inaugural balls

All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go has a whole new meaning to me now.

It all began with an historically historic history of historic proportions. Let me just say that it was assume that there would be 2 million people at the inauguration. I heard an estimation of 4 million people coming into DC. It wasn't like the Capitol Police didn't know what they were dealing with.

While at the DNCC in Denver, I was constantly struck with the ease and organization with which we dealt with each security parameter. Whether it was an event, the convention center, the Pepsi Center, or Mile High Stadium it was easy and safe to navigate to all levels of security. Props to the city of Denver.

The Capitol Police... Epic FAILURE.

Its being called PurpleGate.

WashingtonPost

"As it became clearer that thousands of people stuck outside the security barriers would miss seeing the inauguration and the parade, excitement changed to frustration and anger with security organzers.

"This is crazy," said Tonita Davis, 42, of Dayton, Oh. She and her family arrived downtown at 6 a.m., but left D and 7th around 11:35 a.m. They had tickets, but said those were of no use. "It's quite a disappointment."

Masses of people are waving their silver invitations in the air but the line is moving slowly as of 11:30 a.m. The silver line screening point is near Independence Avenue SW and 3rd Street SW.

Oakland native Marcus Alexis says, "it is irresponsible to issue all of these tickets and not let the people in."

Those holding tickets for the purple section of the Capitol grounds are also having a hard time getting in for the swearing-in."

It gets worse. The new facebook group has now sprung up called the Purple Tunnel of Doom because people were funneled into the 395 tunnel and held like cattle only to be turned away in the end. When I first joined the group it was about 300 people - its now up to 2,839 and was featured in Politico and on Rachel Maddow. The facebook group along with its organizers are lobbying the Inaugural Committee for anything but many declare it is too late and their apologies are meaningless.

I heard a few comments that the Texas Congressional Delegation was having trouble getting in. The Mayor of Seattle was turned away, Rep. Jim McDermott’s brother had a ticket but never got through the gates. not to mention a woman who flew in from Ethiopia I talked to in the blue line and countless other people who stood in the 5 degree wind chill for 6 hours or more but received the closed gate. Epic Failure.

In the orange line there was actually someone who I imagine was a producer or someone from the Ellen DeGeneres show. Many people were pushing and shoving and this woman was randomly walking about the people. Some thought she was trying to cut in line and were telling her that it wasn't cool. Finally she just started shouting "I'm from the Ellen DeGeneres Show! I don't want your place in line, I just want to get through!" Another woman shouted back "I'm from Ohio... I don't give a shit!" The Ellen woman then shouted "You people are supposed to be filled with hope!" Evidently, she was talking about the non-DC crowd. Epic Failure.

Apologies were issued the evening after

"In a statement, the committee said it "deeply regrets" the foul-up and will conduct a thorough examination of what went wrong. The Washington Post reported today that at least 4,000 ticket holders, primarily in the Purple and Blue sections, were denied entrance, despite waiting for up to five hours in cold temperatures."

Most interesting is the Senate Sergeant at Arms (who's head will probably roll)

Gainer said the overwhelming majority of ticketholders was able to enjoy the ceremony thanks to the participation and cooperation of security and government agencies."

from ABC:

"Numerous local and federal authorities coordinated security at the event. A spokesman for the ... Read MoreD.C Metro Police said crowd control in the area was handled by the Secret Service.

The Secret Service would not officially comment but said security in the purple area was handled by the Capitol Police.

The Capitol Police did not respond to inquiries by ABC News.com. "

Oops. Additionally, people in the facebook group are saying they don't give a damn about the apology or the promised special program or whatever, its game's over. Epic Failure.

While the insanity of the Inauguration was unbelievable, it continues... and gets worse, particularly for young people.

The Youth Ball

I spent a lot of time making fun of balls but when we found out that there were a number of organizations doing balls that were supposedly promoting youth values but charging an arm and a leg to get in... it became something else. I was so thankful to Norman Lier who had like 10,000 spin offs from was kind enough to let us into his event for a mere $250. That's exactly how much my car payment is each month!! How did they know!? Other events... all too expensive. And while I appreciate that there are events if I pay money for something its not going to be $250 for a party, its going to be treating my friends to dinner. I'm not one of those people who swoons when famous people are around.

So the official youth ball where Barack Obama was actually scheduled to show up...

Much like the PurpleGate of Doom the Youth Prom from Hell was not as bad but nearly - because we actually paid to go. First of all I arrived before it began but still stood in line for an hour in the 5 degree wind chill waiting to get in. I was ok with that because I was not in a ball gown.

Once I got in, it didn't matter because I couldn't get into the ball room. There were 2 of them. One of them Barack came to - the other one was a ball room where people paid to get screwed with their tux pants on because they chose the wrong ball room. Even if you could get down to the bottom floor you were probably not funneled into the ball room. Instead, as 2 youth movement leaders told me, you paid $75 to watch a big TV with the going's on you were missing. The same thing you could catch on MTV at home.... for free.

Further, the pillars of the youth movement weren't there, because they couldn't get in. Jane Flemming Kleeb was shoved out of the ball room, staff for Rock the Vote, including Heather Smith, couldn't get in, our own Mike Connery couldn't get in, nor could Matthew Segal. And me? Not that I'm a pillar in anything, but I was surrounded by police who shouted at a crowd of people I was in the middle of who threatened to riot. (video to come)

Some people in the crowd had been in the Purple Tunnel of Doom earlier.

I'm sure Mike will talk about his opinions on the "service speech" - I haven't even heard it because I was surrounded by police being yelled at and shoved around by a riot-ready crowd for $75.

I received text messages from leaders of youth organizations saying things like "this is bullshit" and "outrageous." We later learned that many of the people at the ball were flukie staffers (a made up word meaning staffers who weren't really staffers but say they are to get free stuff) from the Obama campaign. Not that those people aren't meaningful, but they worked for the campaign for 3 months.

For those of us who have been working in the youth movement for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 years... your efforts were as meaningful as the 3 month staff and interns all across America. Without your dedication this party wouldn't have been the epic failure it was.

While there has been an apology to the people of the Gate Gates, I haven't received an apology or a refund from my disastrous experience at the Youth Ball though it had been requested formally through email to the committee.

(I'm having issues uploading my video on the wifi connection I have in DC I may have to try it from a coffee shop or something but I will try and upload it soon)

Last month in a fit of irritation I lamented the lack of youth balls to honor the great participation, volunteerism, and voting power that Millennials had this election to get President Elect Barack Obama to the White House. It wasn't long after that MTV announced they were working on a ball - then there became an official Obama Youth Ball (for $75).

Yesterday Declare Yourself announced their hawt ball action "A New Birth of Citizenship" with Host Jessica Alba and Musical Performance by Maroon 5.

"Norman Lear, the TV producer, and founder of Declare Yourself, said, "This Inauguration marks an important moment in our country's history - one that allows us all to be proud of how far we've come and the direction we're going. Our event celebrates this moment and helps motivate us all to become more active in our communities on the local and national level by getting involved, giving back, and being proud to be an American, born again."

Cost for the event is a not so youth friendly $250.

But wait... there's more! Today my good buddy from Kansas Kevin from Do Something sent me an invite to their event on January 19th the day before the Inauguration

"Do Something is holding a Social Action Boot Camp in conjunction with the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and we want you to be part of it. Join your fellow community organizers, activists and youth leaders for a day of workshops, innovative speakers and networking."

Place: Washington, D.C., Georgetown Campus, Intercultural Center (entrance at 37th St and O St)
Time: 9:00am to 6:00 pm (Breakfast and Lunch Included)
Cost: FREE (*Attendees are responsible for travel and accommodation costs.)

I think I also volunteered to do something in my sleepy stouper this morning, but I'm not sure what it is.... so I encourage you to stop by and say hi and support DoSomething.org

The New Leaders Council is hosting an event Sunday January 18th from 4-6pm at the Watergate Office Building for a very youth friendly $35. The NLC works to promote the young leaders who are working daily to crate a better world with 3 major chapters in NYC, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Space is limited, so RSVP ASAP.

The DNC Youth Council has also created a spreadsheet on google docs (this isn't working for me suddenly, I'm investigating) that helps chart the information for who, what, when, and where key youth events will be held in the days before and on Inauguration Day. These include the Human Rights Campaign Event, Netroots Nation (which I'm told is nearly sold out), as well as others. Check it out to find out all your youth ball info. Hope to see you all in just over a week!

MTV just announced plans to host an inaugural ball. Sounds good to me. I've heard that College Democrats are also planning their own event, and Rock the Vote may be as well. Personally, if I had my druthers, Rock the Vote and CDA would scrap their plans, MTV would add them and a whole bunch of other youth groups to the "host committee" list, and everyone would work together to petition the DNC to make MTV's event the official "youth" ball (Obama will show up at whatever event is deemed official).

As long as people who worked their asses off to engage youth during this election get invited, I could care less who sponsors the youth inaugural ball. And as I mentioned in the comments on Sarah's last post about this, these things are quite expensive and completely superfluous to youth organizations doing their job well. Why spend $50 - $100k throwing a big-ass party to win a news cycle when that money could be better spent shoring up the operational budget of an entire organization for the next year? Doesn't seem like much of a choice to me.

MTV & ServiceNation Team Up To Host “Be The Change Inaugural Ball”

America’s Youth to Come Together to Celebrate a New President, a New Generation of Leadership, and a New Era of Community

MTV Programming Will Highlight Young People Across America Taking Action to Aid Their Communities

New York, NY (November 25, 2008) – MTV and ServiceNation today announced they will host the “Be The Change Inaugural Ball” in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2009 to celebrate the massive youth voter turnout in the 2008 Presidential Election and an active commitment from America’s youth to impart positive social change through volunteer service.

Held at The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C., the event will feature leading artists, celebrities and government officials, alongside hundreds of young people chosen to attend based off their demonstrated volunteerism, for live performances and dedications highlighting the power of America’s youth to take action in their communities. The special event will be televised live and premiere across all MTV platforms including MTV, MTV2, MTV Tr3s, mtvU, MTV Hits, MTV Jams and MTV.com on the evening of January 20, 2009 (time to be announced) and will include live broadcasts from locations worldwide where young people are completing major service projects in real-time during the inaugural event. Additionally, MTV will showcase stories of young people providing service within their communities on a daily basis beginning the first day of the New Year, culminating on Inauguration Day.

“Over the last year and culminating in this election, we have seen a groundswell of engagement and a refreshed spirit of activism from young people," said Stephen Friedman, General Manager of MTV. "ServiceNation is the perfect partner for this inaugural event given they encompass a broad coalition of youth service organizations. We want to celebrate young people across the nation who are answering the call and working to make changes in their communities and beyond."

"ServiceNation looks forward to partnering with MTV on a historic inaugural event that will call on all Americans to act on their idealism and answer President-elect Obama's call to serve,” said Michelle Nunn, CEO, Points of Light Institute. “By uniting Americans on the common ground of service, we can roll up our sleeves and help solve the nation's great challenges and inspire every American to be the change they wish to see in the world."

A record 24 million 18 – 29 year-olds voted in the 2008 Presidential election. Out of the 133.3 million total voters, the youth vote accounted for 18 percent of the electorate. This turnout marks the third major election in a row with increased youth voter numbers, and for the first time in twenty years, the number of young voters aged 18 – 29 surpassed that of voters over the age of 65.

One thing about the Inauguration to be aware of is the many balls that are happening in Washington. Inauguration is a lot like the acceptance speech at the Oscars only they don't play you off the stage. Inaugural Balls are like the post Oscar Parties, only people wear a hell of a lot more black clothing and people are drunkenly talking about numbers, charts, graphs, and policies, rather than movies, publicists, and who's dressed the worst.

Now you have to know your balls quite well. There are a lot of balls in DC..... more than you'd think. And everyone dresses up special for their balls. Even some caucuses have balls! Thus far there are 9 official and 31 unofficial balls. Everything from Native American balls, to the official Commander and Chief Ball hosted by military personal ... you could I suppose call that the Brass Ball.. There are Hawaiian balls, in the past a Texas/Wyoming Ball presumably because that was where the Pres and VP were from. I've been told that Texas has very large balls or at least they like to think they do.

CNN did a recent special about the Balls and the extravagances that you see at these balls. Everyone wants to have a big expensive flashy ball - I mean who doesn't want to see some flashy balls right? Especially in Washington which often times is filled with so much darkness and seriousness. But, at a time when the economy is in peral and our Commander in Chief will face some pretty steep challenges on Day 1, do we want him out the night before taking in so many balls? I mean... you really have to pace yourself...

In the past balls have been paid for by flashy lobbyists and companies hoping to wine and dine key members in the Washington community. But if you've given you r two cents on Change.gov then you have also been asked to be a contributor to the transition and inauguration to prove that small donors can fund this thing just like we funded the campaign. That said... of the millions upon millions of donors to the Obama campaign only a select 4 million are expected to come to DC and lets face it... there just aren't enough balls for all of us to attend.

Similarly, most balls require tickets which are often times pricey, so the kinds of people who are able to attend either have to have the hook up or they have to have money. This means, largely that young people are once again... shut out of the influence, the celebration, and the flashy crab cakes.

But the Babyboomer Professionals get the Celebration of Change Ball... where they will all get to groove to some easy listening and sip on champagne while undoubtably talking about how big and awesome their ball is. No word on whether it will be a disco ball.

The cheapest balls I can find are certainly the unofficial balls like the Garden State Ball(New Jersey is the Garden State) which is only $125 with black tie optional... its unclear whether you get wacked at the end of the night or if the wine is from a box...

The Change the Nation Celebration Ball plays the song Celebration when you look up the invite. That is a cheap ball at $125 and hosted by a consulting firm in Maryland... So if you want to schlep way up north to see some hawt ball action, its only $125 and $125 for the cab to get there.

The Illinois State Society is hosting a $300 Gala, no word yet on if you must pronounce it gay-la or gall-la if you attend.

The Creative Coalition which works to lobby for arts policies and such is hosting their super pricey Hollywood Liberals Gala where the LA and New York finance committee will be in full ball on ball mode. Last time I saw Susan Sarandon she was quite drunk, so I'm sure the Creative Coalition won't mind if I forgo the $10,000 and sit this one out ...

While I can make jokes about the size of people's balls, or their caucus balls, or the attire for their balls, or whether they like to call their balls gay-las or whatever... the long and the short for balls is that young people, who had a huge part in the success of President Obama's election are being once again.... ignored.

No ball for you... and even if there was a youthy ball, a small youthy ball, with popcorn and boxed wine, Snoop calling Obama the Prizzle... whatever ... we would then have to figure out how the hell to help young people pay the thousands of dollars for hotel rooms or to rent apartments for the weekend.

CNN has one thing right - we want to party with Obama, we want to celebrate the success, but having big balls is not quite as great as passing policies that impact our lives, particularly when you're a demographic or interest group that will have no access and/or no credibility when it comes to admission, official Presidential Balls or not. Our night can just be about free ballin'.