department making $57k/year. I think to myself “maybe this isn’t a big deal, so let me have my head of events, Becky Feldman, call her back and see what’s going on”. But, I’m going to listen in the background to see if it really is a big deal.

The call with this person was unlike any other event call we had. Normally folks would ask a few questions but be very open about the type of event they wanted to do. This person was extremely guarded about sharing info and was only interested in asking questions. It became a tennis match… back & forth with one question by her, then one question by Becky. It went something like this…

WH: How big is your venue?
Becky: We can fit between 200-400 people. What type of event are you thinking about?
WH: A speaking event. Do you have lighting & A/V?

Becky: Yes, we have a full stage with lighting, A/V, and the works. Is it going to be a single speaker, a panel, both?

WH: A single speaker. Is the venue available next Thursday October 9th?

Becky: Yes, we’re available. Who is the speaker going to be?

WH: (long pause) It’s a high-ranking official. (another long pause) Ok, I think I have enough. Are you available to meet with one of my colleagues, Tim So-and-so, tomorrow afternoon at 5pm?

Dan: (mouthing to Becky)… That’s enough, get off the phone!

Becky: Sure. Thanks. We look forward to meeting with Tim.

A high-ranking official… hmmm? I’ve never had anyone utter that phrase to me, but my mind starts racing… Maybe it’s Megan Smith, Obama’s new CTO. That would be a fit for our tech-centric community. But maybe it’s someone who’s even higher ranking? Could it be VP Biden? Could it even be President Obama himself? Oooh, this certainly might be a big deal.

I started cyber sleuthing again. And get this, I find that all of them… Megan Smith, VP Biden, and President Obama… they are all scheduled to be in the LA area for other events that next week!

Next up… Who is Tim So-and-so that we are meeting with? I can’t find anything on this guy… he’s a ghost… he’s a spook. But wait, after another hour of sleuthing I find a PDF from an event in Denver that lists him as part of the presidential advance team for an event that includes President Obama. Uh oh, I think we really are talking about a big deal here.

My co-founder, Ronen, was returning from a business trip, so I remember sending him a cryptic text message to the effect of “You need to be back here tomorrow for a 5pm meeting with someone from the White House. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I think President Obama wants to come visit us next week”.

Friday October 3, 2014

On Friday, Tim shows up promptly at 5pm. He asks for a tour of the venue. After about 2 minutes he says “is there somewhere private we can talk?”. Ronen, Becky and I take him to our boardroom. He cuts right to the chase…

“President Obama is considering a visit to Cross Campus next week. He wants to hold a town hall meeting with you, your members and other leaders of the LA startup community. We’re considering a few other venues for the town hall, so we’re not sure if it’s going to be here or somewhere else. And before you say “yes” know that it will not be easy to host the President. It will seriously disrupt your business for the next week.”

Ronen and I look at each other and just say “yes, we’re ok with that… we’d be honored”.

Tim stands up and says something like “ok, we’ll let you know tomorrow or Sunday if we are going to move forward… no promises yet.” “Yep, sure, no problem” I say… with no clue of what is about to ensue.

Saturday October 4, 2014

And then the waiting begins.

My text with Becky starting at 1am (I’m in blue)

Shortly after this exchange at 3pm Becky gets a call from Tim… can we be at Cross Campus at 5pm to show a few people from his team around the building so they can assess us versus the other venues. When I show up at 4:45pm there are already a dozen people waiting at the front door. They all look the same… Blue polo shirts, tan khaki pants, and all the size of NFL linebackers.

By the time 5pm rolls around there are about 25 guys behind Tim, all fitting the above description (except one… who’s similarly dressed and equally as fit, but much smaller… more on him in a bit). As the introductions are made it’s a blur. Most are with the Secret Service, but all with differing responsibilities. One is in charge of coordinating with local law enforcement. One is in charge of cyber security. One will be in charge on site. One will be responsible for the area outside the building for arrival & exit.

I couldn’t tell you then what they were all doing, and I certainly can’t remember now 8+ years on, but I do recall some of the most bizarre questions and requests that I’ve ever had…

“Do you have a bomb evacuation plan”… Uh, no.
“Oh I see you have security cameras… that’s a no-no… we can’t have them here when the big man is here… take them down or we can shoot them out”… Uh, no.
“We need to put a trap & trace on all your phones in the event that any threats are called in”… What’s a trap & trace?… “We will trace all calls placed to your business from now until the big man leaves, just sign this document and we’ll take care of everything”… Uh, ok.

Then the small guy comes up to ask a question… “Can I get on the roof?”… Why? He hands me his business card (they all have business cards with crazy titles) that says he’s the “Director, Anti-sniper Team” and explains that his team are snipers that are placed strategically around the venue to spot and take out terrorist snipers. Another Secret Service agent chimes in… “just point him in the direction of roof access and he’ll get there… he and his team are ninjas, they are spider monkeys, and they’ll find a way to climb up onto the roof”…. Uh, ok.

It was a blitz of crazy introductions and questions for 3 hours or so. As they departed around 8pm, Tim says “Thanks, we’ll call you tomorrow to let you know what the decision is. It’s not ours to make, but rather a team back in DC.” Ugh, more waiting.

Sunday October 5, 2014

I can’t remember when exactly, but the call came in that afternoon that we were good to go… Cross Campus got the nod… and we had one final chance to say “no” if we wanted to avoid the business disruption. There was no way we were going to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… Yes, we’re in!

At this point, we started a logistical process that was both impressive and daunting… and I was about to embark on a few 16-hour days until it was all over. And I was about to learn a lot about the security involved when the world’s most powerful person decides he want to visit you (and tell the world where’s he’s going to be and when).

There were a few “wrinkles” to the visit that added complications to the logistics.

The first was that this was going to be an “announced visit”. That meant that several days prior to the visit, they were going to announce to the press that he was coming to Cross Campus on Thursday afternoon. From a security perspective, that’s like painting a huge target on the place for nut jobs and terrorists. The result was that the security requirements were much higher than an unannounced visit (such as when the President decides he wants to stop at that famous burger joint).

There is always an advance team that plans for every possible eventuality (and we learned that the advance team was scoping out Cross Campus for weeks before they contacted us), but they need much less security on the ground when no one knows he’s coming. For our event, it was a maximum security risk. Add to that the fact that the week prior the Secret Service had allowed a crazy person to just walk across the White House lawn and approach the west wing, and everyone was on edge. We were told that we couldn’t discuss the visit with anyone outside of our staff until the public announcement was made.

The second wrinkle was that the President wanted the town hall to be “among” our members… he wanted nothing between him and us. At many Presidential visits, there are a handful of people who are around the President (sometimes on a dais with him or a riser behind him), but the audience is separated by a rope (and some distance). The security requirements for those events mean that the people around the President are subjected to deep background checks by the Secret Service, while the audience is less vetted. For our town hall, we were going to be in a semi-circle around the President and he was going to walk up to and through the audience. For this the Secret Service would require the legal name and social security number for all those in attendance so they could go deep.

The plan was to have 150 people in attendance for the town hall on Thursday. As hosts, we got 100 invites, with 25 going to the folks who lost out in the effort to host, and 25 going to local government dignitaries (such as LA Mayor Garcetti). The Secret Service needed the social security numbers of the attendees by end of day on Monday to run the background checks. But the event wasn’t going to be publicly announced until Tuesday or Wednesday, so we’d have to invite our 100 people, obtain their social security numbers, but we weren’t allowed to tell them what it was for other than to say “We’re having a special visitor, you’re invited to join us, but we need your social security number”.

That was uncomfortable to request, but it did kick off quite a guessing game of who was coming to visit. Some people thought we were hosting Queen Elizabeth. Some thought Bill Gates (does he have security like the President?). Some guessed VP Biden. Very few guessed that it was President Obama.

The other uncomfortable and unfortunate thing was that we only had 100 invites for our hundreds of members. As such, my Sunday night was spent figuring out a fair way to dole out invites, perform a lottery for some of them, and then a system for capturing everyone’s social security numbers.

Our cryptic invite... You only got one shot!

Monday October 6, 2014 through Wednesday October 8, 2014

Invites were sent and there was a buzz around Cross Campus that Monday morning… lots of questions, not many clear answers other than “trust me, you’ll want to be there”.

After the blitz on Saturday night, the team got a lot easier to work with on Monday morning. There was a lead agent from the Secret Service and 3 people from the advance and communications teams that would be my primary contacts for the rest of the week. These were basically the only 4 people I had to deal with, but the work started at 8am and went through midnight every day.

And, boy was I glad that that’s all I had to deal with because the number of security & advance people to come through Cross Campus that week made my head spin. Each of the 25 people who were there on Saturday were team leads, and their entire teams came through on Monday. Then their supervisors came through on Tuesday. Then all of them were back on Wednesday. I never had a really good grasp on how many people were involved in the security preparations until Thursday, when all of them (and more) were on hand.

Some of the more notable preparations:

Several blocks around Cross Campus in each direction were going to be completely blocked off to car or foot traffic, and a secure “green zone” was going to be created.
They rolled in several city buses to park in front of the building to act as a barrier to a car bomber.
Every window was covered so a sniper couldn’t see in.
They took complete control of our network, internet and telecommunications so there could be no communications in or out during the event (and that took care of our security cameras so they didn’t have to shoot them out).
On Wednesday night, we closed at 6pm so a team of contractors could come in and completely reconfigure our space to make room for press, add lighting, and prepare for the live broadcast on wh.gov.
We paid several thousand dollars to have a special banner made that would hang behind the President during his talk… and it went in the trash afterward as it was just for this event… but well worth the cost.
Actually, we spent tens of thousands of dollars to fully take advantage of the opportunity. We hired Manuel Umo as our videographer to capture the event and make a short movie. We hired Kevin Mazur, a top-tier photographer who has several Rolling Stone covers and other impressive credits on his résumé, to take pictures. It was all worth it.

As Secret Service agents were constantly milling about, our members started to get a clue about what was going down. The visit wasn’t publicly announced until Wednesday (with a neat Medium post by President Obama), but by that point the majority of speculation had moved on from Queen Elizabeth and were split between Biden and Obama. It was a trip when we could finally confirm for everyone that indeed, President Obama was coming to Cross Campus.

When all was said and done on Wednesday night at 3pm, we had filled all 100 of our slots with no security issues, the place was ready to go, and I needed to get a few hours sleep before the news crews started arriving at 6am to do their remote broadcasts for the morning news shows.

Thursday October 9, 2014 - Before the Arrival

The day has finally come. Ronen and I are there at 6am as several news trucks are prepping to do a remote shot and interview for each of the major news networks. After that there is a calm for a few hours. We’ve done all we have to do, and now all the work is up to the Secret Service and advance team. The schedule is set. The President will be arriving around 2pm. He’ll relax for a bit, and the town hall will start at 3pm. He’ll be done at 5pm. His traveling Navy chef will prepare him some dinner. And then he’ll be off to his next event… a celebrity fundraiser at Gwyneth Paltrow’s house. At around 11am the entire building was cleared of all non-government staff, including us. The Secret Service will spend the next 2 hours making final preparations (in secret), including sweeping the building with bomb-sniffing dogs. When we exited Cross Campus at 11am we saw that a lot had been happening that morning. The streets for 2 blocks in each direction were blocked off and empty. A security checkpoint has already been established at the end of our block, where Obama protestors have started to assemble. The only people who will be able to get through this checkpoint are people on the invite list or those that live on 10th Street. A tented carport has been built next to the door where the President will enter so he can get out of his limo (nicknamed “The Beast”) without a sniper being able to see him (this was a change made by the Secret Service after Ronald Reagan was shot). We take the team out for lunch and come back to Cross Campus to see local law enforcement from every SoCal community on every corner, and hoards of Secret Service agents around Cross Campus. It’s hard for me to describe just how many agents there are. The original 25 have ballooned into hundreds, including the anti-sniper ninjas on each corner of the roof. After we get back in the building, going through 2 different metal detectors and past the dogs, there are agents around every corner, literally. There is not an inch of the building, inside or out, that is not visible to a Secret Service agent. That’s a Secret Service requirement. There was a small hallway that had a 3-foot kink in it between the front of house and our back office… there was an agent in that kink. Every inch has a set of eyes on it, and every agent is in view of at least one other agent.

The official instructions... no sharp objects please!

The lead Secret Service agent pulls me aside to tell me a few things before things get started. First, he mentions that during the final security sweep they removed any object that could be used to stab the President. That meant that, in an office environment, all the scissors and pens we had available for members were now trashed. Next, he pulls me into the men’s bathroom and shows me that they’ve built it into a bomb shelter with 3-inch thick pieces of steel on the exterior walls. He then opens his suit jacket to show me he’s carrying a Kevlar blanket. He says to me, “if things go sideways, I grab the big man, cover him in the blanket, and drag him in here until my agents take of it.” Finally, he asks me “do you think we’ll have any hecklers in the audience today?” When we were prepping, to my surprise, the advance team didn’t want to review audience questions before the event. The town hall structure was completely unscripted other than the fact that they said “the big man will go boy-girl, boy-girl… other than that, no prep is required.” Well, the Secret Service agent had his own concerns about what the audience might do. He says, “if someone gets out of line and we want to stop it, you have to act first… I’ll tap you on the shoulder and then just go up to the person and say “I uninvite you to this event”… at that point my agents will take care of everything and remove the person.” Fun stuff. Luckily, this wasn’t required. Just the opposite, as the questions from the audience were superb.

Thursday October 9, 2014 - The Arrival & Meeting

By 1:30pm all the attendees had arrived and the place was sealed. We had no idea what was going on outside (especially since all the windows were covered), so we couldn’t see the motorcade arrive (though we did get videos of that afterward as everyone that lived on our street were lined up on the curb like it was a parade). But, there’s something exciting that happens when the President arrives on site for a talk. The layout of our space for the town hall was very different from the day-to-day setup. Workspaces were moved to the side to make room for chairs & sofas. The stage, our normal presentation space, had a riser that was built for the traveling press pool. Three pods of desks were arranged behind where the President was going to stand, for the 3 startups we selected to meet Obama, and in the middle was the President’s podium where he’d give his 10 minute prepared remarks before the town hall. That podium looked a bit chintzy… just a plain wooden podium. But, once the President arrived on site, someone from his team affixed the presidential seal to the podium. Wow, that changed things! At this time all the people who were going to greet him were pulled into our back office area, which had been transformed from a plain conference room, into a wonderful backdrop with plush blue curtains, American flags, and Presidential flags. While the President was getting settled in one of our offices upstairs, the greeters were assembled. We were first. After us would come another one of our investors, Christopher Rising, and then LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Santa Monica Mayor Pam O’Connor, and California State Representative Richard Bloom. As we waited for the President to appear, we (me & Ronen, his wife Sharona, and our first investors, Behzad and Michael Kianmahd) were entertained by one of his staff. He was like a comedian, and that’s just what we needed because we were NERVOUS. They’ve done this before… and I’m sure everyone gets nervous before meeting the big man, so it was nice to laugh a bit to release some of that energy. Then, in the middle of a joke, the President saunters around a corner with a big step, a bigger grin and a mighty “how’s it going?” as he windmilled for a hearty handshake with each of us. I have to admit, I can remember very little of what was said during the 15 minutes we had with him in private. I’m sure it was something about startups needing support and simplicity from the government, not bureaucracy. My faulty memory is not a function of the years… I couldn’t remember it when it happened because I was so damn nervous… but I do remember being impressed by everything Ronen said, and him saying to me afterward “you were great with him”, so I guess it went well. During the pre-event meeting in the back office, our photographer and videographer were not allowed to enter, so it was only us, the President, his staff, a few Secret Service agents, and the White House photographer, Pete Souza. When it was all over, we had some great pictures and video to aid our memory, including a great picture with our entire team, but none from this time with him in private.

Thursday October 9, 2014 - The Town Hall

When we were done, we were ushered out and the other dignitaries had their private time with him, but no one had as much time as we did. Our seats for the town hall, along with the other greeters, were in the very last row. We were told beforehand that if the big man sees one of his greeters in the front row he will unseat them and send them to the back, so we had to settle for the back row with Mayor Garcetti. However, knowing this was the case, we made sure that everyone on our team had a spot in the front row. The pictures of their smiling faces during the event, and Blair going toe-to-toe with him while asking a difficult question about immigration, was better than me sitting up front. The event itself went off without a hitch. The President spent the first part of the event speaking with the 3 startups we had selected for him to meet with. As part of the preparation, I had written up fact sheets on each of the companies as well as some questions to ask them. As the President conversed with them, I heard some of my words coming out of his mouth. Even in a week that was marked by an Ebola crisis, he had done his homework and read my notes… coooool! He then gave a short speech of prepared remarks about innovation. Finally he took questions from the audience, going boy-girl, boy-girl, for about 45 minutes. The questions were smart, and challenging, but the President demonstrated why he is one of the best orators in history. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as smart, polished, intelligent and funny in a format that was completely off the cuff. When he wrapped up he stayed and shook hands with many of the attendees. At that point, I had one final thing to do. After the visit was publicly announced I had reached out to a friend in DC that hosted him at her workspace and asked if she had any advice for me. She said that the White House team takes care of everything, but at the end of the event make sure you grab your whole team to get a pic with the President before he leaves because they will take him out quickly. I had paved the way with the Secret Service agent and my team, so we were ready. The agent grabbed Pete Souza and the President and we had our opportunity to take a picture that I’ll forever treasure.

The Cross Campus team with President Obama

We also had the President take a goofy picture with us… one where no one was looking at the camera. That’s one I really wanted to see, but we never received.

And then he was whooshed away to have dinner upstairs before departing to see Gwyneth and the other glitterati. We cleaned up the space, got everything back to normal, and reopened for our members that night. The advance team said they would send up pictures from the event when they got back to DC.

-- President Barack Obama

The Pictures & Videos

Over the course of the next week we started to get all the pictures and video taken at the event by our guys. Kevin Mazur put the highlights up on GettyImages.com. Manuel Umo turned his video into a short movie. The White House wrote a recap and posted a video of the event. The LA Times, and many other news outlets, wrote an article about the visit. And, I emailed my contact with the advance team to get the pictures that Pete Souza had taken.

I was assuming that we’d get all, or at least a lot, of the pictures that Pete had taken that day. After months of back and forth via email with various ways to reply that the pictures were in process, in December I got an envelope in the mail from the White House. In it were several 8x10 glossy photos… one picture for each of the greeters in the formal pose together with the President, and one picture for each of the members in our team from our formal pose after the event. Each of the photos had a sticker on the back reminding us that, pursuant to the Hatch Act, they couldn’t be used for commercial purposes while President Obama was in office. That was it. There were no pictures from our private time talking to the President. There was no goofy team picture. I emailed one more time and was told that was all we would get while Obama was in office.

I knew that every picture that the White House photographer took was supposed to end up in the National Archives. I knew that he wasn’t allowed to delete anything. But I had no idea how or when I could get access to them. While Obama was in office they would occasionally publish pictures to their website, but no pictures from the visit were published. I tried searching the National Archives website, but nothing. I decided to wait until President Obama left office in January 2017. I added an entry to my calendar for two years in the future and forgot about it.

The Quest - 2017 to 2023

I always had in my mind this picture of me and the President deep in conversation about startups… and I knew that Pete Souza was snapping away when that actually happened on October 9, 2014, so I was determined to get that picture. I figured it would take a few emails and some search queries. I didn’t think I was setting out on a quest.

When January 20, 2017 came around, and President Trump took the reigns, I wasn’t sure where to start. I pushed my to-do off for a few weeks to let the dust settle. Then, in March 2017, I sent an email to Pete Souza, who was posting many of the pictures he’d taken during Obama’s presidency on his Instagram (which is fabulous), to see if he had the pictures. He informed me that he had turned everything over to the National Archives. He directed me to a gentleman at Obama’s Presidential Library that was responsible for the process of digitizing all of the presidential records.

That person was very pleasant and very helpful. He said the digitization and indexing was in progress and the records would be available online at obamalibrary.gov in May. Winner!… I’ll have that picture soon enough!

When June rolls around I check the Obama Library website… nada… zilch. I give it a few more weeks and then send a follow up email, only to receive this dreaded reply…

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen technical difficulties the process is ongoing and we do not have an estimated completion date at this time.

Six months went by, and as things would have it, we were hosting Pete Souza for a book signing event for his picture book Obama: An Intimate Portrait on January 11, 2018. I told him the story of what I was going through and he just shrugged “it takes time, keep following up”. I sent an email the following day to the Obama Library and got an even more dreaded reply…

The audiovisual records you are seeking were not released in the public domain during the Obama Administration, and are currently closed to public requests under the Presidential Records Act.

The Barack Obama presidential records are governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Under the provisions of the PRA, Obama presidential records are not available to public access requests for the first five years after the end of the Administration. While the PRA states that the public cannot request records until five years after the end of the administration, the Library may open records prior to that date. At this time, neither of these terms have been met.

Obama presidential records will become subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on January 20, 2022. You may submit your request at that time.

F*ck!!!! You’ve gotta be kidding me! Why didn’t you tell me that the first time I asked?!?!

Ok, time to put another event in the calendar, but this time for four years in the future! I can’t say I’ve ever booked an appointment that far in advance, but I had one with the National Archives for January 20, 2022.

I knew what a FOIA request was, but I had no idea how to file one or what the process would be like. On January 20, 2022, I started doing my research, and the next day I filed my first FOIA request. It would take a month to get a response that basically said… got it, there are 431 images that meet your requirements, the process is in process.

One interesting thing about a request for records protected under the Presidential Records act is that it wasn’t just Obama’s representatives that needed to review what was being released, but also the Presidents since. So, there were several administrations that needed to sign off that my meeting with Obama was neither embarrassing to them or confidential. And of course, each had 90 days to review. As such, I knew I was in for a wait, but I figured it would only be 3-6 months.

Six months later, and I’ve heard nothing. In October 2022, I sent another follow up, and got a response that the process is in process, and the estimated date of completion is another 7 months. I’m getting closer, but come on… April 2023?!?!

I have to say, by this time, I’m just doing this to get it done. I don’t want to quit, but Cross Campus is so far in my rear view mirror that I don’t really care anymore. Then, on January 31, I got an unexpected surprise. No, I didn’t get the pictures. But I did get something very close.

The National Archives sent me a letter saying that the records are available to be viewed online (as a photo contact sheet PDF), and the actual photos will be downloadable through the National Archive website in a few months.

So, 3,036 days after the event, I finally got to see the photos I was waiting for (and a lot of other great ones as well).

The Handshake

The Discussion

Yeah, but...

Don't look now!

You can review all the pictures that Pete Souza took that day here on the Obama Library website. And, if you want to download the original pictures… well, just put an event in your calendar for a few years in the future and then check the website then to see if they’re ready!

LaserMonks: The Next Amazon.com?

2007-08-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

There was a great article today in the LA Times about 5 monks in Wisconsin that started an online store called LaserMonks to sell printer ink cartridges to help support their cause. This is not a completely unique happening... a few years back there was a best-selling CD called Chant by a group of Benedictine monks and I remember reading a story about a convent of nuns in California who were having success making olive oil, not to mention the fact that Belgian Trappist monks have been making some of the best beer in the world for about 700 years.

However, the thing that struck me was how big a business these monks had built. Starting in 2002 with $2,000 of revenue, they hit $4 million last year and are estimating $7 million this year. Whoa! That's not bad for 5 guys with day jobs (albeit, they probably have a bit more available time than your average working Joe).

What you're seeing here is the same type of shift I spoke of yesterday. In the 20th century, manufacturers and retailers were innovating and driving consumer demand, but in the 21st century it's consumers who are reinventing themselves and driving business. With a "long tail" of products and suppliers now available in the digital world, consumers are free to express themselves in more and more ways. For those who care about what happens to the profits from their purchases (a growing segment of the population), the monks' marketing message resonates...

COMMERCE WITH COMPASSION: Given the same product at comparable pricing, wouldn't you rather purchase from the company whose proceeds support our communities?

This shift in consumer behavior is creating many opportunities for businesses. Companies like Zlio, that provide the capability for anyone to set up an online store in a matter of minutes, will help to create a long tail of stores that will allow any individual or group to quickly become a retailer and leverage their own particularly unique positioning, whether that's being an abbey of monks or an expert on hot sauce. That's pretty exciting stuff.

Obviously, there's still a place for the large retailers (and a big place for retailers like Nordstrom who understand how to build customer loyalty and value through great experiences), but these types of niche businesses with unique positioning will take some of their revenue... they are meeting a demand of the 21st century consumer.

P.S. I just love the top nav on LaserMonks...

... on what other eCommerce website do you see an option for "Prayer Requests"!

The Unreal is More Powerful than the Real

2007-08-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

A few marketing blogs that I read (The Rouge Marketer and The Marketing Maven) have written a thing or two about experiential marketing lately. The Rouge highlights an excerpt of a new book by Joseph Pine & James Gilmore, the leading authors in this space. Their classic book, The Experience Economy, is a must read for any marketer. The Maven wrote about Abercrombie & Fitch having live models in their flagship store creating a unique shopping experience.

Another great read about this subject is Building Great Customer Experiences by Colin Shaw. Colin, who spent 20 years managing customer relationships for BT and now runs Beyond Philosophy marketing consultancy in London, talks about managing and measuring the experience and the resulting emotions created by the experience.

“In the late 20th century, businesses reinvented themselves; in the 21st century it is customers who will reinvent themselves. And the companies who can help them do it will be taking the bows in the new transformational economy.”

Understanding that the experiences customers have with your product or service is just as important, if not more important, than the physical features of your product is key to successful marketing in the 21st century. Your product or service always run the risk of becoming a commodity, but the experience a customer has with your brand is something that will remain a differentiating factor. This is how you build customer loyalty, brand power, and long-term value.

My favorite quote on this comes from a very strange source... Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club. Palahniuk has a screw loose, but he definitely understands pop culture and customer experience.

“People had been working for so many years to make the world a safe, organized place. Nobody realized how boring it would become… The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condemn us to boredom. Without access to true chaos, we’ll never have true peace. Unless everything can get worse, it won’t get any better…

The only frontier you have left is the world of intangibles… the Internet, movies, music, stories, art, rumours, computer programs, anything that isn’t real. Virtual realities. Make-believe stuff. The culture.

The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it’s only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on.

If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. If you do that, you can change the way people live their lives. And that’s the only thing lasting you can create.”

X Marks the Spot

2007-08-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

While I was attending the last few LA Galaxy games and looking at the giant half-pipe they'd built in the Home Depot Center parking lot, I knew I was going to write something about the X Games. I thought it might be something about how this event, now in its 13th year, had established and legitimized a whole new set of fringe sports (leading to inclusion in the Olympics). Or, maybe it would be about how this event had provided a more traditional marketing opportunity to reach the teen and post-teen demographic groups that are so difficult to reach through traditional methods. However, after the first 2 days of competition, there is only one image I have of the X Games and I can't get it out of my mind... Jake Brown's shoes "exploding" off his feet after his spectacular wipe out on Thursday night.

First of all, if you haven't seen the video, you have to watch it (and if you're like me and have seen it a dozen times, you'll probably watch it a few more times)...

Wow! I'm not sure what's so appealing about seeing that guy free fall 50 feet, but I can't stop watching. I think it has something to do with why we watch daredevils like Evil Knievel, NASCAR crashes and NHL fights. It's the extreme end of the sporting world, where guys who are talented enough, brave enough, or stupid enough, risk personal injury and push the edge of the envelope (while we watch from the safety of an armchair).

But what does any of this have to do with business? How do we interpret this? Beth Shuster, an LA Times staff writer, wrote about it from the perspective of a mother, and her lesson was "be careful, be really careful." I think the same lesson can be said for business. Jake Brown was trying a trick that was never done before in competition, but he was completely out of control. If you watched the BMX Bike Big Air competition on Friday, you saw several competitors back out before the final leap if they were losing control, or Mat Hoffman, a legend in the sport, decide to take his licks and limit his losses by falling on top of the quarter pipe (making it a 20-foot fall onto padding rather than duplicate Brown's 50-foot fall to the bottom of the ramp).

You need to take risks and you need to innovate in the business world, but you must know your limitations and measure and manage the consequences. Risking it all may make for compelling viewing, but it's just plain stupid as a management philosophy.

It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.

2007-08-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball's commissioner, has been under some pressure lately regarding whether he'd try to attend Barry Bonds' record tying and breaking home run games. It's no secret that Bud doesn't like Barry for all the steroid hullabaloo. However, Bud made a move last week for the good of the game he's responsible for leading & selling... he said he was going to start attending Barry's games in the hope of seeing him break the record. That was the right thing to do. It was a good PR move and in line with his responsibilities as MLB's chief executive.

Unfortunately, Barry's struggling in another slump, and now, after 8 days of following Barry, Bud's had enough. He described his arduous journey (spending a week in SF and 2 days in LA) as a "Herculean effort". Watching 8 baseball games was Herculean??? This coming from the guy responsible for leading baseball??? You want your employees to be open and honest, so you don't want him to lie, but wouldn't you expect that the MLB commish should be singing a different tune? He should be saying "I'm happy this has given me the opportunity to get out of the office and to the ballpark" and he shouldn't need a PR person to tell him that.

Bud has let his personal opinions get in the way of doing his job, and that's something that no professional can ever let happen.

Strategy and Execution... Which is More Important?

2007-07-31T09:41:00.000-07:00

Bill Walsh, Hall of Fame football coach, passed away this week. Walsh is one of my favorite examples to use from the sports world when talking about business. Yes, he was a strategic genius, responsible for inventing the West Coast offense. But the three things I'll always remember Walsh for are...

His demeanor. He was quiet and thoughtful, not a blowhard like so many other coaches. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and there's certainly more than one way to teach and motivate your employees.
His coaching legacy. Not only was he a great coach, he was a great mentor. There have been 28 other head coaches in the NFL and college who were his assistant coaches, and they have won 8 Super Bowls.
His ability to be a strategic innovator who could lead world class execution. My favorite story about Walsh is the fact that he used to "script" the first 10-15 plays of the game on offense. The strategic options were endless, and he and his coaches would spend many, many hours preparing strategically for a game. But when the time came, he made a decision and had his team practice and perfect 10-15 plays that were going to be run to start the game. This commitment and focus on excellence in execution resulted in his teams getting off to fast starts, and building momentum that was almost impossible for opponents to overcome.

AEG & The Home Depot Center: A case study of synergy and excellence

2007-07-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

When I attended the David Beckham unveiling I spoke of a well coordinated marketing effort by AEG, owner of the LA Galaxy, but that's selling them short. It's a lot more than a well coordinated marketing effort, AEG is demonstrating that they are a well coordinated organization, utilizing all their assets and capabilities, and optimizing their commercial opportunities. That was clear when going to see David Beckham's debut against Chelsea this past weekend.

To understand AEG, you have to first take a look at how AEG describes itself... The Ultimate Fan Experience. Although AEG does many things in the sports and entertainment world, including owning sports teams, promoting concerts, and producing movies, it's primary focus is on the fan experience, and therefore, on the venue. Their list of venues is growing, but two of their most prominent are located here in LA so I've had a chance to experience them firsthand. The Staples Center is home to the NBA's LA Lakers and LA Clippers, as well as the NHL's LA Kings. The Home Depot Center is home to MLS' LA Galaxy and Chivas USA.

The HDC certainly put its best foot forward on Saturday. Beckham's debut was part of a doubleheader called the World Series of Football. It's not often that the Galaxy sell out, but as you can imagine, it was absolutely packed for Beckham. And like everything else that AEG has done around his arrival, it was another well executed day on all fronts. Here are a few examples...

The signing and participation of top flight sponsors such as Samsung & Best Buy...

...and adidas was there in full force as well with a strong presence outside the stadium.

Inside the stadium there were tents that allowed the 27,000 attendees to interact with the sponsors.

And perhaps my favorite... getting LA Sheriffs to hand out Simpson's masks that were used for an in-game promotion for tickets to The Simpson's Movie premier.

Special room was made for the extraordinary amount of media, with ESPN's broadcast studio out in full view.

The outer concourse of the stadium is filled with food and beverage concessions, and is more than adequate to service a sell out...

...oh, and they had a few Beckham shirts available for purchase (both inside and outside the stadium).

There was even a celebrity or two (or twenty) on hand to add to the media buzz.

AEG has designed a superb stadium complex in the HDC. It's perfectly sized and laid out for soccer (though they host other events, such as the X Games, HBO Boxing and concerts, and the adjoining tennis center host a WTA event while the track & field center is home to a Major League Lacrosse team), and it's operated in a way that reeks of class. They truly are delivering an "ultimate fan experience" by utilizing all their assets and executing with excellence. Heck, the day even won over curmudgeon sports writer Bill Plaschke!

Padraig Harrington - Character trumps talent

2007-07-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

In stark contrast to the Michael Vick affair, Padraig Harrington demonstrated what a strong character can accomplish. After almost throwing away his first major title at The Open this past weekend with an 18th hole reminiscent of Jean Van de Velde, he prevailed in a playoff. During an interview after the victory the announcer suggested it was destiny that he win, to which Padraig quickly corrected him by saying something like "it wasn't destiny, it was hard work... years of hard work and and a hard path traveled."

Yes, Harrington is talented, but so are the many golfers he's competing against. But, this is a man that doesn't take his talent for granted. He's a grinder, and there's a lot to be said for grinders in all walks of life.

You can talk the talk, but do you walk the walk?

2007-07-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

I really didn't want to post about this again because the Michael Vick story disgusts me, but I'm finding some of the reaction by the media to be so idiotic that I just had to speak up.

Most high profile sports writers, including Bill Plaschke and Michael Wilbon, are saying that Michael Vick should be given a paid leave of absence to focus on his legal issues. Wow! I like the way this works... get indicted on federal charges and get a paid vacation (and at $6m per year, that's a pretty good boondoggle). I wonder if their opinion would be the same if the same type of past behavior and current allegations were made against a star member of their staff. Would they want to be associated with this type of story?

Arthur Blank, founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons, is at least saying the right things.

"Given the differing perspectives and strong feelings around this issue, we probably won't make everyone happy, but we are committed to doing the right thing. As the owner of this club, that's ultimately my responsibility. In the meantime, know that I'm saddened and distressed about this."

This issue goes far beyond good and bad PR. A talented workforce is an absolute requirement to a successful team, whether it be in business or sport. However, a team's performance is reliant on more than just functional talent. No employee is irreplaceable, and values, character and chemistry are just as important as talent when crafting a winning team.

Now that he's talking the talk, let's see if he walks the walk and treats Michael Vick the same as he would any other employee. You can't have two sets of standards and values when building a team.

PR Survival Handbook - #318

2007-07-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lesson #318 - What to do when your top employee is indicted for staging dogfights

I can't tell you how many times I've seen it happen... business is cruising along and then your top employee gets caught staging dogfights. No, that hasn't happened in your business? OK, well maybe Michael Vick's situation is a bit odd, but what isn't strange about it is the issue of getting negative press as the result of actions of your employees. Just take a look at what happened last week with Whole Foods CEO John Mackey or with Don Imus and the Rutgers Women's BBall team.

The NFL has been struggling with a ton of negative PR issues lately, and only in case of the Chicago Bears releasing Tank Johnson did a team take action that was more severe than the league. In Michael Vick's case, I'm wondering what everyone is waiting for. Will Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and founder of Home Depot, treat Michael Vick like any of Home Depot employees? Will he live by the values that built Home Depot into an American success story, one of which states "We exercise good judgement by "doing the right thing" instead of just "doing things right." We strive to understand the impact of our decisions, and we accept responsibility for our actions"?

Any organization with a strong set of values is able to deal with these issues quickly, without emotion, and ultimately, correctly for the long-term health of the business. However, if profit is the only value of your company, you'll remained flummoxed when bad things happen. This is not a case of guilt or innocence, but rather one of professionalism. If actions and associations of employees embarrass the organization and destroy value then you need to take action (the quicker, the better). At the very least, the Falcons need to suspend Vick without pay until this situation is resolved. However, if they live by their values, they'd just fire Vick and move on.

Harry Potter and B & N

2007-07-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Harry is everywhere nowadays. His latest movie was released last week, and the last in the series of books will be released this Friday night. At some point I'll probably go into a lot more detail around the marketing of this product/series, but for now, one thing that struck me was the marketing that Barnes & Noble is doing around the book launch.

On Monday I got an e-mail invite telling me it was "5 days to Harry". Not just your average "come to http://www.bn.com/ to buy the book" piece of spam, it was first an invite to one of their stores for Friday's Harry Potter's Midnight Magic party. B & N is doing a great job of utilizing every communication channel available to build customer loyalty and generate revenue. Even if you can't attend a party, you can watch a live video stream of the party from NYC. I'm a big fan of Amazon.com, but a well-executed multi-channel marketing campaign by a company with a brick & mortar presence can be so much more powerful than a pure online-only eTailer. They may have been slow to the online game, but they are now leveraging all their assets to create a competive advantage both online and offline.

UPDATE: A recent study by Carlson Marketing states that Barnes & Noble has one of the highest levels of customer relationship strength.

"It's exhausting being fabulous" - Posh Spice

2007-07-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

I lived in London from 2000 through 2004, and David & Victoria Beckham were like royalty there... they were loved by the people, but they remained distant. After watching Victoria's Coming to America special tonight, I'm convinced that she and David are going to be bigger than ever. She was smart, genuine, clever and quick, and America is going to adore her. David always impressed me as being a very good public speaker in interviews, but he's gotten much better. His performances during and after the press conference last week were superb. Keep an eye on these two (and their manager, Simon Fuller) because there are many lessons to be learned about speaking, PR, branding, and marketing in general, in the things that they do.

UPDATE: The show got trashed in the reviews, but that's probably a positive sign (not surprising that the US press doesn't understand a bit of Brit humour)... everyone that I've spoken with loved it.

Goooooooal!!!!

2007-07-16T01:01:00.000-07:00

Is this great marketing of a so-so product, or what?

As an LA Galaxy season ticket holder, I was at the David Beckham "unveiling" this past week (when sports teams make a big free agent signing they hold press conferences, however, when they acquire a world icon, they have unveilings). Look behind the scenes and you'll find two of the very best marketers on the planet and some great lessons. Philip Anschutz and his AEG, owners of the Galaxy and the Home Depot Center that they play in (as well as numerous other sports teams and venues), were the people with the vision and guts to pull this move off. It's a move they laid the ground work for several years ago when they partnered with Becks to open up his David Beckham Soccer Academy here in LA. On the other side of the table was David's representation, 19 Entertainment. Unless you're in the entertainment industry, you probably haven't heard of them, however, just about everyone knows who the brains are behind 19... none other than Simon Fuller, creator of American Idol and manager of the Spice Girls.

Every step of his arrival to America has been orchestrated and executed with unbelievable precision. It started as soon as the deal was signed several months ago. Although David was still under contract with Real Madrid until June 30th, Victoria started making high profile appearances such as lunching with Katie Holmes at The Ivy in Hollywood, throwing out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium, and appearing at the MTV music awards. And, it's culminating in a well coordinated roll out that began with the arrival of David, Victoria and their kids on Thursday night at LAX in front of close to 1,000 people and just about every important outlet of the world press.

The press conference on Friday morning was again, superbly executed. His wife, Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice), was the first to appear, dressed to the nines in a stunning fuchsia dress, striking a perfect pose for the hordes of photographers. The conference itself was flawless, with everyone saying just the right things (they also had the right people speaking as well... Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas, AEG Prez Tim Leiweke, Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop, MLS Commisioner Don Garber and LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa). The arrival festivities continue with Victoria's reality show tonight on NBC, and then wrap up with Beckham's first game on Saturday against English powerhouse Chelsea (which will be broadcast on ESPN).

The crowd of 3,000 season ticket holders was buzzing (not bad, that's about 20% of the season ticket holders showing up for 10am Friday event), singing songs and chanting "There's only one David Beckham". More importantly, the fans were buying the newly released LA Galaxy jersey (a release that was delayed from the beginning of the season to coincide with Beckham's arrival). Tim Leiweke has said that they've already sold 250,000 shirts. At $80 a pop, that's $20 million in revenue before Becks has even put on one those of shirts. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Real Madrid claim that they sold 1 million shirts within the first 6 months of Beckham's arrival in 2003, and that total merchandising income for the 4 years he was with them was in excess of £300 million.

So, although there may be much debate over the subject of David Beckham's soccer skills and whether his arrival is the beginning of a new era for US soccer and the MLS (or the beginning of the end, like when Pele arrived), there can be no debate over a few things here...

So-so footballer... maybe; so-so soccer league... maybe; but David Beckham is a first class product being managed by first class marketers. He's in a class of marketable people that includes maybe only 2 or 3 athletes and 2 or 3 actors. He is one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, with a following that has demostrated their willingness and ability to support his commercial partners. The financial reward to AEG, 19 Entertainment and the Beckhams will be significant.
The introduction and rollout of David and Victoria in America has been handled superbly. They've gotten major exposure, but, and this is hard to believe, they have not been over-exposed. There are still many significant opportunities to continue building the brand and reaping the reward. The Spice Girls have already announced a reunion tour (at AEG venues), and, regardless of whether the LA Galaxy win or not (Real Madrid, the most famous and most successful soccer team in the world, didn't win a thing with Beckham until this past month), the team will continue to be a financial winner through increased ticket & merchandise sales and sponsorship/partnership opportunities.
This rollout is a great example of a perfectly timed and coordinated marketing activity. Months of preparation and focus are resulting in maximized promotion that is tied to commercial opportunities. There has been no waste in this marketing effort, as the opportunity available is optimized and seized.

As a Galaxy fan I'll be watching the wins and losses (in my nice new Beckham jersey), but as a marketer I've already seen a win.

Update: The Marketing Maven: THE MARKETING PHENOM - DAVID BECKHAM has a great post on this subject.

What's this blog all about?

2007-07-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, that's a good question. The tag line above says it's about business, marketing, sport and life. Well, that could be just about anything... and who the heck wants to read a blog about everything (which means it's also about nothing). That may work for Seinfeld, but I don't think it's going to work for this blog, so let me explain a bit more about the tag line.

First and foremost, this is a blog about a subject that I love... business. Great businesses and business people tend to have a few things in common. One, they're often great marketers. Great marketing of a so-so product almost always trumps so-so marketing of a great product. That's why marketing is also a subject of this blog.

Second, great businesses usually have great people and cultures... people who are talented and driven, and cultures which support and encourage them. In that respect, great businesses share a common trait with the sports world, and it's one reason that I find sports so compelling. Competitiveness and the concept of "excellence" are things that get exaggerated in sport, but are often very hard to identify in other parts of society. These are critical components of success in business, and therefore, sports provide wonderful examples to anyone interested in winning in the business world. Also, since the sports world has now collided with the business world in a big way, it doubles my interest in the space.

Finally, great businesses usually have a great understanding of the environment... both the environment in which they operate, as well as the external environments which can impact their business. That means they're great at seeing what's going on in the world in general and understanding the impact on today and tomorrow. They're great observers and great interpreters. They gather lots of information, develop insights, determine implications, and take action. And, in order to do that, my lens on the business world is widened to see what's happening in life in general and determine how that might impact business.

So, that's my focus on this blog... talking about business. But, I intend to do that by talking about more than just business. Then again, that may all change. Any great business person listens to the market and makes adjustments. I encourage you to participate in the discussion and make this blog a community of great ideas.

Cheers!

The Big Egghead story

2007-07-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, the name of this blog has nothing to do with the fact that I actually do have an egghead. It comes from my time living in China, and the direct translation of my actual name... Dan Dato.

Dato is an Italian surname and, although we pronounce it DAY-TOE in the US, in Italy (and most other places around the world) they pronounce it DA-TOE. When I moved to China in 1997 I needed to choose a Chinese name for my green card. Usually this is done by making a direct phonetic translation of one's name. Sometimes this has a very appropriate outcome. For example, America is called "Mei Guo" (pronounced MAY-GWO), which translated means "beautiful land". Isn't that nice? :-)

Unfortunately for me, my name didn't come out quite so elegantly...

"Dan" means "egg"
"Da" means "big"
"Toe" means "head"

That's right, my last name literally translates to "Big Head" in Chinese (explaining the subtle chuckles everytime I'm introduced to a Chinese person). I've had a lot of nicknames in my life (The Dan, Dan-O, Danimal, Double-D, Triple, Triple-D, Scamper and CouchPoDato to name but a few), but The Big Egghead is the one that always makes me laugh.

What fun is life if you can't laugh at yourself?