Inauguration Video

Here is the three-part series of videos on YouTube of the recap of my adventure in video and pictures. It's a little long, but I think it's worth it :)



Link to my channel if you prefer: http://www.youtube.com/user/kenglish7

One moment in history - Final Recap of My Adventure

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I’ve been struggling to think about how to describe my experience at the inauguration. I’ve gone through the pictures and videos trying to piece together a description that would accurately encapsulate what I experienced on my adventure, but I’ve come up lacking. Not that there isn’t tons to describe, but the palpable energy and emotion I felt is truly indescribable. However, fueled by my desire to inspire those who watched my journey from afar, I wanted to attempt to explain.

As far back as I can remember I have been thoroughly passionate about the topics of history, government, and politics. It began in earnest when I was in the fourth grade and had a teacher named Mr. Heggan who taught us about American History and Government. With every new topic, my interest was piqued, desiring to learn more and more about how our country was built and how it worked. Then when I was in junior high school, I had a teacher named Mr. Dorsey who fueled my passion even further by enlightening me about the global perspective and how the United States fit within the world network.

I also remember my first trip to DC in the eighth grade. While other kids were goofing off, I was in awe of the American History museum and couldn’t get enough of the monuments. As we walked past all of the buildings, I was in my own world.

When I was in college, I participated in a program at Georgetown University called the Institute for Political Journalism. I took courses at the university, worked at Radio America (conservative talk radio station), and was able to immerse myself in the culture of Washington, D.C. I often joke that DC is my Hollywood because seeing a politician or other political figure is more invigorating to me than perhaps running into Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. That time I lived in DC cemented what I already knew in my heart.

Fast forward several years…

Standing there on the National Mall, with 2 million of my closest friends was invigorating. It was as if we were all one big group of family and friends getting together to celebrate a birthday or bar mitzvah or wedding. Yes it was cold, but we sang and danced along with the performances on the jumbotrons broadcasting Sunday’s concert. Yes, there were millions of people. For those that watched on television, think of those images and multiply it by 10…that was what it was like in person. Watching flags flying, people waving, and hearing the cheers and laughter…priceless.

However, it was not about the cold or the security or the waiting in line. It was about the people, the emotion, and, I’ll borrow the popular term from the campaign, it was about hope. In a time when all seems lost, we came together to celebrate. To celebrate? What do we have to celebrate? We have our pride, our diversity, and our hope.

The one theme running through the whole time I was in DC was the feeling of hope, pride, and joy at the prospect of starting anew. It wasn’t about politics or the economy or even race, the inauguration about getting back to knowing who we are as Americans. The trip was a whirlwind, full of emotion and excitement. The pictures and videos can only reflect a fraction of that. Truthfully, I didn’t need to take any pictures or video for me because I believe I will remember that day for the rest of my life.

As I watched the sun set on that day, I stood looking at the monuments that dot the cityscape of this historic and powerful town. I paused to soak in the atmosphere of the marching bands playing a few blocks away, the cheers and laughing, and the smiles on the faces of those who passed. I wonder how I will remember this day five, 10, even 50 years from now, but in that moment I was proud and inspired, not politically, but personally. That day meant so much to so many people that they rearranged their lives, stood in the cold for hours, waited for everything, just to get a glimpse.

I am thankful that I had the chance to share in that experience and I hope that I can live up that ideal we were all there celebrating…being proud to be an American.

A Week Later

From Michael Castengera (http://media-consultant.blogspot.com/)

SO, HOW MANY WATCHED: As we noted in last week’s MfM, we may never know how many people watched the inauguration. According to Nielsen Media Research, an estimated 37.8 Million Americans watched the event across the 14 broadcast and cable networks airing the coverage throughout the day. Nielsen should release the Live +7 viewing shortly. Regardless, that puts it just behind the Ronald Regan inauguration viewing in 1981 (which, if I read the numbers right, was about 41 Million). Of course that doesn’t take into account online viewing. Nielsen Online reports that visits to Current Events and Global News sites jumped significantly on Election Day, and based on my addition of just the top ten sites, that puts another 48.5 Million unique visitors into the mix. The top three sites were CNN (11 Million), MSNBC (10M) and Yahoo News (9M). After that it drops dramatically to the number four spot with Fox (4M). Further add into the mix viewing on YouTube where CSpan’s video of the inauguration and address drew 3.2 Million views and CNN’s coverage another half million. And that’s to say nothing about the record 2 Million people who actually turned out in person.

INAUGURATION SIDE NOTES: Five of the top ten videos viewed on inauguration day were directly related to the events of that day. No surprise there, but a little surprising is that his actual inauguration address came in at seventh place. The most linked-to video on inauguration day? Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream. Two of the other popular videos that day were The Presidential Pledge produced by celebrities Ashton Kucher and Demi Moore on MySpace; and on YouTube, it’s will.i.am’s Yes, We Can which has had more than 16 Million views. An oddity in the mix – even with all the political hoopla of the day, the third most linked-to video was the YouTube Street Fighter video game. The biggest beneficiaries of the Election Day coverage were the digital networks of ABC and CBS which nearly doubled their unique audience on that day. And despite all the furor surrounding the dominance of Google and the decline of Yahoo, the actual Yahoo News website drew five times the unique audience (9 Million) of Google News (1.8M).

What does the inauguration mean to you?

I asked this question to many people today. Here are just a few responses:

Inauguration Reconnaissance

It has been quite an adventure thus far. I started out the day a little later than I wanted to, but I got to DC before 11 a.m. Today was spent doing some scouting for the trip tomorrow. I also met some great people from all over the country and the world who were enjoying DC. There were several moments during the day where I got caught up in the emotion, conversation, or event going on around me.

Here are some of my pictures from today:



Me at the Capitol




























Newseum (I didn't get inside, but I did check out the building)











Presidential Viewing Stand
























Capitol all decked out for the ceremony











View from The Mall

Inauguration Adventure

Well, I've decided to set out on an adventure to the Presidential Inauguration. I spent weeks e-mailing various organizations and government officials to get tickets...only to be thwarted at every turn. I actually thought I had a ticket from a friend just this week, but it turned out to be only an invitation sent to millions. After all that I was disheartened and had decided not to go. However, a great friend asked me whether I would look back in five years and regret not going...and well, I think I would.

With that said, I'm heading out on the journey tomorrow (Saturday) for over 600 mile trek to Washington, D.C. I'm breaking up the trip up into two legs. First I will drive to Blacksburg on Saturday and then continue the trip in Maryland on Sunday. I'll be staying with my wonderful aunt and uncle in Rockville and hopefully meeting up with some friends while I'm in town. The trip back is going to be more interesting because I'm going to do it all in one 10-hour trip. It's been awhile since I drove that length on my own, but it should be a fun adventure.

I will be tweeting (www.twitter.com/scullyke12) and uttering (www.utterli.com/kenglish7) updates throughout the day, snapping photos, and shooting video with a FlipCam & DVD camcorder. Because I can't bring my laptop with me to the mall, the longer versions of my coverage will have to wait until after the inauguration and I'm back in Rockville. Hopefully, I'll have a good report up no later than Wednesday morning.

EDIT:
Photos - Flickr Set
Video - Inauguration Station

Here's the Google Map of my trip:

View Larger Map