Paparazzi!

On the last night of the Clinton Global Initiative, Esperanza Garcia (my partner in crime and adventure) and I lurked in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel....Sue Ellen was there on the video camera and we were all ready to get interviews (or THE picture) of the Conference.

We were Paparazzi  (for the first & last time in my relatively short life). And did we have success (relatively speaking as we were at the Clinton Global Initiative not the MTV or Academy Awards). The evening started with us watching the closing ceremony at the Sheraton bar in the lobby (fyi, the service is AWFUL there...the bar staff were better than the floor staff but not by a whole lot). I started talking to a ITC expert on security from the UK about the future of corporate security. Then Esperanza, and the camera crew called me. I rushed over to find Esperanza interviewing Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland). I quickly took on the role of identifying who to interview and trying to keep them happy until it was there turn.  The highlight of the evening was asking Ben Stiller a question...the only question that the press were given. We also interviewed the President of Portugal.

We made a great team as we got prime interviews and made great connections. But the fun didn't end there....just as we believed that things were done....Vin Diesel walks by and we snagged him for a photo (I was suddenly starstruck, pathetic...I know). I was completely blase until that stage of the evenings proceedings. That was when I realized that this was real....I was one of those crazy camera people. That was when we retreated to one of the five after parties. w00t! Clinton Global Initiative was amazing! This is the superficial surface experiences....but it went a little deeper. Real commitments were made during the event and I never even realized it existed.

And now it is over for another year, lets hope that the commitments made are kept!