Washington trip day 4

Our first meeting today was with Global Giving and Alejandro provided the briefing. We then walked a couple of blocks to their offices. We were all stunned when we walked in the office on the 9th floor of a very nice building to find a company with the attitude of a start up in the Bay Area. This was the first company that did not dress in formal business attire! When we arrived they said we looked like bankers or Lawyers, while they on the other hand look cool and relaxed dressed in jeans, shorts, flip flops, etc... The offices were open plan and you got a sense that they all liked working there and 

Global Giving

together. They started with their usual weekly brief, an internal meeting that we sat in on and the business or information owner presented. The amazing hting is it was not in a stuffy room but up at one end of the office area in an open area with a large screen surrounded by tables, chairs and bookshelves. It was really neat to hear the briefing and what is important to them. After the briefing Mari Kuraishi gave us an overview of their work and why she and Dennis Whittle set up the organization. One key takeaway from her talk is that real innovation learning comes from failure and the World Bank can not have people failing with billions of dollars. But with Global Giving people have the opportunity to learn and if it fails it is only a small amount, but from that learning comes a better result.

Shelley

Today we spent the whole day on Capital Hill. We visited Senator Dodd's office, and meet with his chief of staff. Senator Dodd is the chair of the Senate committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Fidelis

After this we had lunch in the Senate Cafeteria and went in search of the two hearings that were on. While doing this Shelley and Mary organized tickets for us to visit the Senate, so we got to sit right in the gallery overlooking the Senate floor. It took near 20 minutes to get from the front door of the Senate to our seats and we had to pass 2 security checks and check anything electronic (cameras, phones, etc...). The inside of the Senate building is amazing in its architecture with ornate rooms and corridors through out. When we finally got to the Senate floor we were able to hear a debate on energy and oil from Senator Dorgan from North Dakota.

Tony & Barrie

When this finished we decided to leave and head for a near by cafe/restaurant for refreshments. Our plan was to go back to the Senate for the vote on the Small Business bill and then on to a party near the congress buildings with Nancy Polosi and a few other congress people.

Lost looking for happy hour

One the way to the cafe we got split up and the two groups each found a different Thai restaurant to have a refreshing drink and to take the weight off our feet. At this stage we had been walking the city for a number of hours and our feet were hot and tired. I called the Senate to check if the vote was going ahead, and to our disappointment it was canceled. This did mean we could head to the party early, and so off our small group went on what should have been a short walk. Rob lead the way to the address and we entered the congress building. We searched for the room with out any luck.

I stopped by one of the congress offices and asked and they sent us to the next building. It was at this point I assumed the blind position leading the blind as none of us had a clue where we were going. In the next building we found a forum/party celebrating organic fruits and vegetables and heard about a party up stairs for pork. Funny that the meat and veg were on different floors. At this point I asked a security person and they sent us to the next building, Cannon where we should find our treasury.

On the steps of Capital Hill

 On we walked through buildings, up and down stairs looking for the elusive party. In the end we exited the building next to Capitol Hill with out any luck and still separated from the rest of our group. Then we spotted some of the group getting out of a cab across the road. We all headed up to the Congress side of Capitol Hill and proceeded to trip and harass Congressmen as they exited.

Xilinx Trio: Barrie, Faten & Robert

This was fun to watch as we tried to schmooze our way up for a discussion and a photo. As you can see we were successful and at the end of it tired.

After that it was off to dinner (in a lovely Turkish restaurant) and to bed from what was a very tiring day for everyone walking the corridors of power and visiting with Senators and Congress men to talk about the important issues of the day.