Meeting with Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations – US Navy

Admiral Gary Roughead & Dennis Hall, Founder - Avere Group

The staff of Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations – US Navy (CNO), is aware that I have a strong network of friends and contacts in Silicon Valley.  On July 23, 2010, the staff contacted me asking on short notice if I could attract high-level executives to a meeting with Admiral Gary Roughead in San Francisco, CA on August 5, 2010.

Pictures from the meeting appear here, and I posted my album on Facebook as well. My Facebook page may be found using Search, Avere Group.

E-mail, social media connections, and old-fashioned telephoning came to bear in bringing this eclectic group together successfully within five working days.  Participating in the meeting with the CNO, staff, and me on August 5, 2010 at the Marines Memorial Hotel in San Francisco, CA were the following:

Bill Reichert, Managing Director – Garage Technology Ventures (garage.com);

Charlene Li, Founder – Altimeter Group (Altimeter.com);

Tina Swallow, Maritime Defense Initiatives Manager, Cisco Systems (cisco.com);

Don Proctor, Senior Vice President – Office of the Chairman & CEO, Cisco Systems (cisco.com);

Lyle Fong, President of Lithium Technologies (lithium.com);

Ben Renda, Adwords Manager, Google;

Dr. Bud Tribble, Vice President of Technology, Apple, Inc. (apple.com); and,

Dennis Hall, Founder, Avere Group (averegroup.wordpress.com)

The purpose of our meeting was to discuss three key matters:

How to attract people to serve in the Navy who have high aptitude for technology;

How to structure the Navy with such people, e.g. active duty, reserves, and contractors; and,

How to implement usage of new technology for the Navy in the future.

Admiral Gary Roughead & Tina Swallow - Cisco Systems

Charlene Li signs her bestseller Open Leadership

Bloggers-Media Embark to Aircraft Carriers

USS Nimitz (CVN 68)

By Dennis Hall, Founder

The social media postings of the bloggers and podcasters from this Bloggers-Media Embark during April 25-26 continue to come along.  There has been much posting to Facebook of photo albums and postings of blog posts.   If you’re not already one of my Facebook friends, you can find me via Avere Group, Dennis Hall.

Also, now that this embark is complete, I’m networking bloggers and podcasters to others who embarked separately, e.g. with Guy Kawasaki and me.  I believe the Navy at-sea experiences shared between people whether together or separately are great ice-breakers to build new, productive relationships.  For example, I am networking Amanda Congdon with Andrew Nystrom, Digital Media Manager of Red Bull USA, who embarked with me to the USS Nimitz.

Steve Fiebing, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for the Commander – Naval Air Forces – Pacific, supported a Bloggers-Media Embark for April 25-26, 2010.  Andy Sernovitz and I nominated participants.  My three nominees selected were Will Mayall, co-founder with Guy Kawasaki, of Alltop.com; Amanda Congdon, Executive Producer of the SomeTimesDaily blog and podcast; and, Robert Coombs, Director of Public Affairs and blogger for the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CalCASA.org).

Robert Coombs posted this amazing interior video of himself enduring the whole process of when he was strapped into the Navy C-2 Greyhound on April 26, 2010 for his catapult launch from the bow of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

The total complement of 15 bloggers-podcasters-journalists connected prior to meeting each other and created an on-line community via Twitter and Facebook.  Each posted details of their enthusiastic planning for the embark, and then each step along the way leading to their boarding the C-2 Greyhound Navy transport to take them out to sea for a tailhook landing or ‘trap’ on the flightdeck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).  The Navy leans forward on social media, so it was particularly exciting for me as co-founder of the Bloggers-Media Embarks to hear from the participants while they were underway via Facebook.  Such direct connectivity was not available as recent as July 2009 when Guy Kawasaki and I lead our first group of bloggers-podcasters-journalists out to the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.  For us, this is a significant sign of a new era for Navy and Marine Corps personnel at sea to keep connected with those on shore, and on other vessels at sea, as well.

My June 2009 post titled, “Bloggers’ Embark Start-up” details the first Bloggers-Media Embark lead by Guy Kawasaki and me to the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.  My post contains links to many of the other participants posts pertaining to our USS Nimitz embark.  The participants were Guy Kawasaki, Bill Reichert, Carroll Lefon a.k.a. Lex, Robert Scoble, Charlene Li, Beth Blecherman, Jennifer Leo, Jennifer Jones, Jennifer Van Grove, Pamela Slim, Jefferson Wagner a.k.a. Zuma Jay, Andrew Nystrom, and Andy Sernovitz.

The embark involved the group of 15  flying from Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado Island near San Diego, California aboard a Navy transport to a Navy nuclear-powered aircraft career underway in the Pacific Ocean.

The 15 participants boarded a Navy C-2 Greyhound COD equipped with a tailhook and take off from a normal runway to fly out to sea to the aircraft carrier steaming underway about 100 miles off shore.  The aircraft carrier moves at about 22 to 30 nautical miles per hour through the waves of the Pacific Ocean as the C-2 Greyhound approaches its stern for landing … skill and timing for the flightcrew are everything.

C-2 Greyhound COD with tailhook

The crew lined up for landing once given the ‘go-ahead’ to do so.  The flightcrew landed or ‘trapped’ the C-2 onto the ship’s stern of the flightdeck with the tailhook snared the third arresting cable stung perpendicular to the plane’s flightpath.

They offloaded, and spent the next 24 hours touring, dining, and sleeping aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

On April 26, they boarded the C-2.  The ‘Shooters’ hooked the catapult to the C-2.  Then the pilot powered up and then the catapult propelled them down a short stretch of flightdeck until aerodynamic lift kicked  in and they flew aloft away from the carrier’s bow.

All participants paid their own expenses to travel roundtrip to and from the vicinity of NAS North Island near San Diego, CA, and pay the Navy approximately $50 for meals and berthing while aboard ship.  Each participant  lodged in or near San Diego on the night of April 24, as show time at NAS North Island was 8 a.m. on April 25.

For more information, contact me: ContactDennisHall@gmail.com; Facebook: Avere Group; or, Twitter: @AvereGroup.

Submarine Bloggers-Media Embark – Fall 2010

By Dennis Hall, Founder

Over the past couple of years, my networking with the US Navy has found me getting my feet wet into the undersea

US Navy Submarine

world of submarine operations.  It’s most intriguing! Lieutenant Commander Denise Garcia, Public Affairs Officer of Submarine Squadron 11, informed that the Bloggers-Media Embark aboard a Los Angeles-class submarine scheduled for June 22, 2010 is now postponed until the fall of 2010. She is allowing me to nominate ten bloggers or podcasters for eight seats with two in reserve should there be two who have to cancel for whatever reasons.

Having sent out inquiries, the following bloggers and podcasters replied expressing interest and providing me their vitaes:  Christopher Carfi, me … Dennis Hall, Gina Hughes, Jennifer Jones, Cali Lewis, Sarah Austin, and Robert Scoble.

This immersion is the result of my networking with Navy Lieutenant Jan Bowers, Public Affairs Officer of Naval Surface Force – Pacific.  SURFPAC, as its known, is based at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado, also the home of the US Navy SEALs.  She and I coordinated the Bloggers-Media Embark involving bloggers flying aboard a Navy SH-60 Seahawk from NAS North Island near San Diego roundtrip to and from the USS Green Bay underway in the Pacific.  Lieuteant Jan Bowers referred me to her counterpart, Navy Lieutenant Commander Denise Garcia, the Public Affairs Officer of Submarine Squadron 11 based at Point Loma Submarine Base, San Diego, California.

During January, Lieutenant Commander Garcia forecast that our embark aboard a submarine out of Point Loma could occur either in May or June, but now it’s postponed to the fall.  I asked embark alumni for further referrals and introductions to more bloggers, podcasters, and journalists.  Charlene Li, Jennifer Van Grove, Andrew Nystrom, Jennifer Jones, and JD Lasica responded plentifully with a mix of Facebook friends, Twitter personalities, and popular blog and podcast personalities.   Over the past week, I have contacted several dozen of them with feedback of enthusiasm about these opportunities that are a chance of a lifetime.  Some expressed essentially that being in the Navy realm would render them as a fish out of water, but willing to make a go of it.

One immediate benefit was that I was able to nominate Amanda Congdon, podcaster, for an embark to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.  The Navy’s Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the Commander – Naval Air Forces – Pacific, accepted my nomination and invited her. She embarked out and back to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier during Sunday and Monday of April 25 and 26.   She’s been posting about it for days now!

Jennifer Van Grove

Jennifer Van Grove, editor with Mashable, during early 2010 embarked underway aboard the USS Hampton submarine.  She immediately posted video and photos to her Facebook page inspiring me to promptly request support from Lieutenant Commander Denise Garcia for a Blogger-Media Embark.  She agreed … forecasting May or June.  Meanwhile I commented on Jennifer’s post as did also one of her Facebook friends who had served in the Navy.

Dennis Hall

Jennifer … Your video is amazing! Within eight months now you’ve embarked on the USS Nimitz, the USS Green Bay, and now the sub USS Hampton … You’ve experienced aircraft carrier, amphibious assault troop transport, and now submarine life. Amazing! Congratulations!

This was followed by one of her Facebook friends who served in the Navy:

Boarding USS Hampton

Egbert Oostburg

Jenny, Dennis is right! I spent 10 years in the Navy and did not get to experience all those platforms! How did you find

the accomodations?

Jennifer Van Grove

tight! I don’t think I could live on a sub and have just a few inches of personal space… I do however commend the sub’s captain for his interest in keeping crew morale high in spite of space limitations. That definitely came across as a priority.

All participants will pay their own expenses to travel roundtrip to and from the vicinity of NAS North Island near San Diego, CA.  Each participant will lodge in or near San Diego on the night of June 21, as show time at Point Loma Submarine Base is 7:30 a.m. on June 22.

I may be contact at ContactDennisHall@gmail.com.  I’m on Facebook: Avere Group, and Twitter: @AvereGroup.

As more information surfaces, I will update this post.  Anchors Aweigh!