It’s funny how life works. After weeks upon weeks of being on the road, I returned from LA and was happy that I had a good 3 weeks in New York without needing to go anywhere. I sat in the car heading back to the city from JFK…relieved. I go to check my phone for some emails and see a particular one that jumps out. “IMPORTANT-WHITE HOUSE INVITATION“.
I thought for sure this was spam. But something told me it wasn’t. I opened it and there it was. An invitation to the White House! And not just to sight see at The White House but to speak IN IT! The Obama Administration was organizing a group of 25 CEOs in America all under 35 years old to speak about the economy and how it is affecting their business. I was chosen as one of the CEOs to come speak! The group they collected was amazing. CEOs from College Humor, Richemont, Zappos, TheU.net, Kiva, Ralph Lauren, Daily Candy, Method, Threadless, TOMS Shoes, Mint.com, MTV, Karmaloop, Twitter and more were there. Also the likes of Marc Ecko, Josh Spear and Ivanka Trump.
So there went the concept of staying put for very long! I was not missing this opportunity for anything! So on 3/6, I boarded the Acela for Washington DC. Marc Ecko and I decided on carpooling there together.
人生は面白いものです。何週間も旅に出っぱなしで、ロスから帰り、ニューヨークから出ない期間が3週間もありました。JFK空港から都心部まで車に座りながら、ほっとしていました。そして、メールをチェックするために携帯を見ると、一つ目にとまったメールがありました。「重要−ホワイトハウス招待状」
これは絶対スパムメールだと思いました。でも、もしかしたらと思い、あけてみると、出ました。ホワイトハウスへの招待状！しかも観光するためでなく、ホワイトハウスで講演するために！オバマ政権は今の経済がどのようにそれぞれのビジネスを影響しているかについて講演を開き、35歳以下のアメリカのCEOを25人招待しました。僕がその中の一人に選ばれました！選ばれた集団はすごかった。College Humor、Richemont、Zappos、TheU.net、Kiva、Ralph Lauren、Daily Candy、Method、Threadless、TOMS Shoes、Mint.com、MTV、Karmaloop、TwitterなどなどのCEOたち。そのほかにもMarc Ecko、Josh SpearとIvanka Trumpも参加していました。
なので、ニューヨークに長くいられると思ったのもつかの間。僕はこの機会を逃すわけにはいかない！3月6日にAcelaに乗り込み、ワシントンD.C.に向かいました。Marc Eckoと一緒にカープールすることにしました。
Marc is always hard at work…
Marcはいつも働きものです。
When we all arrived in DC, the meetings began. I don’t want to get too much into what was discussed, but I just want to say that it was awesome that The Administration had set up this forum to even exist! I’m nonpartisan when it comes to politics but this was pretty dope. I don’t think this could have happened 4 years ago! It really ended up being an introduction of sorts. We all exchanged information and they asked us to keep in touch to make positive things happen together. There was simply no way we could field the thoughts and suggestions of these great minds in one room; in one day.
みんなが全員集まると、会議が始まりました。どのような内容の会議はここでは深くは語りませんが、オバマ政権がこのようなフォーラムを開催したこと自体がすばらしいと思います！僕はどちらの党を支持することはありませんが、これはかなりドープでした。4年前ではこんなことは起こらなかったと思います！最終的には色々な意味でのきっかけになりました。みんな連絡先を交換し合い、これからも一緒ポジティブなことを作り出そうと約束しあいました。ひとつの部屋に集まった新鋭たちの思いや提案をその日に出動させられるわけがないので。
Here is my quick two cents on the political process. One big problem they have is the way in which they communicate to the everyday person. You really have to be somewhat of a political pundit to understand all the in’s and out’s of policies and the current events involving government. And I feel they are not making headway into this at all. Even as I was in this board meeting, I was kind of falling asleep. I kind of equate today’s government to the game of golf oddly enough. If you look at the sport of golf historically, it was a game for a certain type of people. It definitely was not the everyman’s game. It was dusty, old, regal and exclusive. An old boys club if you will. Then one person came along and changed everything. Fast! And soon, a whole new generation of people were involved and excited about the game. Tiger Woods injected new excitement and blood into the sport. And the entire country (and world) followed his every move. That’s great. But if you don’t get into the rules, regulations and strategies of golf, you will only be into it on a very superficial, surface level. You might watch Tiger play, but when he’s injured or sidelined, how many golf games do you have on?
政治的なプロセスについての僕のちょっとした意見です。一つ重要な問題は、政権がどのように国民一人ひとりとコミュニケーションをとるか。相当な政治の評論家でないと政策の良し悪しと政府がらみの時事問題を理解できません。しかも、これを解消するために政府は何もしていないと思います。この会議にいた時もちょっとウトウト眠りそうでした。変なことに今の政府をゴルフと一緒だと考えます。歴史的にゴルフを見れは、このスポーツは特定タイプの人のもの。昔は普通の人がするようなスポーツではありませんでした。古く、威厳があり、排他的でした。オールドボーイズクラブのような。するとある一人の人がすべてを変えました。あっという間に！そして新しい世代の人々がそのゲームに熱中し始めた。Tiger Woodsはそのスポーツに新たな風を吹かせて、国中（そして世界中）が彼を追いはじめた。すばらしいことです。でも、ゴルフのルール、規制、ストラテジーなどを知らなければ、上辺だけの興味でしかありません。Tigerがゴルフをするときに観るかもしれないけど、彼が故障してたり、試合に出なかったら、どれぐらいゴルフを観るだろう？
Government is the same way now. In the past, an exclusive club. Then, a hero arrives. He invigorates an entire country and the entire planet. But now I feel, you gotta show people how this game works. There are rules, policies and regulations and these need to be explained in a way that literally, e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y can understand and comprehend. Otherwise, you have 2 million shouting “Hope” and “Change” without really knowing how to go about it. It doesn’t matter if Obama has a Facebook page or a Twitter account. It’s not the medium that matters. It’s the message. That’s where I think the government can really work with companies that attended this summit meeting. At least I hope so. Time will tell whether this is policy in action, or more political smoke and mirrors to get approval ratings up.
今は政府も同じです。過去ではとでも排他的なクラブでした。すると、ヒーロー出現。国中とこの地球全体を活性化します。でも、今度はみんなにこのゲームのやり方を教えないといけないと思います。ルールや政策、規制などは国民一人ひとりが理解できるように説明しなければいけない。さもないと、200万人の人が「Hope(希望）」と「Change(改革）」と意味もなく叫んでいるだけです。オバマ氏がFacebookやTwitterのアカウントを持っているかは関係ありません。その手段ではなく、メッセージが大切なんです。そこで、政府は今回参加した企業と一緒になって何かできると思います。そう願います。これが実施される政策なのか、ただ単に支持率を上げるための政治的作戦なのかは時間のみが教えてくれます。
Love ur post.
Congrats. That’s a pretty amazing opportunity and one that reflects well on the new administration. Damn Id love to have sat in a room with all those creative individuals.
congrats jeff =)
First a teaching position at Columbia, and now speaking at the White House?
Kudos on all of these mile stone accomplishments – you are truly an inspiration.
P.S.,
Jeff, would you mind posting something in regards to the business aspect of Staple Design? I see a lot on your blog in regards to networking + exchange of design ideas, but I was looking for some insight for Business us students who are interested in your line of work, but cannot actually design for ourselves.
Thank you in advance if you ever do write on this topic. I will be looking out in hopes that one day you decide to write about it!
John
This is so fascinating. I am sure it still happens to a major extent, but in the past, we can rest assured that those who were invited in for a meeting like this were ONLY the CEOs of giant corporations, and Bono
In those days, they seemed to be the only companies that mattered. I applaud whoever they hired to assemble this group. They were either briefed really well, or they had a keen eye for finding 25 young CEOs that seem to stand for something greater than just the almighty dollar. Definitely the new generation that regardless of your political beliefs, seem to embody the Obama way. The list actually reads like a month’s worth of posts from Piers Fawkes.
We were recently invited to go down to DC to meet with members of the administration as well – different topic – and I could kick myself for not going (had a prior engagement I could not ditch).
Despite nearly dozing off in the meeting, your experience still made for a great blog post.
Thanks for sharing.
This is so cool, I’m happy for all you guys and I hope your represented the culture well. Now what about that Tom’s X Pigeon/Staple collab? lol..
so did you get the dlux?
Yes to the Marshall McLuhan reference.
Not yet…these are still shot with my Canon SD880 IS.
Congrats Jeff. That is truly amazing. Intelligence, as always, reigns supreme…