One of the most popular events at this week's International Dairy Show in Dallas was the opening Signature Session featuring former President George W. Bush.

Speaking longer than his one-hour time slot, President Bush shared his quick sense of humor along with the highs and lows of his presidency, giving attendees a glimpse into the pages of his upcoming book, "Decision Points." The book is scheduled to be released November 9.

For more details, read the comments posted below by Connie Tipton, IDFA president and CEO, about the Signature Session and her meeting with President Bush.

A Memorable Experience

By Connie Tipton

On Monday, September 13, 2010, I had the opportunity to visit one-on-one with former President George W. Bush and then to participate on stage in a question-and-answer session with him.

Here's how it came about . . .

In the fall of 2009, IDFA planned a new trade show for the dairy processing industry, with our inaugural event set for Dallas, Texas, September 13-15, 2010. We thought long and hard about ways to make this first-time event stand out among the many events business people are asked to attend, and we came up with a variety of ideas, including outstanding speakers, unique activities on the exhibit floor and special tours.

Out of that process came the idea to invite former President Bush, now a resident of suburban Dallas, to be our opening morning speaker.

This Signature Session met our objective of getting people amassed at the convention center prior to the opening of our exhibit floor (the session was 10:00-11:00 a.m. and the exhibits opened at 11:00), and it was certainly a hit with everyone who attended. In fact, the "buzz" about the session never stopped throughout the entire three-day event.

Backstage with the President

My backstage time with him before the event was quite special. I let him know that I had worked on both Republican Conventions where he was nominated - in Philadelphia in August of 2000 and in New York City, August 2004 - and that I knew a number of people who worked in the White House with him (I name dropped).

I also shared that my self-assigned summer reading included Laura Bush's book - we exchanged some stories from that - and that just a couple of weeks earlier I had heard Jenna Bush speak at a meeting in Colorado Springs and had visited with her briefly. This gave us plenty to talk about for our 20 or so minutes together, but it also made the president very comfortable with me and, through me, with the audience he would soon address. In short, I felt I had done a good job of "warming him up" to give us his best.

Presidential Highs and Lows

Over the next 45 minutes, President Bush spoke candidly about the highs and lows of his eight years in the White House, sharing many stories about his role in major events. It was an amazing presentation, giving us a special opportunity to get an unvarnished glimpse at the real George Bush - his love of America, his respect for the presidency, his compassion, his strong principles and his strength as a leader.

He started the discussion with what it was like to come back to Texas as a private citizen after living for more than a decade either in the Texas Governor's mansion or in the White House.

Preparing for a return to private life, the Bushes bought a house outside of Dallas; it's on a cul de sac, normally a quiet, infrequently traveled street by anyone other than the residents and occasional visitors. But the day the Dallas newspaper published the address of the Bushes new home, no fewer than 650 people drove around the cul de sac to see the house.

The Bushes felt badly about creating this situation for their new neighborhood; in fact, George was thinking he needed to apologize somehow to the neighbors. So he decided he would take Barney, their Scottish Terrier, for a walk in the neighborhood and just chat with whoever was around. Sounds normal - but he admitted he hadn't taken a walk in a neighborhood in a decade, and little Barney had never been anywhere other than the White House South lawn, Camp David or the ranch in Crawford.

So George, who just days ago was the President of the United States, and Barney, the presidential dog, embarked on this new adventure of walking in the neighborhood. And as President Bush told it, Barney soon took an interest in one of the neighbor's yards - and next thing he knew, he was picking up after Barney with a plastic bag. Quite a dramatic change from being the most powerful person in the free world just days before.

Little stories like this - some certainly on far more serious topics - provided a lot of insight into George Bush and what it was like to be president of the United States. His humor and honesty came through loud and clear. You could tell he is a man who is completely comfortable with who he is.

9/11 and Beyond

After 45 minutes and through thunderous applause, I went back on stage to ask the president to join me in an informal question-and-answer session. By the time I got started, we had only 10 minutes left in the session, and it being just two days after the 9th anniversary of September 11, 2001, I asked him to recount his activities on that fateful day.

Following that, our time was really up, but he'd asked me to say something about his book, so I continued. After that, I started to wrap up, but the president said he had time for more questions, and I could tell the audience was engaged. I asked what things he might want a chance to "do over" - and he talked for another 10 minutes, taking us seriously over the time that we were to let people out of the session to go to the exhibit floor (it opened at 11:00 but we were still talking!). He then leaned to me and said "One more question?" but I had to tell him "No, we regrettably have to end the session."

He left the stage with a friendly wave and a thank you, again to thunderous applause. I closed the session, then went backstage, where the president was already enjoying a peanut butter cookie in preparation for a photo session with each of some of our board members. I thanked him and again shook his hand.

It was a terrific and memorable experience. Our audience and board members were thrilled, and our trade show was off to a bang-up start!