It’s a gorgeous summer morning here in San Francisco as about 4,500 people from around the country — many of them people who have participated in USA WEEKEND’s Make A Difference Day each October — converge on the Moscone Center for the volunteering and service conference. They are here to share ideas and get inspired and have plenty of workshops and speakers to choose from, among them many CEOs. The down-turn in our economy has resulted in more focus on volunteering, that’s for certain.
I’m heading to the center in a few minutes, too, along with our Make A Difference Day editor Pam Brown, as we’ll meet with folks from the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the Corporation for National Service — which is alll about promoting the president’s summer of service idea — and our longtime partners, The Points of Light Institute, among others. (Checking in yesterday we ran into Neil Bush, former President George H.W. Bush‘s son, who is here with the Points of Light Institute.) Security is super-tight there today because Michelle Obama will be in the house by 4:30 p.m. PT. But the rest of us have to be in our seats by 3 p.m. I’ll have a spot in what they are calling “The Blog Pound,” so I’ll try to get reports out from there.
It’s a slow news day because there’s notihng new on the Paris Hilton front.I think the major media organizations would fry a fuse if an atom bomb went off from a terrorist in New York AT THE SAME TIME that Paris was being let out of jail.It would probably be resolved by stand-by cameras at Paris’ jail, with brief interruptions for news on the attack.