#YAHOODC20!

#YAHOODC20!

HollywoodOn Productions: Janet Donovan & Brendan Kownacki

“In a few short years, we have carved out a really nice niche here in Washington DC: A spot in the White House briefing Room, seats at the Correspondents’ Dinner, and other trappings,” said Olivier Knox, Chief Washington Correspondent, Yahoo! News to hundreds of mostly media types that flooded the rooftop at 101 Constitution Avenue to celebrate Yahoo’s 20th Anniversary.

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Oliver Knox

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Against the backdrop of the Capitol, currently in restoration mode, it was a ‘room with a view’ so to speak.  According to a post in Architect on the Capitol by Restoring the U.S. Capitol Dome is a massive project. It’s exciting to uncover the artistry of a long-gone era and to see elements of the Dome that have not been seen for decades. More than 1,300 cracks in the nearly nine million pound cast iron Dome are being repaired by experts working day and night on the Dome scaffolding. But the Dome also has many ornamental and functional cast iron parts that are so broken and badly damaged that they cannot be repaired on site.  There are scores of decorative ornaments on the Dome – such as, scrolls, flowers, acorn finials, acorn pendants, rosettes, acanthus leaves. They were created in the 1850s and 60s and some of them are missing or damaged beyond repair.A foundry in Salt Lake City, Utah, is recasting these pieces.”

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 Brooks Waugh and Lisa Utzschneider, Yahoo! Sales

“There have been some interesting things we’ve done with the political and advocacy group over the last several years, and we expect over the next 539 days there will be additional interesting things going on,” said Brooks Waugh while guests yodeled on. Lisa took over her position as Senior Vice President last fall. “Lisa has a demonstrated track record as a leader and as a business builder, focused on creating and expanding sales relationships as well as scaling technological innovation,” said Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer on the hire.  “She brings unique strengths to Yahoo in terms of identifying new opportunities to maximize the value of advertising in a rapidly expanding and evolving media landscape.”

“I am thrilled to join Yahoo and to build on the proven assets the company has developed across the advertising space,” said Utzschneider. “I look forward to working with this team and with Yahoo’s technology platforms to deliver value to advertisers and to delight consumers with unique and personalized ads.”

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Journalist Harry Jaffe

“In one month since our politics magazine launched, we’re in the top 5 of political sites. It’s a pretty incredible accomplishment for six weeks so let’s see what we can do in the next 20 years,” said Megan Liberman, Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo! News.

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Megan Liberman

Remarks were brief, food and drinks colorful and plentiful.

History #101 continued on the balcony where a rather unusual structure claimed one of the best gossip pieces we have heard in a long time, assuming it was true, which we know it is not. Or is it?  “It’s where a nuclear bomb is hidden,” claimed one guest as he explained the object of interest.  It’s The Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon dedicated as a memorial to U.S. Senator Robert Alphonso Taft, son of President William Howard Taft.  There are twenty-seven bells in the upper part of the tower. At the dedication ceremony on April 14, 1959, former President Herbert Hoover stated, “When these great bells ring out, it will be a summons to integrity and courage.” The large central bell strikes on the hour, while the smaller fixed bells chime on the quarter-hour. By resolution of Congress, they play “The Star-Spangled Banner” at 2 p.m. on the Fourth of July, according to Wikipedia.  As for the supposed bell tower bomb? File that under UnSolvedMysteries #101.

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