A VC - Latest Comments in Inaugurapalooza

Re: Inaugurapalooza

DaveGoulden — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:34:16 -0000

There was way more to this inauguration than fancy balls. We were in DC from Sunday through the ceremony. It was one of the most incredible experiences to be around millions of people who were all super positive and uplifted.

On Sunday, there was a free concert attended by 500k people. Sure, there were celebrities there, but the spirit of the event was awesome. Here's my post on what it was like to be there. http://oneslowfamily.com/20...

On Monday, there were over 200 service projects around DC heavily promoted by the Inauguration Committee. We participated in two of them. At one event alone, 12,000 volunteers prepared 85,000 care packages for the Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And, of course, the main event was unbelievable with close to two million people sharing the experience. Here's a few pictures of what it was like to be there. http://www.flickr.com/photo...

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:39:57 -0000

I thought it was a good speech but there will always be naysayers about
everything

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:32:03 -0000

I agree Jason. It was a good day for America

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Steve Kane — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:44:08 -0000

I am duly corrected.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

RonDC — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:09:29 -0000

Wrong. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... Barack Obama's mother had English, Irish, Dutch, French and German heritage from her parents. Just because he is half African the other half doesn't count?

Re: Inaugurapalooza

stone — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:51:22 -0000

http://blogs.telegraph.co.u...

Obama didn't give a good speech, that is for sure, but I'm not sure it matters when you have folks like Bernie Madoff managing peoples money. Wall Street is corrupt and until it gets fixed our financial economy is going to be in shambles. I defy anyone to name another industry in worse condition. Autos looks pretty by comparison.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Jason_Horowitz — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:55:57 -0000

I'm looking at this thread a little late, but don't see any follow-up about the speech. Fred, I think you got exactly what you asked for there: an earnest call for sacrifice, "a new era of responsibility" and a new way of doing things. Time will tell about the administration's effectiveness, but all indications from the campaign and transition are that Barack Obama follows up on his commitments. At the end of the day, his ability to deliver depends as much on all of us as on the President. Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but I think the inaugural glitter is a great way to communicate our pride in a peaceful and orderly transition, which we take for granted but which is more the exception than the rule in the world. And it was nice that the faces celebrating in DC this time actually reflected America!

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Michael_Josefowicz — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:48:37 -0000

A couple of years ago, Eric Schmidt had a meeting with the conservative leadership in the UK. He told them at the time that the era of bullshit is coming to an end. Imagine the Google bullshit meter search. (he didn't use those words)

But if I can follow everything a pol has said through my RSS, it turns out that the easiest thing to do is to tell the truth.

And we all know that no matter what the bullshit is, everyone will do the easiest thing to do.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Tony Confrey — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:44:00 -0000

Fred,

I think your original post and this followup are right on the money. Words do matter, they can inspire or they can lay the ground work for whats to come by setting expectations. I thought Obama hit the right tone yesterday. This was not the soaring inspirational speech he could have given (and has in the past) but a sober assessment of what lies ahead. When you really read it you can see the message load and clear.

In a shameful plug I'll point you to a different way of experiencing the speech, its worth the time:
http://www.textflows.com/Ob...
Compare with the soaring inspiration of his victory speech a short few months back:
http://www.textflows.com/Ob...
reminiscent of King:
http://www.textflows.com/ML...

Tony

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Shane — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:26:00 -0000

To be honest, I am very concerned about the number of people who have invested their entire emotional well-being in the President of the United States. Call me a cynic, but to put all of your eggs into the President basket is setting yourself up for disappointment because by himself Obama has no power to follow through on any of his campaign promises. He has to get through the corrupt cesspool known as Congress, where the votes are always for sale. I hope that he does well, but I am not counting on him to magically fix every problem that ails the country, as many believe he will.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:44:34 -0000

I sure hope the era of bullshit is over

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Michael_Josefowicz — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:32:20 -0000

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I don't see it that way. We'll just have to wait and watch closely.
Meanwhile, we should all keep in mind that Obama was elected by just barely over 50% of about 65%. He did not win a "mandate" as Bush didn't have a "mandate."

The real job for us in the communication space is to deepen and extend the conversation that started yesterday. Some of our liberal friends are going to be surprised. President Obama is not a liberal, as that word has been understood since WWII. "Conservatives" are going to be surprised. The "values" used by the Bushies to hijack the Republican party are not, and never were conservatives.

Look to American values, Yankee ingenuity and responsibility. As the President said, we are Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus and non believers. That sounds about right, but I never heard that said by a President of the United States of America. My take is that the era of bullshit is over. For business, for government, for education.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

toddsavage — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:00:28 -0000

Couple of things, I am a man without a party anymore, so consider me independent. First of all, the fact that they spent $140 million+ on this inauguration is absolutely disgusting, especially given the economic climate we are in. Second, Obama has not convinced me that he has "core values" and that he can make tough decisions - he appears to me as someone that wants to please others, and that is VERY dangerous as President of the U.S. I hope he proves me wrong. Say what you want about George W. Bush, but the fact that he 100% supported the surge when it was the most unpopular decision you could ever make showed me a lot about his "core". Third, I hope the Bush-haters "let it go" and move on with putting their energy into fixing this country. The amount of Bush-hating I saw on Facebook yesterday was just ridiculous. Let's "let it go" and put our energies into fixing this country - we are going to need every ounce of it! Obama is now my President, and let's do everything we can to support him.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Michael_Josefowicz — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:56:12 -0000

Turns out he pretty much did what you asked, IMHO. Now the games begin.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:17:23 -0000

I totally agree about Bush hating. When I heard he was boo¹d yesterday it
made me sick. I never liked him, never voted for him, never could look at a
picture of him without feeling sick to my stomache, and am happy to see him
go. But he was the president of the US. We gotta respect him for that.
Particularly now that he¹s retired.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:15:47 -0000

I agree and tweeted that during the speech

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:14:22 -0000

That's certainly where my head is at right now

I gave money to him starting in the fall of 2007, gave the max every time I
could, did not vote for him in the primary though I came close, and did vote
for him in the general election. I also wrote a lot of words of support for
him on this blog.

From where I sit, it's time he starts delivering on all of that support in
terms of real actions.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:11:26 -0000

That's exactly right. Thanks for saying it.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:11:22 -0000

Yeah it was a big day. Sorta feeling silly about my bah humbug attitude but
I still have it to be honest. I want action not words now.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

flowman1 — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:24:36 -0000

Words do matter.

Here's a slower, calmer way to read/hear what Obama said:

http://www.textflows.com/Ob...

It runs longer than the speech itself (by half), but you have the time to see all the words and how he put them together.

The speech was very good.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Guest — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:54:31 -0000

Reading this reminded me of this truly superb essay:
http://www.edge.org/3rd_cul...

As a true-to-self liberal Fred is being cool, cerebral, and hostile towards power and authority, as well as towards the tendency of people to "coalesce temporarily into hives, a process that is thrilling, as anyone who has ever "lost" him or herself in a choir, protest march, or religious ritual can attest"...

The interesting thing about conservatives is that they tend to put value on "respect to power and authority", as Prof Haidth points out. This is just an amazing graph in support of the hypothesis:
http://www.pollster.com/pol...
Notice how, once he became The Chief, Obama won over the rest of the nation. Based just on moral psychology, I bet that in the coming months Obama will be viewed more sceptically by sardonic, left-leaning intellectuals (like Fred) than by the power-worshipping sheep on the Right. Fascinating!

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Scott Sherman — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:35:08 -0000

Hi Fred,

I appreciate your post, though I do have to differ with you from several perspectives. First, I don't think people who are not african-american can really grasp the enormity of this moment (and, no, I am not african-american). This is the first african-american president; this is the end of the Civil War (I believe we are starting a new "Act" in our nation's history); and, african-american people want what all white people have received to date. They want a glorious celebration just like others have received in the past. I think it makes a great deal of sense and is cleansing for our country and our democracy. Such a celebration is cathartic and essential.

In many ways, to not honor this new president in the same way would be to take away from this incredible achievement. I remember when folks were worried that Martin Luther King was some kind of "communist" because he was fighting for civil rights. MLK was no communist. He wanted the "american dream" for ALL americans. I think that is true here... though on a much smaller scale... the election of Obama is a watershed moment in our history. People want to mark that, they want to celebrate that and they want EXACTLY what others have had before (and, that includes good as well as bad presidents). Obama supporters (namely African-Americans) NEED to feel the thrill of this moment, with the same pomp and ceremony and celebration that those who have persecuted african-americans experienced. To not do like-for-like would cheapen the day and make for a difficult transition.

So, I say enjoy. Savor. Party. And, in another day, we will all begin the rebuilding of this great country. We have a lot of work to do, and, much sacrifice.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

Steve Kane — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:14:39 -0000

You're allowed. Especially given your typically sunny, far-center disposition.

BTW, here's another reason to party hearty:

BHO is not only the first ever African-American President; he is also the first President ever to NOT be of northern European descent.

In fact he is only the second President in history to not be of English or Irish descent (Dwight D. Eisenhower's family immigrated from Germany.)

Re: Inaugurapalooza

blake41 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:58:45 -0000

Fred, I totally disagree with you here. I just got back from the inauguration, and the positive energy in the crowd was palpable. I don't think I've ever been a part of something so special. Over a million people celebrating the end of the Bush administration and welcoming the change Obama represents. On top of that the election of the first African American president marks a monumental occasion, and I for one think a celebration of this historic moment in our history is in order. Obama's speech was phenomenal, and set a tone of peace, collaboration and openness in the world for the next 4 years.

Re: Inaugurapalooza

fredwilson — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:59:23 -0000

I understand that and it's certainly a very big day for humanity in that regard

It's even more special that it comes a day after we celebrate MLK