Silicon
Valley
voters
say
Meg
Whitman
would
bring
an
innovative
approach
to


Sacramento

By Meg News Channel

SAN JOSE — California’s in a crisis. And in a crisis, Meg Whitman believes leaders have to take a
different approach. They have to be bold. They have to be courageous. And they have to think
outside the box.

That’s what she told thousands of employees during a visit to Silicon Valley’s Cisco Systems, the
worldwide leader in computer networking. Meg spoke to company workers in the audience and via
video conference, and told them that it’s time for someone with Silicon Valley-style leadership to
get the state back on track.

“I think I bring some unique skills to the table in times of incredible economic turmoil, and I think I
can make a difference,” Meg told the crowd.

Joined by John Chambers, Cisco’s chairman and CEO, Meg discussed the challenges facing
California and how she plans to tackle them. Chambers told the crowd that he’s known Meg for
many years, watched her take eBay from a startup with 30 employees to a grownup with 15,000
employees and nearly $8 billion in revenue. He’s watched as she’s tackled tough problems and led
with determination and innovating thinking in the face of enormous challenges.

He told his workers that he believes this is the most important election California has ever seen.
“Each of us have to decide what we think is right for our state,” he said. “It’s not about Republicans
or Democrats – it’s about how do we fix the state and how do we fix the nation?”

In an interview after the event, Chambers said he personally believes it’s time for a different kind
of leadership.

“We need somebody who can do it differently,” Chambers said. “When you have a business or a
government that has been in trouble for decades you can’t take the same leaders who are a part of
the process and say ‘go fix it.’ So from a personal point of view, I think it’s time for a change. I
think we have got to bring new, innovative ideas. We’ve got to get business and government and
citizens of this great state working together.”

Cisco invited Meg, along with other political candidates, to speak to employees because company
officials want their workers to make an informed decision in this November’s critical election. Here
in Silicon Valley, Meg found common ground among Cisco’s high-tech workforce – she shared
stories about her years at eBay and talked about how, if elected, she would infuse Sacramento with
the kind of technology and innovation seen every day in Silicon Valley.
After the event, employee Mark Douglas said he’s typically voted Democrat, but Meg’s got his ear.
He likes that she’s not a career politician, and that she wants to bring a “new model and innovative
approach” to Sacramento.

“Silicon Valley is about disruption and innovation, and you have to disrupt to grow and change.
Meg coming from eBay and working in high-tech in Silicon Valley understands those things,” said
Douglas, a senior manager of business operations at Cisco. “If you’re really going to move the
needle for California, you do need a new model and it needs to be disruptive. Those things really
resonate with me.”

Marisa Ross, manager of executive communications, added: “Meg Whitman makes sense for
California because we definitely need some new faces, some new ideas to really help drive change.
Clearly we need some revolution, and it starts in Sacramento. I think Meg definitely has an
opportunity to offer a lot of new revolutionary ways of doing things and can absolutely help drive
us into the next generation of California.”

Meg News Channel is a fully dedicated media team, which produces original video and print content for the
Meg Whitman Campaign. To learn more, go to http://www.megwhitman.com/media_center.php

Paid
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by
Meg
Whitman
for
Governor
2010


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