Invitation Mix Up Leads To Random Dude Accidentally Sitting In On High Level Meeting With President Obama

SteveHolt10 years ago

A military veteran and Utah-based employee sat in on a high level meeting with the President, politicians, and clean energy experts last Friday, due to a slight invitation mishap.

The man, Lance, was expecting to be in the audience of an Obama speech. Instead, he was one of nine people discussing potential clean energy solutions with the most powerful man in the world. From the photo below, take a guess on which one probably doesn’t belong:

From Reddit:

The Obama administration sent an invitation to his speech in Utah at Hill Air Force Base. We thought they wanted a representative from our company in the audience. Turns out they wanted the representative for a special round table with the president. Due to this mix up we sent my friend (a leader in our CAD dept) instead of the CEO.

The details are a little hazy right now. I know the person responsible for the mix up is in some serious trouble. But I’m sure the CEO is kicking himself over missing this chance to meet the President.

“So, uh, Lance, do you have anything to add to the clean energy proposals submitted by Senator Hatch?”

“Not at the moment.”

The company explained to Business Insider why Lance was so hilariously underdressed:

On Friday, April 3, President Obama visited Hill Air Force Base in Ogden to announce the further expansion of the Solar Ready Vets program—a DOE SunShot transitioning service officer solar training effort—from the current three military base locations to a total of 10.

Lance Futch, a lead photovoltaic CAD designer at Vivint Solar and active Utah National Guardsman, had been invited by the White House to join the ceremony audience and was instructed to wear business casual clothes. Upon arriving at Hill Air Force Base, Lance was ushered into a roundtable discussion with the POTUS, Senator Orrin Hatch, Representative Rob Bishop and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.

The discussion lasted about 40 minutes and President Obama asked Lance personally about Vivint Solar, the second largest residential solar provider in the United States, and whether there was a career path for transitioning military service veterans in the solar industry.

In the official photo released by the Air Force, a slight crop job made it look a little less embarrassing for the President.

This guy will be able to one-up everybody at cocktail parties for the rest of his life..

[via Reddit]

Image via YouTube