Let Them Eat Cake

A rainy day greeted us as we awoke to a morning of taxi confusion. As our professor prefers to segregate the strategic communication and news-ed people, both fabulous in our own ways, we arrived in different taxis to our destination of TechAmerica, which is a technology trade company but did not have cell phone reception in their conference room. This fun tidbit was discovered when we could not reach them on their cells when they did not arrive to join us in the lobby. Finally, and making us only slightly tardy, we ventured to the conference room and were treated to a quick but extremely interesting presentation on how the company started out small and grew to represent major technological companies, as well as smaller ones that they have faith in to become the next big thing.

They were honest with us about what they do, explaining their recent stances on opposing a sticker being added to phones purchased in Maine that warned the buyer the phone may cause cancer and a piece of legislation that made it illegal to place a chip in people against their will. Though surprising they opposed the second one, they explained it was because it demonized technology, so they were against it based on principle, but I wanted to ask if there was ever an instance where the technology-should-always-be-free-despite-the-consequences doesn’t trump whatever law or policy is up for passage and they do choose the force that opposes technology.

After a delightful time there we went to lunch at the National Press Association and consumed another three-course meal so we waddled out of the restaurant a while later, way too full to be moving at that point, and headed to mCapitol Management, a lobbying firm for companies like Motorola and Kellogg’s. To sum up the experience at mCapitol, I would have to say that I was thrilled we were twelve minutes late because that meant we spent twelve minutes where we were not miserable and were forced to listen to advice about our internships and how D.C. is all about who and where you know someone, and apparently job opportunities even arise at house parties. They totally RNCed us, which is the new term we will use from now on to express an unsatisfactory field trip where they avoid or talk around our questions like we first encountered at the RNC.

The mediocre day ended fabulously with a cocktail hour with the six of us before a delicious dinner with our professor at Smith and Wollensky. We have so many take-out boxes from eating out that we can barely open our fridge to eat the yummy contents of what is in them. And cake. We ordered cake, along with appetizers and drinks at dinner, and have an unhealthy amount of cake left, but we will enjoy the richness of chocolate and carrot cake a little bit each day for a long, long time. And that is just fine.