The lavish San Francisco Fairmont Hotel was still the same, and Clinton began speaking as soon as he entered the room.
Some of his topics were somewhat similar to the early advocacies of Hewlett-Packard's founder, Packard.
He proposed the establishment of a government that helps people become self-reliant, and invests in education and research.
He revisited the ideas expressed a decade ago by Gary Hart and others, that it was necessary to develop the economy around sunrise industries and modernize trade policies.
He emphasized the significant importance of high technology—Silicon Valley's high tech—to the country's future.
At least 25 wealthy and influential people were gathered around him, listening. They were all Silicon Valley executives or entrepreneurs.
Setting aside Clinton's political savvy, when it came to personal relationships, he was certainly a genius-level communicator.
