look at the stars, look how they shine

I spent most of the weekend editing my videos from the protests I went to last week. I cut down about 30 minutes to 14:30, so I've got a good idea of where I want this project to start heading. I feel so lucky to be in DC while there is such big legislation going down - it's changing the trajectory of my project, but I think it will be cool.

Editing hasn't been terribly difficult so far, just time consuming. It's really, really weird to hear myself talk on camera. I've also noticed that I talk a TON. I had to edit out so many good clips because I was carrying on in the background.

I'm working on setting up some more interviews. I've been talking with a staffer in Senator Hagan's office to get a legislative point of view from a Democrat. One of my professors is helping me set up something with a think tank. I'm also working on speaking with a policy expert at one of my favorite groups, the Thomas Fordham Institute. I heard their president speak about education and philanthropy last month and I've read a lot of their publications since then. It's probably the meeting I'm most excited about!

At work I've been doing some follow-up from our event and started preparing for another conference. The annual meeting isn't until October, but it's at a resort so there's already a lot of planning to do. I made a bunch of phone calls to photographers to get price quotes and worked on guest lists. I guess event planning is the part of PR that I don't really enjoy as much. It's something I can do if I have to, but I'd rather not.

On Friday, we went to the Federal Reserve. The security is really tight, but the interior of the building is just beautiful - marble floors, columns, crown molding, chandeliers. Our briefing was in the Board of Governors room, so it was neat to be in a place where Bernake and other high-ups meet. However, after an hour and a half briefing, I am still as clueless as to what the Fed does. When the speaker got talking about the recession, it was pretty interesting, but the structure of the Fed is just confusing!

Robert and I are going home this weekend for Easter, which I am really excited about! After Easter, it's less than a month until I'm home for the first part of the summer.