Day 6: Staff Ball

This is the day I realized our work on the campaign was done.  Not Election Day, not Inauguration Day, but at the Staff Ball.  I have never felt more appreciated than I did at this moment.

We started out with a late morning tour of the Capital building.  Our tour was arranged by Kansas Senator Jerry Moran's office, and led by his two newest interns.  As a matter of fact, we were their first tour group ever.  This tour was a great step back in time to see many of the historic pieces in the Capital.  Part of our tour took us to the entrance onto the terrace where the President's Inauguration took place.  The very spot where the President stopped on his way back in the Capital, turned around and said, "I want to take a look, one more time."  To me, that moment shows how much he respects us.  He didn't just go through the motions of the day- he appreciated every moment of it.

When our tour concluded I had to then rush to the Washington Convention Center to "serve the President at the Staff Ball."  My duties were to guard an exit door that would not be used, make sure no guests tried to use that door..... real exciting.  Upon check in they had not assigned me a particular post in the convention center, so they verbally told me what kind of access credentials I needed.  Things got lost in translation and I ended up with the credentials for the Main Event.  After learning the Main Event Access Control team was short handed, I decided not to correct the mistake.

My access point to guard was inside the ballroom across from the "Talent Stage."  One guest to the Staff Ball came up and thanked me for volunteering to work the event and we got to chatting.  Turns out he still had his +1 ticket, and he told me "Ditch your post and change into a gown, join us!  You earned this too." It was tempting, believe me!  After most guests were in the ballroom they started removing volunteers font their posts in other areas and rotated them up to relieve us.  A fellow volunteer and I decided to take a quick stroll around the ballroom on our break to see what it was like to be the other half.  Since my post was officially manned I decided to utilize this ticket I now had!  As we got to the exit to go down to our break room (where my luggage and gown were kept) we were advised by the security guards not to exit, that the facility was close to capacity and the Fire Marshall was closing access.  Plan B, ditch the volunteer credentials and attend the ball anyway!

I got to see VP Biden and Dr. Biden come out and speak, followed by Jim Messina, and then POTUS & FLOTUS.  (Or as Nancy and Barry learned this week, President of the United States and First Lady of the United States.)  The Presidents speech was the best speech I've ever heard from him.  Like I said earlier, I've never felt more appreciated than I did at this moment.  Hearing the President speak from the heart, telling us how we carried him across the finish line and we were his daily motivation.    He wasn't just speaking to say some words to those of us who worked/volunteered.  His message was personal to each of us, he found a way to speak to 13,000 guests individually through one speech.  I didn't feel like a number, or a fish in the sea- I felt like I mattered.  These words I'm stringing together do not even begin to capture how I felt hearing the President speak last night.

Onto the entertainment...... Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett!!!  Some people in the crowd joked Joe Biden would come out and do a duet with Lady Gaga.  If that had actually happened I'd be totally content to die right afterwards!

More important than the people I got to see on stage were the people I saw off stage, my fellow campaigners.  Saying goodbye to Kate, my field organizer, the one who is responsible for getting me involved int eh campaign, was a beautiful moment.  I fought back the tears and lived in the joyous moment, I cannot begin to thank her for all the amazing leadership she offered the Central Denver office and just how much I appreciate her.  Thank you, Kate, for everything.

And that, my friends, was my experience at the Staff Ball.  This was a night I will forever cherish, and be