Friends of Bill

Bill Clinton's keynote is this morning, and it's likely to be a madhouse. There are 13,000 pre-registrants for Greenbuild this year. In past years, up to 40% of attendees registered on-site. Yesterday morning at Member Day, USGBC honcho Rick Fedrizzi said that he expects 25,000 people. "My staff cringes every time I say that number," he joked, going on after the briefest pause to explain that "there isn't enough yogurt." I'm not sure that's the reason his staff is cringing; 25,000 is optimistic by any standard. He's a shoot-for-the-moon kinda guy, though—and he just might end up being right. He's had outlandish predictions come true before. Chances are good that I'm not going to be in the auditorium for Clinton's speech—I'm registered for Greenbuild as Press, and there are some rules and limitations to that... including Only One Press Person Per Organization Can Attend The Clinton Keynote. Of the dozen of us BuildingGreen folks here this year, I'm one of three with a press pass. That said, I may find my way in anyway. I do that sort of thing sometimes. If I get caught, I'll watch it from the Press Room, or maybe from jail, on closed-circuit. And you can do pretty much the same: hop over to GreenBuild(365) and watch it live! Though there's nothing there yet that I can find, there will at some point also be stories from Greenbuild on the gb.07 journal: "Two USGBC staffers are on your source for what's happening on the ground. They'll be sharing what they find, and a few things they didn't expect. Lauren Kuritz will be taking the unstructured route of a first-timer and attending as many different types of sessions as she can. Doug Smeath will remain focused on his role as writer for GreenHomeGuide.org, and will concentrate his journal entries on sessions concerning green homes. Check back often for updates on the excitement in Chicago."