George Bush, Colin Powell, Mario Cuomo and Gerald Ford topped the list of favorite speakers according to the more than 2,000 evaluation forms returned to Richard Henning, dean of community services for Foothill College and coordinator of the event.
Other speakers for the one-day event included C. Everett Koop, Cokie Roberts, Malcom S. Forbes, Tom Peters and Elizabeth Dole. Mark Russell and The Capitol Steps provided entertainment.
"We are gratified to see that almost every single one of the evaluations rated the conference as excellent," Henning said. "For a first-year effort, we could not have asked for a better response."
The high-powered speakers touched on a variety of topics, including comments from George Bush on the National Rifle Association, Tom Peter's exuberant remarks about business in Silicon Valley, Gerald Ford's opinion on balancing the budget and C. Everett Koop's concern about lack of access to health care.
Former New York governor Mario Cuomo received a standing ovation from the largely Republican crowd, even though he critiqued the GOP's "Contract with America" proposal during his speech. In a press conference following his speech, Colin Powell indicated he would "keep his options open" regarding presidential aspirations until after the publication of his memoirs in September.
Henning said the conference not only brought Foothill College a lot of positive attention but also created the opportunity to build partnerships with some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley.
Tandem Computers and Silicon Graphics were primary sponsors for the event along with additional sponsors Cirrus Logic, National Semiconductor, Adobe Systems, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Commonwealth Club of California. Dozens of other corporations have asked to be included as sponsors next year, Henning said.
In a letter to Henning, Gil Amelio, CEO of National Semiconductor wrote, "Thanks for a wonderful event! Best such conference I've been to in years. You should be very proud. Everything ran like a clock with high impact messages. Count on us for sponsorship next year."
Both Tandem Computers and Silicon Graphics are currently working with Foothill College to help with their new Center for Innovation and Interactive Learning by providing technology including hardware and software, Henning said.
"From a public relations standpoint and because of the partnerships we've been able to establish in Silicon Valley, the conference was an outstanding success and has value that can't be measured in terms of dollars and cents," he said. "We view this first year as an investment for the future and believe next year's event will be even bigger and better."
Ann DeBusk, representing the American Leadership Forum, summed up the response from many of the attendees when she wrote to Henning, "Many of us ... were awed by your great success in delivering such a distinguished group of speakers. It was a bold undertaking and was most successful, particularly considering that it was your first leadership conference of this sort."
Plans for next year's event are under way and Henning said the evaluation forms turned in by the participants will help him in the selection of the speakers as well as with other aspects of the conference.