Uber-networking event, part 3

Here are some random things I learned over the last several days at my uber-networking event:

• Product placement is far more pervasive in mainstream tv and movies than I'd realized, and the people who pay for their products to appear in these venues have a fair amount of control over how their products are used (i.e. a car company can specify that their car be mentioned by name, that it not be shot in a shoot-out, etc.)
• Voting is mandatory in a number of countries, including Belgium, France, and Peru. After they made voting mandatory in Peru, they elected their first President who was a member of an indigenous population.
• Artists are more valuable than they're often recognized as being because they are creative problem solvers. They can be faced with various impediments to realizing their visions, and they work around them.
• At almost all colleges and universities, a high percentage of the students are having to take remedial courses in writing and math. This suggests that our high schools aren't doing some of what they should be doing.
• People report higher feelings of fondness and admiration for leaders if they see them make a mistake, like spilling a cup of coffee on themselves. This seems to humanize them and make them relatable, so mistakes aren't always bad.
• Obama's got his work cut out for him, because the big players--CEOs, physicians, transition team members, bankers--all seem to have different ideas on what should be his top priority, and they all seem to believe he's going to be able to make big changes quickly.