Washington trip day 6

It was difficult to get up this morning but it had to be done. We were checking out and I needed to pack, get the suit on and get breakfast. This was the toughest of the early morning starts. All because this was after a late night of fun. At least the re-hydration worked and I don't feel too bad. Today was to be another fun filled day with multiple meetings, the morning schedule was AARP and if successful Google. Then in the afternoon a line up of people back in the hotel before we jetted off to the West coast.

We started with a short taxi ride to the marble halls of AARP. This place is huge, they have 4 buildings that  line the street for a block, I guess that is what it takes to serve the largest market in the US - "The Boomers" The first of which is due to retire in 2011 and the market is forecast to be worth ~$40 billion in 2020. Even a 1% market share would be good, send your ideas on a post card to .....
At AARP we met Jeff McCalke and Rick (Harry) Moody. This is a an organization that believes in fulfilling a society need and serving the community. They support multiple portfolios (Health, Financial and Lifestyle) and market to the over 50s. They also have a small younger market and are actively trying to grow and target different ethnic groups. Rick's presentation style was just what we needed, simple slides each with a picture or a brand. He basically us through an entertaining presentation explaining "age affirmative branding" and how beneficial it is in growing acceptance for your products. All in all an interesting morning. If you don't have an idea yet on how to capture some of the $40b market check out the AARP site as they have research and data on the likely needs and good products for this market.

Google Reception Area

After the meeting we had received confirmation that the Google meeting was going to go ahead. Thanks to Andrew and Shelley for their hard work and getting us in. From AARP we walked to Google about 8 blocks away. Google is on the 2nd floor of an unassuming tall building, but one you enter the Google space you see the difference. Inadvertently we walked in the wrong door and right in to the middle of the office area. This was quickly sorted and we moved out to reception. The reception was full of color and I felt like I was back in the Bay, but a little overdressed. The first part of this visit was a tour of the office, cafeteria and games room followed by a Q&A session with ... the head of the office.


Basically what Google does in this office comes under the title of "Policy Engineering", a great way to describe working with legal and government. Much of the discussion was around Net Neutrality and the recent white paper produced by Google with Verizon. This paper focused on the wired side of the broadband bill, while the wireless side was put off to a future date. Google said the collaboration with Verizon required both parties to make compromises. The key question is around prioritization and under what conditions, if any, this should occur. We also learned that the collaboration came about during a meeting between the two CEO's. They were discussing about what they were dealing with in the government and felt that if they contributed to the debate they maybe able to create more discussion and get the bill moving. This was a great visit and I was delighted that Andrew and Shelley were able to make it happen.

Porter Novelli

After this it was on to SubWay for a quick lunch and then back to the hotel to finish packing, check out and start the next round of briefings. I had an over roasted chicken sandwich and then headed to the hotel. Checkout for me was easy as I was packed and ready to go in the morning. Luckily our next set of briefings were to take place in the hotel and were all back to back. We started with the World Bank, then on to Porter Novelli a PR agency, then another great talk with vince Reinhart, followed by our last briefing for the week from Peter Bell who runs a trade association management company, that happens to represents reverse mortgage interests on Capitol Hill. Peter is also on the board of DC Jazz.

Vince Reinhart

After this there was a rushed photograph with the usual group and then Daniel, Hixia, Kyle and I jumped in a cab to the airport. We were ~20 minutes later leaving than we expected, and with DC traffic this could have made it a close call. In the end we got their in plenty of time. Daniel was on an earlier flight than Hixia, Kyle and me, so he headed off. We took our time in the terminal, grabbed a bite to eat and headed for the plane. It jsut so happens that Kyle lives close to me so I offered him a ride home. We were all traveling on United and kyle was our VIP allowing Hixia and me to jump the line and get on board early. Thankfully this was an uneventful flight and we arrived pretty much on time. I went and picked up my car from the parking lot and the came back and picked up Kyle. Off we drove down 101 and on to 85 and soon we were home.

What a week it'll take a couple of days to recover, luckily tomorrow is Saturday and college doesn't begin until Tuesday! Oh and in the mean time I have to get all the assignments done :(

Thanks Mary and Shelley for an amazing week in Washington!