I'm really terrible at writing blog posts, which is probably why I don't have my own blog. (Why does the spell-checker not know the word "Blog"... does it not know that it is spell-checking a blog?)
Anyway, as most of you know, two months ago I started a job working for Governor David Paterson (D-NY) as what they call an "Advance man." For those of you who don't know, which I imagine is all of you since it is a pretty obscure position, an advance man (or woman, I guess) is the person who goes ahead of a politician in order to set up any event that the politician will be attending. My duties range from figuring out where to put the podium and how much lighting/sound is needed to wrangling the reporters and making sure that the Governor greets any VIPs that are also attending the event. The most important part of my job is making sure that the pictures that are shown in the media tell the same story that the Governor's speech and press releases is telling (a simple example would be that for an event emphasizing education and the importance of young people, I would make sure that there are plenty of pictures in a school with the Governor greeting smiling children). Pay attention to the visuals next time you see a news story online or on tv. If they are incongruous with the actual story, its probably the advance man's fault.
If you are interested in learning more about what I do, here are a couple links. The first is just a more succinct description of the job and the second is a longer anecdotal story written by an advance man for the Clinton '96 Campaign:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-advance-man.htm
http://www.salon.com/politics2000/feature/2000/02/09/advance/
If you have twitter and want to follow updates about my various work adventures, follow AdvanceMan55. My public, personal account is ltob86.
I'm doing really well and I love my job. Unfortunately, I'm still living at home, but that's saving me a lot of money, both in rent and food. Also unfortunately, I've been working so much that I don't have many updates on my personal life. I desperately miss DC and my college friends, but I got to visit them this past weekend, which was really great. I hope to be making more trips to visit all of you at some point, but work does not really allow me to make solid plans more than a week in advance (and even that can be stretching it).
I think that's enough for one post.
PS I can't go without mentioning that I saw the President speak at HVCC a couple weeks ago. It was awesome.
3 comments:
Check you out makin contacts
Yeah, its been really good meeting people at my job. So far I've seen/met Pres. Obama, Sec. Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Mayor Bloomberg, Fmr. Gov Pataki, and all sorts of legislators and politicians from across the state.
We mainly discuss ways to keep you out of the country, Rob. So, yes, there is a conspiracy.
And now I have proof. HA I was just using you to get that info! you fool Muhahaha
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