In 2004 my daughter was entering her senior year of high
school, and interested in politics. She had an exciting junior year since the
New Hampshire primary was underway. Many
young people in New Hampshire every four years find themselves in the swirl of
excitement with visiting candidates, news media and local events. She was at the right age, at the right time
to find all this very alluring and intriguing.
When she found out that she could attend the National party conventions
with the Junior Statesmen she jumped on the chance to see politics at a much
higher level.
When she found out that she had been accepted to be a
delegate with the Junior Statesmen at both party conventions, she was
ecstatic! However, family finances being
what they were, we told her she had to make a choice. The Democratic Convention in 2004 was being
held in Boston, and the Republican Convention in New York City. Both were within driving distance (thank
goodness for me!). She had no political
affiliation to either side, so the decision came down to location. She finally decided that New York would be
the more exotic locale and she chose to attend that one. This is a very important point when you are a
teenager.
Madison Square Garden 2004 |
It was fun to see the convention through the eyes of a
teenager. Of course, the political
platform of the candidates were not as important as the excitement around the
entire convention. Media stars,
collecting buttons, and getting INTO the actual convention were the most
important things to her that week. The
Junior Statesmen attended outside events from neighborhood level meetings,
meeting the mayor of New York, the Governor and even going to the United
Nations. But getting inside the security
line of Madison Square Garden was not included except for tours and day events.
However, the kids soon learned that schmoozing is a big part
of politics. She was the only kid there
from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont or Massachusetts while there were about a
dozen kids each from bigger states like California. The imbalance was in her favor. She was invited to the delegates breakfasts
of all four of those New England States, and attended for New Hampshire and
Massachusetts. At each she received a goodie bag full of cool stuff, but the
most important were the passes to get INSIDE Madison Square garden. Now she suddenly had four passes to share
(two from each state for the week) and she was the most popular kid! Her passes were for the nosebleed section in
the rafters, but they were still inside.
Pins, pins, and more pins! |
She also learned that schmoozing got her places, like her
elevator talks in the extremely crowded elevators at her hotel right across the
street from Madison Square Garden. She
met delegates in the elevators from most of the states in the union, and each
one offered her passes, buttons, business cards, and even scholarship
applications and other goodies. She
schmoozed her way into the CNN café. She
schmoozed her way into passing out brochures to delegates on the floor of the
hall (better than sitting in the rafters).
She collected pins from all types of delegates, protestors, media
companies, and other folks through trading, swapping and just asking – “I love
your pin, how do I get one of those?”
The CNN Cafe (media only) across from the Madison Square Garden |
She even schmoozed
her way into sitting on the second level of Madison Square Garden on the last
night. Unknown to her she was sitting in
the booth right next to the candidate’s family.
Since the candidate was George Bush, this meant that his parents (ex-president
Bush and his wife) and the Bush daughters were sitting there. A secret service agent stood behind her during
the entire night, but did not question her pass. My daughter was a bit nervous, but instead of
sneaking out at the end of the night she tried the ultimate schmooze- chatting
up the secret service! She actually said
to him “That’s a great pin. How can I
get one of those?” and pointed to his secret service pin on his lapel. He said that it was a special pin for
guarding the first family. She knew that
there would be no pin trading with this guy. However, after the famous balloon drop, as she was leaving Madison Square Garden he
tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the pin right off his lapel! It is now the most prized pin in her
collection.
Over this week in New York my daughter learned a lot about history,
politics, political protesting and the political media circuses surrounding
events like the national party conventions.
She also learned that the delegates attending were more than happy to chat
up young people, share ideas (as well as pins!) and encourage them to continue
their interest in politics. I’m sure she
will never forget her time in Madison Square Garden in 2004. She entered college planning to major in
international relations, but soon changed that to public relations. With all the schmoozing skills she perfected
in New York, it was a perfect choice for her!
Junior Statesmen of America
http://jsa.org/
---------------------
Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
That's a pretty awesome story. I think it would be neat to attend a convention but I'm not a "people person" so I'd never be able to achieve what your daughter did!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post - what a great adventure! Your daughter has learned skills that will take her far.
ReplyDelete