We were, after all, tourists in DC. So here we are taking a selfie in front of the White House.
We made a very quick pass through DC, but made the most efficient use possible for visiting old friends and colleagues. Wednesday night NGP VAN sponsored Happy Hour at a local bar for staff and friends and – as we’ve learned over the years – if you offer free drinks, people will come. So we had a great time with a bunch of our favorite people from DC, and then had lunches and drinks with others. (Sorry, Matt, we forgot to take a picture, so you’re not here!)
The crazy thing about DC is how much the city has changed in the last 20 years. Entire sections that were all but war zones are now high-end development. And the funny thing is that when we lived here 25 years ago we liked working in DC but didn’t like living there. Now we we think we’d enjoy living in DC, but sure don’t want to work there anymore. I guess we just can’t be satisfied. Except when we’re traveling in exotic places.
Taking beautiful pictures when Ashley Spillane – Director of Rock the Vote – is around is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Here we are with James and Jennifer, two of our favorite Boston staffers who’ve relocated to the DC office
Our CEO Stu and Drew Brighton from TargetSmart
Longtime friends Lisa Morton and Mike Sager enjoying our Happy Hour
Our CEO Stu, the DNC’s CTO Andrew Brown, Clarity Campaign’s Co-Founder David Radloff, and our CTO John Lee. All great and wonderful friends, and all working to empower Democrats and progressives while Mark and I are just out traveling. Thanks, guys!
We stopped by the AFL-CIO headquarters to see Mike Noonan. It’s a lot more fun to do that when we’re not responsible for … anything, really.
We even had the opportunity to meet new staff. Here Mark is with Joe Lazzerini, one of the bubbliest people you’ll ever meet.
Ann Kempski & I worked together at AFSCME nearly 25 years ago. She follows our travels and arranged a reunion lunch with a bunch of our old colleagues. What fun!
OK, we didn’t meet with Nick Clegg ( the UK Liberal Democrats’ party leader and Deputy Prime Minister) while we were in DC. And we didn’t even take this picture. But while we were in DC he was in Scotland using a VAN call sheet to turn out voters in the successful effort to block Scottish independence. We do some pretty cool work for some pretty cool clients.
I wondered if VAN/NGP had a role in that Scottish election! I’ll bet it feels weird to type “successful vote to block Scottish independence.” 😉 Go monarchy!
Seriously, even as one from Scotch heritage, I’ll tell you…I could’ve made arguments both for and against breaking away. Thankfully I don’t have a dog in that fight (although I do have a Scottish terrier – does that count?). And the people have spoken!
Thanks Sue. I thought E. J. Dionne said it best. Your heart is with independence, just the romance of it. But your head knows it’s too risky and probably unwise. Given enough attention the head will usually win.
P.S. Good work, VAN/NGP!