It’s hard to believe, but yet another year is drawing rapidly to a close. As we look ahead to the New Year, it makes sense to reflect on the twelve months gone by, so I thought I’d assemble a list of the efforts in which the American Mission played a meaningful role that most significantly contributed to positive momentum in U.S. relations with New Zealand and Samoa in 2012. Given the exponential acceleration of our activity, it was not an easy job to create a short list of highlights. After a good bit of thought and revision, here’s my Top Ten countdown:

10. Gold Standard Award for Social Media Communications

Our year started with some unexpected but greatly appreciated positive reinforcement when Public Affairs Asia, the leading regional professional association for corporate communicators, honored us with the Gold Standard Award for Social Media Communications at its annual awards event in Singapore in January. Although the trophy says “2011,” the award is emblematic of a large volume of impactful, innovative, high-quality work performed at the Mission in 2012.

Each year the Gold Standard Awards recognize achievement in the Pacific and Asia regions across a wide range of public affairs and communications activity, including social media.

A panel of leading industry judges narrowed the many nominees in the social media category this year to a short list composed of Research in Motion (RIM), Kraft Foods Australia, Johnnie Walker Black Label, and the American Mission New Zealand (a.k.a. the Embassy).

We were selected as the ultimate winners based on an in-depth, comprehensive review of all four nominees’ social media activities and outcomes.

The award hits my Top Ten list as a proxy for the substantial commitment made by the Embassy to engaging new audiences via the internet and to positioning ourselves as a bit of an idealab for 21st Century diplomatic tools and approaches. In the year gone by, we significantly increased our reach across all of our existing platforms and experimented with new platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. We also deepened the integration of our “live” and “virtual” activities, moving ourselves closer to the point at which social media will be an organic part of everyone’s work.

Perhaps most exciting, this year we broke ground on our new Digital Engagement Center in the Embassy. A combination of video studio and computer lab, the facility will allow us to create more professional, interactive content for our social media platforms, as well as to link more effectively to web-based collaborations elsewhere. The Center should be fully outfitted and operational by February 1st, so stay tuned for updates.

9. American Ambassador Outstanding Award

Throughout 2012 we continued to expand our already extensive engagement with youth and future leaders at the high school, university, post-grad, and early career stages. Among the many new efforts we launched was establishing the American Ambassador Outstanding Award as part of the Royal Society of New Zealand’s annual Realise the Dream Awards, a nation-wide secondary school science competition.

With Sohail Abdulla, the first recipient of the Ambassador’s Award.

The new award will enable an aspiring Kiwi scientist or engineer to attend each year the annual Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the largest pre-university science competition in the world, with more than 1,500 high school students from 80 countries and territories. Intel ISEF provides an extraordinary opportunity for science-oriented students to broaden their horizons, network with their peers, and revel in shared enthusiasm for research and invention.

It was certainly a personal highlight of my year to present the inaugural American Ambassador Outstanding Award to Sohail Abdulla of Mount Roskill Grammar School in Auckland for his work designing and building a glass-cleaning robot that climbs up windows. Sohail will be taking his impressive robot to the next ISEF, scheduled for May 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. We very much look forward to presenting our award to a similarly promising young Kiwi each year, and to continuing to expand the Embassy’s youth and exchange programs.

8. Connecting Young Leaders Conference

Another Top Ten  highlight drawn from our youth outreach this year was our 2nd biennial Connecting Young Leaders Conference, which brought together my student advisers from around the country for two days of policy discussions, leadership and career skills-building, and networking with special guests from government, business, academic, media, elite sports, and not-for-profit circles.

Members of Parliament Jacinda Ardern and Julie Anne Genter take questions from the students.

In my travels I meet regularly with my student advisers at New Zealand’s various universities, but there is nothing quiet as energizing as bringing everyone together to brainstorm, socialize, and debate in an intensely concentrated but casual manner. There is no more powerful investment in the future than these kinds of interactive youth programs, and our first experiment with a conference two years ago was such a success that we’ve institutionalized the gathering as a regular event. This year’s conference certainly exceeded my high expectations.

Our all-star line-up of speakers, panelists, and coaches included Olympian (and CEO of Best Leadership Academy) Beatrice Faumuina, Zeenat Rahman (Secretary Clinton’s Special Adviser for Youth), Westpac Bank senior executive Mark Fitz-Gerald, MPs Jacinda Ardern and Julie Anne Genter, Burgerfuel Worldwide executive Alexis Lam, my former youth adviser (and now head of Maori Development at ICEHOUSE) Shay Wright, and many more. It was the kind of event that keeps me jumping out of bed in the morning, and the students seemed to find it valuable as well. We have already started planning for the next conference.

7. Secretary Janet Napolitano’s Visit to New Zealand

Regular circulation of personnel is as important to the health of a bilateral relationship as circulation of red blood cells is to the health of the human body. One of our top priorities at the Embassy has thus been increasing the number of serious working visits by American officials to New Zealand. We hosted a record number of official visitors in 2012 – more than quintuple the number received during the twelve months immediately prior to my arrival as Ambassador – including three senior members of President Obama’s Cabinet.

Minister of Justice Judith Collins with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano during a successful visit to Wellington.

The first of our Cabinet-level visitors this year was Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who came for three days of discussions with senior Kiwi officials on a variety of issues including global supply chain security, trusted traveler programs, transnational crime, and human trafficking. The Secretary’s visit easily hits my Top Ten list because of the importance of the topics covered and the tangible progress made on projects of direct benefit to both countries.

In addition to meeting with Prime Minister John Key and Leader of the Opposition David Shearer, the Secretary signed joint statements of intent with Ministers Nathan Guy and Maurice Williamson, launched a study of how New Zealand’s Smart Gate might be synched with U.S. trusted traveler programs to better facilitate two-way business travel, and reviewed ways to extend the world-leading collaboration between the United States and New Zealand on expediting customs processing while increasing container security.

6. Project (R)evolution Social Media Conference

In a sign of just how important it is to our work at the Mission, social media takes another slot on our 2012 Top Ten list, this time for a conference we held in Auckland back in August. Partnering with Auckland University of Technology and Social Media NZ, we brought together more than 200 digital thinkers from New Zealand, the United States, and elsewhere to discuss the current status and future direction of connectivity technology and net-driven change.

At center, Project (R)evolution speakers Alec Ross (Sec. Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation) and Emily Banks (Managing Editor of Mashable), with my colleagues (from left) Laura McNeur, Sean Gillespie, Mike Cousins, and Marie Damour.

Brainchild of my Embassy colleague (and relentless social media czar) Mike Cousins, the gathering was dubbed The Project: (R)evolution and pitched at a 3.0 rather than 1.0 level with research-based sessions and extensive opportunity for discussion. The impressive roster of presenters was assembled from major industry players, change-focused enterprises, entrepreneurial success stories, and seasoned net practitioners.

Approving the seed money to launch the process was perhaps the best decision I made in 2012. The conference attracted an elite cohort of thought leaders and trended globally on Twitter. The proceedings generated vigorous, deep, informed discussion of issues such as innovation, digital ethics, intellectual property, web access, and change management that are too often painted with cartoonish brush strokes. Based on our inaugural experience, we hope to make the conference an annual event with a different cutting-edge focus each year.

*  *  *

Stay tuned. I’ll continue the countdown tomorrow.

As you probably know from my tweets, I have just gotten back from Washington after Prime Minister John Key’s visit. I didn’t try to blog daily while there because I knew that the media here in New Zealand would already be filled with stories, commentary, and photos. I also knew from past experience just how busy time in DC can be, squeezing out any real chance to sit quietly at a computer to draft. Now that the dust has settled, though, a recap makes sense. So, here goes …

I arrived in Washington a couple days before the Prime Minister so that I could attend to final preparations and details. I also wanted a little time for internal consultations, i.e., making the rounds of the State Department and other agencies and departments in town to collect information, discuss issues relevant to my job, and trawl for resources that we need at the Embassy.  

Prime Minister Key at the US Chamber of Commerce. (© AP Photo)

The Prime Minister arrived late Wednesday night and proceeded directly to Blair House, across the street from the White House. As I discussed in my prior post, staying at Blair House is a special honor. Blair House is also a very comfortable and convenient base of operations. Given the intense heat and humidity in Washington that week, I know that the Prime Minister greatly appreciated being centrally located and having most of the Cabinet Secretaries and other interlocutors come to him for the scheduled meetings.

The first official event of the visit was a speech by the Prime Minister to the US Chamber of Commerce, at the Chamber’s large headquarters just around the corner from Blair House. I greeted the Kiwi press scrum as they hustled into the building a bit sweaty and frazzled just before the Prime Minister. The PM himself was relaxed, rested, and enthusiastic when I met him at the door of the Chamber as his motorcade arrived.

He circulated through the room of approximately 100 business leaders and then delivered remarks that included a report on Christchurch, the current state of the New Zealand economy, and his thoughts on the mutual benefits expected from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). After the speech he responded to questions from the audience and then adjourned to a separate room to take questions from the press, which by that time had cooled and dried off.

While the Prime Minister was engaged with the press, I walked back to Blair House. By that point the temperature was already approaching 100 degrees, but I didn’t want to wait for a lift in the motorcade in case there was any final prep work necessary in the meeting rooms. Also, I always like approaching the White House on foot through Lafayette Park … a thrill enhanced by seeing the New Zealand flag flying above Blair House across the street.

With Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner at Blair House. (© AP Photo)

Blair House is a superbly run facility, and there was no last-minute prep work waiting. I passed through a security detail surprised to see me arriving on foot, and paused briefly on the front steps to remember police officer Leslie William Coffelt, a true hero who helped foil an attempt to assassinate President Harry Truman in 1950. Though mortally wounded by three close-range shots to the chest as the assassins began their assault on Blair House, Les Coffelt managed to stagger to his feet and shoot the lead assailant as he lunged up the steps, thus preventing him from reaching the President.

I was greeted on the steps by the House manager and had a quiet cup of tea in the Lincoln Room, sitting at the fireplace where President Lincoln himself often sat. The Prime Minister arrived about 15 minutes later, followed shortly by Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner and his senior team for 45 minutes or so of discussions. Following Secretary Geithner was Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and her senior team, including Assistant Secretary Mariko Silver, who was in Christchurch in February when the quake struck.

In both meetings the Prime Minister talked about Christchurch recovery issues, solicited the Secretaries’ views of various current events, discussed ongoing collaborations between the US and New Zealand, and probed re potential new joint projects. The meetings were warm and collegial, as one would expect among friends, rather than formal or stilted. After seeing Secretary Napolitano out, Prime Minister Key left Blair House for the drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill.

Being greeted by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the Pentagon. (© AP Photo)

The Prime Minister was greeted at the Capitol steps by Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar. They walked to the floor of the Senate where Senator Kerry introduced the PM as “a great friend of the United States,” noting that New Zealand is “in enormous partnership” with America, indeed ”one of the strongest and best partnerships with us on a global basis.” The Senate then suspended its deliberations on the debt ceiling and went into recess so that the Prime Minister could speak with several of the Senators, including Senator John McCain.

I did not accompany the Prime Minister to the Hill because of the Constitutional framework of separation of powers within our governance system. I reside within the Executive Branch of Government, and the Capitol is the seat of our Legislative Branch. The feedback that I got from my good friends at that end of Pennsylvania Avenue, however, was that the Prime Minister was received with extraordinary warmth, candor, and goodwill … that there were productive exchanges on substantive issues … and that he seemed to thoroughly enjoy his visit.

Thus, I was surprised by some of the media reports about the PM’s Hill visit being “derailed” because Senators Reid and McConnell were unable to meet privately with him. If being escorted into the Well of the Senate during critical deliberations, having the Senate cease urgent business in order to greet you, and having one-on-one conversations with former Presidential nominees and other leading Senators on the Floor add up to being “derailed,” then perhaps those reporting didn’t actually watch or understand what was occurring. Our Senate is a grand and historic institution, and it received the Prime Minister in a most special manner.

After the Senate visit, I rejoined the Prime Minister’s delegation at the Pentagon. I arrived early to spend time with several of my contacts discussing pending projects. I was particularly pleased to see Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joints of Staff, who is America’s highest-ranking military officer and the President’s principal military advisor. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and a full honor guard met the Prime Minister on the steps as his motorcade arrived, and we all adjourned to the Secretary’s private dining room for lunch.

Approaching the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

Later in the afternoon we drove to Arlington Cemetery so that the Prime Minister could lay a wreath at our Tomb of the Unknowns. Over 2.5 square kilometers in size, Arlington contains more than 300,000 graves of those who have served our country in time of war … including two US Presidents, four Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, many dozens of other famous Americans, and 3,800 freed slaves … as well as several special monuments, including to those who perished in the Space Shuttle Columbia and Challenger disasters, the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, the Iran hostage rescue mission, and the sinking of the USS Maine.

Whenever I visit Washington I make it a point to go to Arlington. I visit particular graves. I spend time at the Tomb of the Unknowns. And I climb the hill to Arlington House for its panoramic view of DC. Built by President George Washington’s adopted grandson, Arlington House was for more than two decades the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his family. Arlington is a moving, peaceful, yet complex place which offers meaningful insights into American history and character. It is also a working cemetery, with approximately 30 burials each day of the year.

Our motorcade’s route was lined with hundreds of servicemen and women in full dress uniform. A 19-cannon salute, military band, and large honor guarded greeted the Prime Minister at the Tomb. We walked up the steps lined with many dozens of additional servicemen. The two national anthems were played, the Prime Minister laid a wreath at the Tomb, and we toured the museum. The Prime Minister presented the museum with a book about Kiwi Victoria Cross recipients, and the curator placed the book directly into a display cabinet containing Victoria Crosses awarded to fallen servicemen interred at Arlington. It was an unexpected, moving moment underscoring shared values and sacrifice.

After Arlington, we returned to Blair House through the triple-digit heat and heavy humidity. There we met for about 50 minutes with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, followed by my Yale Law School classmate Gene Sperling, who is now Director of the National Economic Council and President Obama’s top economic advisor. I hadn’t seen Gene since 1984, and he gave me one of those exuberant Sperling bear hugs that I remembered from New Haven. The meetings were cordial and substantive, and centered around current events and questions posed by the Prime Minister.

With Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at Blair House. (© AP Photo)

When the meeting with Director Sperling ended, I hitched a ride with Kiwi Ambassador Mike Moore up to the New Zealand Embassy for a black tie dinner in honor of American hedge fund manager and philanthropist Julian Robertson. I mingled with the assembled guests, chatted with Julian, introduced Dr McWaine to a few people, and had the great pleasure of meeting one of my predecessors, former Ambassador Charles Swindells. When the PM arrived he presided over the formal investiture of Julian as an honorary Knight Companion of the realm, and we settled down to a fine dinner.

The next day, Friday, started early with an hour at Blair House with my colleague Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns. Acting Secretary of State prior to Secretary Clinton’s confirmation by the Senate and now the second highest ranking official in the Department, Ambassador Burns was a superb interlocutor for the Prime Minister in Secretary Clinton’s absence (due to a previously scheduled Asia trip). The Deputy Secretary briefed the Prime Minister, and the two discussed a wide variety of global issues.

After the meeting with Ambassador Burns, I had the pleasure of greeting General Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. We chatted for a few minutes in the Lincoln Room and then walked down the hall for a rountable conversation with the Prime Minister and more than a dozen Washington think tank leaders. There was vigorous discussion of Afghanistan, trade, East Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific, and other topics, after which several of the think thank experts stayed for a Q&A with the visiting Kiwi media.

The PM, his entourage, and I then returned to the Lee Drawing Room to meet with Ambassador Ron Kirk, the United States Trade Representative, and his senior team. There was discussion about the TPP, the Doha Development Round, and other trade issues. As with the other bilateral meetings, the exchange was warm, collegial, and substantive, and the press scrum was invited in for a couple minutes to take photos of the proceedings.

With President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. (©AP Photo)

I returned to the State Department briefly and then made my way to the White House. Rather than drive in, I walked through the 17th Street gates, past the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and up to the door of the West Wing. I spent a half hour talking with friends who work in the building and then mustered with Deputy Secretary Burns, Director Sperling, and a couple White House staffers to brief the President in the Oval Office.

When Prime Minister Key arrived, he and and President greeted each other warmly, joked a bit about the weather, and settled into a warm conversation about the US-NZ bilateral relationship. The Prime Minister updated the President on the Christchurch recovery process, and the President thanked the Prime Minister for New Zealand’s highly productive engagement in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world. The two leaders ranged across a variety of other topics, and then the White House press corps and the visiting Kiwi media stampeded (literally, believe me) in for film, photos, and statements.

I was a bit surprised later to see Kiwi press reports saying that the meeting was rushed or “cut short.” I didn’t think to bring my stop watch, but it seemed to me that the conversation proceeded naturally, filled the allotted time, and indeed continued for awhile after the press scrum was escorted out of the Oval Office. Anyway, although minutes are certainly easier to analyze than progress or substance, the meeting seemed to me to meet expectations on all counts, particularly given what else was occurring in the world that Friday.

After the Prime Minister’s party departed, I spent a few more minutes with the President, who remarked how much he enjoyed the PM’s visit. As I left the Oval Office myself, I saw a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Lincoln, and Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With, one of my favorite works of American art. I was also happy to see the Prime Minister’s gift to the President — a stunning raukawakawa pounamu (flower jade) wahaika (fish-mouth club) carved by Hokitika craftsman Aden Hoglund and presented by the Ngai Tahu.

Shaking hands after making statements to the press. (©AP Photo)

I walked the few steps from the West Wing to the Eisenhower Building for follow-up meetings and then returned to the State Department for an informal celebration with my ANP (Australia, New Zealand, Pacific) Office colleagues. After that, I drove up to the official Residence of the New Zealand Ambassador for the Prime Minister’s final event in Washington, a small dinner with business folks and trade experts to discuss the TPP. It was a convivial evening with no surprises.

I stayed in Washington for one more day of Government consultations focused on youth outreach, sports diplomacy, educational exchanges, and renewable energy projects, which are among the parts of my portfolio that excite me the most. I enjoyed spending time with my friends at the Sports United office who helped arrange our recent Hawaiian rugby exchange program, and with my friend Andrew Cedar who is the Secretary’s senior advisor for youth programs. I concluded my formal schedule with a trip to Capitol Hill to brief the staff of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations re developments since I last visited, in January.

That evening I had the great pleasure of dining informally with my colleagues Bob, Chad, and Marie who were in Washington for training.  Bob is my outgoing Deputy Chief of Mission to whom I am deeply indebted for his guidance and distinguished service during my first 18 months as Ambassador. Marie is my new Deputy Chief of Mission for New Zealand, and Chad is my new Deputy Chief of Mission for Samoa. We had an enjoyable and productive evening, although it was a bit odd listening to Bob coach Marie and Chad on how to try to manage me.

I only spent one week in Washington this time, but crammed into that week was enough work for a month. I can confidently say that it was the most productive, successful, and enjoyable business trip that I’ve ever had. I’m happy, though, to be back in Wellington with a free Saturday tomorrow to recharge my batteries. Dr McWaine is on his annual camping trip in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains with his old high school mates, so I’ll have the run of the Residence.

The White House today announced the United States’ first, comprehensive International Strategy for Cyberspace. Streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov, the rollout was conducted by a megawatt team including Secretary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynch, and top White House cyber security officials.

The Strategy lays out the President’s vision for the future of the Internet, and sets an agenda for partnering with others to achieve that vision.  The Strategy is realistic about the challenges ahead, and it emphasizes that policies must continue to be grounded in core principles of fundamental freedom, privacy, and the free flow of information if the benefits produced by networked technologies are to continue.

Given her long-standing leadership on internet freedom and other cyber issues, the Secretary was a logical and compelling voice at the rollout.  I’ll let her outline the Strategy and its goals in her own words:

In a preface to the Strategy, President Obama himself eloquently explains the impulse behind developing and advocating an integrated approach to cyberspace:

“The digital world is no longer a lawless frontier, nor the province of a small elite. It is a place where the norms of responsible, just, and peaceful conduct among states and peoples have begun to take hold. It is one of the finest examples of a community self-organizing, as civil society, academia, the private sector, and governments work together democratically to ensure its effective management. Most important of all, this space continues to grow, develop, and promote prosperity, security, and openness as it has since its invention. This is what sets the Internet apart in the international environment, and why it is so important to protect.”

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