State of the Union 2012: We Want to Hear From You

Colleen Curtis

January 20, 2012 at 11:45 AM EST

Mark your calendars! Tomorrow Tuesday January 24, President Obama will present the annual State of the Union Address at 9 pm EST, and all week long, the White House wants to hear from concerned citizens on the topics that most matter to you.
Once again, we will be streaming an enhanced version of the speech that features graphics, data and stats that highlight the issues the President is discussing on Whitehouse.gov/sotu. We will also live stream that broadcast through the White House Live App on Facebook, YouTube and our new Google+ page.


Starting immediately after the speech and continuing through the rest of the week, senior White House officials will hear from you about the state of our union. President Obama is committed to creating a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration using social media and other online resources to engage citizens across America on your highest priorities.
Immediately following the speech, we’ll be streaming an online panel live from the White House. The panel of senior advisors -- Mark Zuckerman, White House Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council; Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy; Brian Deese, Deputy Director National Economic Council; Ben Rhodes, Deputy NSA for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting and Jen Palmieri, Deputy White House Communications Director – will be answering questions about the President’s address submitted by citizens via twitter (#WHChat & #SOTU), Google+, Facebook and the in-person audience of tweetup participants.
Administration officials will spend Wednesday taking questions on the State of the Union in a day-long Office Hours marathon, an online question and answer session through Twitter. Josh Earnest, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, will be available throughout the day, and Mark Zuckerman, White House Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council will be taking questions at 1 pm EST. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, will also participate.
Thursday’s Office Hours will feature community-focused discussions with policy advisors and experts and Friday will be directed towards specific issues.
Review the full schedule of events below to learn how you can participate. We hope you will join us at some point next week.
Here's how Office Hours work:

• Ask your question on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat
• Administration officials respond to your questions in real-time via Twitter
• Follow the Q&A through the @WHLive Twitter account
• If you miss the live session, the full Q&A will be posted on WhiteHouse.gov and Storify.com/WhiteHouse

 Office Hours Schedule for Thursday January 26 (times listed are EST)

• 10:00 a.m. Veterans: Matt Flavin, White House Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy
• 11:00 a.m. LGBT: Miriam Vogel, White House Senior Policy Advisor and Gautam Raghavan, White House Associate Director for Public Engagement
• 12:00 p.m. Women: Racquel Russell, Special Assistant to the President for Mobility and Opportunity and Avra Siegel, White House Deputy Executive Director for the Council on Women and Girls
• 1:00 p.m. Seniors: Jeanne Lambrew, Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy and Nick Papas, Assistant Press Secretary
• 2:00 p.m. Latinos: Felicia Escobar, White House Senior Policy Advisor, Julie Rodriguez, White House Associate Director of Public Engagement and Luis Miranda, White House Director of Hispanic Media
• 3:00 p.m. Native American Issues: Kimberly Teehee, Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs
• 4:00 p.m. Small Business Owners: Christine Koronides, Senior Advisor for Economic Policy, National Economic Council
• 5:00 p.m. African Americans: Danielle Gray, Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
• 6:00 p.m. Asian American Pacific Islanders: Chris Lu, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary

Office Hours Schedule for Friday January 27 (times listed are EST)

• 10:00 a.m. Rural Issues: Doug McKalip, Senior Policy Advisor for Rural Affairs
• 11:00 a.m. Foreign Policy: Ben Rhodes, Deputy NSA for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting
• 12:00 p.m. Education: Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy
• 1:00 p.m. Health: Jeanne Lambrew, Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy and Nick Papas, Assistant Press Secretary
• 2:00 p.m. Energy: Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy & Climate Change and Dan Utech, Deputy Director for Energy Policy
• 3:00 p.m. Consumer Protections: Brian Deese, Deputy Director National Economic Council
• 4:00 pm. The Economy: Jason Furman, Principal Deputy Director National Economic Council
• 5:00 p.m. Job Opportunities: Portia Wu, Senior Policy Advisor for Mobility and Opportunity Policy
• 6:00 p.m. Urban Issues: Racquel Russell,  Special Assistant to the President for Mobility and Opportunity