Standing ovation for civil rights leader Dolores Huerta coming onstage. I know the name but tbh don’t really know who she is.
Conversation
TIL. Apparently there was Grapes of Wrath book-burning in Bakersfield back in the day.
2
1
6
Huerta had the room to a hold-hands thing and say “hello relative” to neighbors at our round tables (out-of-Africa ref). This is old chool unironic kumbaya stuff.
She’s 92 and super feisty 🤔
1
3
She concludes by leading a standing chant of “who’s got power… we’ve got the power, what kind of power… people power” then some 👏-chant in Spanish, “si se…something.”
I’m not a fish out of water, I’m practically a Martian here.
3
16
Ex-LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wrapping it up after some speeches by an oil guy and prez of Cal State Bakersfield (which apparently leads nation on student social mobility)
1
1
He’s bookending with punches at opening Vince Fong and oil guy talking points with Dem talking points on climate etc. I think I just witnessed “politics” properly for the first time ever.
1
7
All these people are very seasoned high-halo-effect speakers. They enunciate, modulate, pause, land their punches with clean timing etc. All the reverse of tech events where 90% do none of the above. We mumble and talk too fast etc.
7
1
16
But there’s a certain…hard-to-trust vibe. They sound as confident about shaky talking points as they do about solid ones. That’s what it means to be too confident and polished. Hedgehog style. I’ll take foxy mumbling superforecaster types who wear doubts on sleeve.
3
33
It’s a “doubt monotone” — the epistemic equivalent of speaking in a vocal monotone. Everything is equally certain.
Also low bit-rate. Tech event speakers tend to pack in 10x raw info per minute with low redundancy. But these guys know to repeat and reinforce.
1
24
Villaraigosa is now infrastructure czar for CA. This panel of mayors loves HSR as flagship infrastructure.
I have recently acquired big doubts on HSR. If I was up on stage I’d be a ball of mumbling doubts and nuances.
Replying to
After some tense queuing for lunch the panelist was moderating on ‘building a sustainable energy future’ started a bit late and was a bit rushed for time, but a raucous time was had by all
2
2
4
Took rare jacket selfie to send to my mom
6
66
Trying to become a full-stack consultant from homeless-in-barrel Diogenes look, to techie in hoodie, to jacket to conservative suits. I draw the line at tuxes though. Don’t call me to emcee the Oscars in a bowtie or advise royalty on scepter design while wearing ceremonial robes.
4
8
Evening plenary. State Senator Shannon Grove (R) points out that CA buys 50% of Ecuador’s oil, and kinda condones the rainforest destruction there. CA republicans know how to poke at dem hypocrisies on climate 😂
2
7
One of the best ways to read an event crowd is to test the evening energy levels. This one seems par for course. Most people seem a bit wiped and about 1/3 seem to have left.
An unusual thing is the very large number of locals. I’d guess ~30-40% Kernies.
1
4
They had visual note takers at the 4x2 working sessions (see upthread for mine) that they are now using to do roll-up report outs for closing plenary. Each session itself had report-outs from 8-10 tables so this is 2 levels of (optimistic, not zk) rollups from ~60+ round-tables.
1
4
Very proud of my crypto protocol joke. I make shitpost-connections across fields.
70+ round-tables rolled-up actually… 9 sessions. Check out the topics. This is how they break down stuff at policy events.
1
1
This was the panel I moderated. I’m now a credentialed energy policy wonk 😎
Quote Tweet
"Kern County's role in renewable energy, which is significant, is not well known outside Kern County." @CBakerAD16 reporting out from energy work group discussion from #CAeconomy. "What struck me is that we can't reach low-carbon or zero-carbon without Kern."
3
10
After lunch experience I cannily got to the food line early. I may have eaten enough hors d’oeuvres to count as dinner. Not shown; 4 veggie spring rolls
2
6
And with the line-dancing starting, I’m done for the day. Will catch first morning session before driving back to LA
0:06
584 views
1
5
Still a bit hungry so wrapping up the day with a salad at the hotel bar
1
3
Next goal is to speak at an AI conference.
That’s my Act 2 thought-leadering portfolio: climate, crypto, and AI. Available in Diogenes, hoodie, jacket, and full-suit form factors. Minimum purchase 30min.
2
13
Metaverse was on that list, but I’ve backburnered it for now. I suspect the thought leadering market there is weak rn. And that Matthew Ball guy has cornered it 🤬
1
4
Catching part of the day 2 morning plenary session at the summit before heading out. Panel talking rn about housing/yimby stuff.
1
1
Ah if I’d known Newsom was gonna make it at the end I’d have stayed to the end… ended up driving back 10ish.
1
1


