C-SPAN to broadcast THE BRIEF twice over Labor Day weekend

C-SPAN to broadcast THE BRIEF twice over Labor Day weekend (Saturday, Sept 4 at 8pm EST and again 11:03pm EST!

Dateline: above the garage in Portsmouth RI, 31 August 2004

Quick note to relay the good news: Brian Lamb keeps his promise to me from last April and C-SPAN will indeed air the brief at prime time (Saturday
night the 4th of September at 8pm and a repeat 11:03pm (EST). This version is the one I gave at the Industrial College of the Armed
Forces at National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington DC on 2
June 2004. It is the mega-version of the brief, meaning pretty much all the
big slides I've used over the years.

This was how I descriBed">bed my performance back then in my daily blog:

Just finished lunch following my all-morning presentation of the max current
brief (54 slides-usually do about 30). I started at 8:40 am and went straight to 10:15, then a 10-minute break for the audience, then 10:25 to 11:10, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A from the audience (current study body and faculty of ICAF). Audience of about 200 in beautiful hall with lots of wood grain, wonderful well-lit stage, and instead of usual screen, a wall of integrated video monitors.

I ran the brief off the hall's system and it behaved quite well. Sound effects came through beautifully and I wore a clip-on mike, so I could roam the stage at will. I tried to move as slowly as possible, so the CSPAN main camera could track me. The second camera filmed me some, some the monitor and did crowd reaction shots. CSPAN techs said later that they felt the capture was great-especially the brief.

My performance was solid, but not spectacular, but my hosts were very happy. I flubBed">bed a few one-liners. My mouth was a bit out of sorts at various
points-perhaps fatigue.

Anyway, it's over and in the can.

It will be interesting to see how the material holds up almost three months
later. It will also be interesting to see if I get the same bounce from this pair of broadcasts that I got from the three showings of Book Notes last Memorial Day weekend. If you remember, that's pretty much how I got my one-week showing on the New York Times Bestseller List. Will similar things happen this time? I doubt it. But I do expect some interesting horizontal scenarios to emerge. Right now, I'm fielding a load of interesting briefing offers from all over the Intelligence Community. I think that's largely a result of the 9/11 Commission report coming out, but also because of my recently established senior advising roles at both Joint Forces Command and Special Operations Command. Add in the election and the usual ramping up of transition conferences and workshops (either for a new admininstration or a second Bush one), and it's gonna be a great fall to have a big book full of big ideas out there and circulating. These broadcasts could propel PNM into new heights, not so much in terms of sales but more so in terms of influence inside the Beltway.

Then there is the college book-buying market . . ..

Anyway, it'll be a real thrill to watch (always a bit painful at first as I hate the pitch of my voice, but then I get used to it (so many ear surgeries later, I have a very odd sense of my own voice, but then again, so do most people even without all the eardrum reconstruction work). I plan on getting some really good beer (perhaps Tsing Tao, which I now have a taste for), a Tombstone (adding anchovies), and maybe sardines with crackers and Port Wine cheese spread. Yes, I'm going all out to celebrate, and with that much funky fish stuff, I may well be celebrating alone.

So for all of you who've been waiting (like me) for this thing to finally happen--enjoy it for all it's worth. I will definitely plan on getting the CD myself, if only as a Marketing">marketing tool.

BTW, Brian Lamb is shutting down Book Notes after many years. Seems he wants to have a show with fewer restrictions on who he interviews (very tight rule set on Book Notes: only book authors and only once in their lifetimes--no repeats). Realizing what an amazing run that show has had, I now feel even more priviliged that I got to appeat on it before it closed. Suffice it to say, Mr. Lamb remains a revered figure in my career to date. He's wielded an interesting form of power with that show all these years, and he used it very wisely, me thinks.