Postcards

How the power players do it - by Fortune senior editor at large Patricia Sellers

Power Point: Have a "beer summit"

July 31, 2009: 2:56 AM ET

"When he's not arresting you, Sergeant Crowley is a really likable guy."

-- Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., after the "beer summit" with Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department, Vice President Biden and President Obama. Race relations have taken center stage ever since Sgt. Crowley arrested Prof. Gates for disorderly conduct in his own home last week. Of the moniker given to the gathering, the President called it "clever" but clarified, "This is three folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other." As for the drinks, Obama opted for Bud Lite, Sgt. Crowley had Blue Moon, Prof. Gates drank Sam Adams Light and Biden had a Buckler nonalcoholic beer. --Jessica Shambora

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About This Author
Pattie Sellers
Patricia Sellers
Senior Editor at Large, Fortune
Executive Director of MPW/Live Content, Time Inc.

Fortune senior editor at large Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Marissa Mayer: Ready to Rumble at Yahoo," "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), and "Remodeling Martha" (Martha Stewart). She has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" package every year since its launch in 1998. Pattie is Executive Director of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business and beyond. She oversees MPW programs that enable women leaders to extend their influence and empower the next generation—such as Fortune MPW Entrepreneurs and the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. Beyond her Fortune duties, she is also developing Live Content across Time Inc. Pattie grew up in Allentown, PA, graduated from the University of Virginia, and started at Fortune in 1984. Her blog, Postcards, is about how power players lead, manage others, and navigate their careers.

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