On the drive back to Columbus from the Cincinnati One Web Day event, I was not onl
y trying to figure out the best way to present the event in my blog post but also the best way to answer questions from my eleven year old. I brought my son with me to the event. I let him miss school (not a minor decision) in order to expose him to a situation where he could ask a question of a representative of a presidential candidate and to talk with others about the importance of technology in our lives. I also wanted him to understand how the event came to be and why it was important. Ultimately, those are the same things I want to convey to you.
We did not have a representative of McCain participate. Gigi Sohn, founder of Public Knowledge, represented Obama.
I should define the process for invitations. I emailed invitations to both campaigns. Through my involvement with the Obama campaign I was given a good email address for requesting a McCain rep. The request was forwarded twice. We landed with an individual who tried his best to get us someone. Unfortunately when it turned out Michael Powell was not available in the morning, the McCain folks were unable to find us someone who a) wanted to participate and b) made it through their vetting process. Very unfortunate. Also important to note, we did invite the Nader folks. No response.
