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National Press Club Luncheon with Charles F. Bolden Jr., Administrator, NASA
"July 1, 2011. 12:30 PM. This event is open only to members of The National Press Club & their guests."
Keith's 6 June note: Well, unless media, citizen journalists, or plain old taxpayers who wish to attend/cover this event happen to be paid members of the National Press Club (or invited by a guest), access to Bolden's remarks will only be offered to a select few. So much for that whole openness/transparency thing.
Keith's 18 June update: It looks like media (and the public) can attend but it will cost up to $36 to get in (but it will be webcast live) and no one can actually ask questions at the event since the website says "Submit questions for speakers in advance and during the live event by sending them to @QNPCLunch on Twitter, or email a question in advance, with BOLDEN in the subject line, to president@press.org before 10 a.m. on July 1." This makes sense, of course. Screening questions in advance is always a good way to limit embarassment of a guest and is also an efficient means to avoid having to answer questions from certain individuals.
Keith's 27 June update: According to Melinda Cooke at the National Press Club I "need to be a member of the press and have hard pass press credentials." Alas, NASA stopped issuing "hard" press credentials more than 5 years ago. Oh well. I guess I'll have to pay - but wait: no one can actually ask Bolden questions at the event (they must be submitted in advance and will be screened) - so what's the point of "covering" it anyway?
What a great way to keep the NASA-centric media away from NASA-centric events - require a press badge that NASA no longer issues! Sheer genius ! Hmm, maybe I can print one out that says "NASAWatch.com" and then laminate it myself. I am the editor so I hereby authorize myself. Funny, no one at NPC ever asked me for one in the past. Oops. Busted.
Have to disagree with you on this one Keith. Previous NASA Administrators have been invited to speak at the Club so there is nothing unusual about this event. It is also not unusual for senior government officials from other departments and agencies to be invited to speak at venues at the Club. In addition to the Administrator, upcoming speakers include the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chair of the FDIC.
The events are hardly non-transparent. They are attended by 300 Press Club members and their guests and are webcast live on the National Press Club homepage. The presentations are archived on their site. Speeches are routinely, though perhaps not always, broadcast live on C-Span. The remarks are also reported on by a wide range of media organizations, including print, TV, and radio.
It's a beautiful weekend in DC; relax and enjoy it. And don't worry, we'll make sure the space community knows what Charlie says at the event. It will be very transparent.