Working for the President

Working for the President

-by Errin

Yesterday was an exciting day.  The Glide Ensemble performed at a Barbara Boxer fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel, and President Obama was the guest speaker.  I sang with the Ensemble and Dan and Betty engineered Glide’s portion of the event, so three of our Media One staff were in attendance.

Although the choir performed a full hour before the President even arrived, we were permitted to stay and watch his speech.  Surprisingly, Dan and I were even allowed to walk right up to the side of the stage and stand just behind the barrier that separated the crowd from the Commander in Chief.  The Secret Service was undeniably laid back—a real change from previous gigs that we’ve done for Michelle Obama and the Clintons.  They didn’t mind us standing there and taking photos throughout the entire half hour, although I think we annoyed some folks in the audience who’d paid dearly for their choice seats.

With my little point-and-shoot camera I captured the first 20 minutes of what I thought was an excellent speech.  Here’s a short clip in which Dan and I make a cameo:

Watch Video of Obama on Energy

I was nearly beside myself with excitement, and there is actually quite a lot of footage of me giving the camera the thumbs-up and grinning like I just escaped the insane asylum.  I will spare you that imagery.

But here are a few of my favorite pictures from last night:

It was a long, wonderful day, and one that I’ll never forget.

But if I do forget it, I’ll just listen to the tapes that Dan made.  Because he snuck in his recording equipment hours before the Secret Service arrived and set it up beside the press decks.  We may not have actually been hired, but Media One Archive just worked its first presidential gig!

Next stop: Washington.