ID's Road Trip to Durham Next Week

Over the past two years, citizens like you have played a key role in the development of the "Cooperative Strategy for the 21st Century." Signed for the first time by the service chiefs of all three sea services, the strategy draws the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard more closely together than ever before.

While the formal strategy document was released in October 2007, our conversations with the public continue in cities nationwide. The next opportunity for us to learn from you will be September 18, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. at the Durham Marriott Convention Center in Raleigh-Durham, NC. We hope to see you there.

The above caption was cited from the recently unveiled Conversations with the Country website. I'm looking forward to attending. No, my name tag will not say "Galrahn" and I will not be wearing my T-Shirt that says "l33t bl0gg3r," but I am looking forward to the presentations. Karl F. Walling's presentation in particular is of great interest to me. To keep a low profile, I figured I'd be OK showing up incognito as just another middle aged white guy (see links for proof (LA) (Denver)).

I hope to score an interview with Rear Admiral Frank Thorp, who you might imagine is on my short list of Admirals I'd like to meet. Who knows, maybe he reads the blog? He has certainly made significant changes within CHINFO since taking over, which I will detail once I find out more regarding how those evolutions came about. From what I have gathered, the Navy is looking to engage with Web 2.0 technologies for this event (and future events), perhaps making it interactive, but there are no details if or how that will happen. If it doesn't happen, perhaps I'll highlight a few ways they could engage the conversation in the future with nothing more complicated than a laptop, we do guest blogging you know...

I'm also excited to meet General James Conway and hear him speak. Some men are better than others, and for me, he has always risen above the pack. I loved that speech.

I'm actually surprised they invited me, because I have not been kind to these events. As a relatively young person, I admit to not understanding the first person, in person, sales presentation approach. In the past I have used colorful descriptions like "The Stone Age Approach to Networking" among other unkind phrases, but my argument is simple.

1. I've never been in the Navy
2. I don't know a single Admiral
3. I talk quite often about Maritime Strategy
4. More people visit this blog daily than the sum of all participants to date in these "conversations," and more people visit this blog outside the US every week than that previously mentioned sum total. Nevermind adding in the visits to other bloggers smarter than me.

Clearly the interest exists, so why not expand the conversation to as many as possible, and engage it with anyone interested? I would also note that Web 2.0 technologies can be influential in teaching strategy, or at least I hope readers are getting something out of the discussions here. I'll wager a crown and coke Admiral Thorp gets it, and if he needs help, I'll show him how to sell it. I have built online communities for living in the past ya know, so at least in that capacity I could potentially bring something more professional than "l33t bl0gg3r" to the discussion.

Do I have questions? Absolutely, but mine will be reserved for private conversations. If you have a question you would like asked in the open forum, leave it in the comments. My one regret is Admiral Morgan retired before I could meet him in person, because I found that guy very interesting. While I am open to meeting others who will be in attendance, and I'm sure I'll be easily distinguishable among the participants, I'm most interested in meeting any of the folks from the press who might be in attendance whose articles I discuss regularly on the blog.

Should be interesting.