Growing Demand Blog

The White House invited Demand Media’s eHow Money to Washington, DC, for the Obama Administration’s first Personal Finance Online Summit on June 8, 2011. Amy Kniss, eHow Money Editor, attended on behalf of eHow (pictured below, third from the bottom left).

We were joined by representatives from other top personal finance publications such as CNNMoney, Forbes and DailyFinance for an informative and interactive session covering a range of topics – from overall economic policy to prices at the pump.

President Barack Obama attended the daylong session and stressed his own personal finance philosophy – save money, earn interest and take advantage of “the magic of compound interest.” He also encouraged spending discipline: Know the difference between investment and expenditure, necessity and luxury.

The Administration realizes that more and more citizens are turning to the Internet for information on subjects like personal finance, and the White House offered to make administration officials and Cabinet members available for Facebook and Twitter events to continue the conversation.

Here at Demand Media, we are really excited about what we can learn and share with the political leaders who help shape and guide the U.S. economy. When informed by insights and resources from leading economic authorities, the practical knowledge we bring to our eHow Money audience every day becomes even more useful.

We don’t visit the White House every day, but we’re continually striving to understand the national consciousness and consumer demand for personal finance information. So, while the experience was rewarding and educational for our team, we hope it will ultimately be valuable for eHow and our audiences.

For any personal finance interests you might have, be sure to check out eHow Money at ehow.com/ehow-money.

Jeremy Reed is Demand Media's SVP, Content & Editorial. You can follow him on Twitter @jebreed.