I’m here in Washington, D.C. at a good time. Not only because I can help with the disaster response, but also because today is Gail McGovern’s first day at work. Gail is the new National American Red Cross CEO, and this morning she held a meet-and-greet in the atrium with the whole staff. I decided to take this opportunity to chat with her about social media and our efforts to communicate with the world in new and engaging ways. She was very enthusiastic about it, which makes me happy. (Apparently she even has a colleague at Harvard who makes a point to Digg Red Cross news in his spare time!)

And of course I brought my camera. So I handed it to Michael (who I will introduce to you all later) to take the shot, put my arm around Gail and said, “You know I’m gonna blog you.”

Things about Gail that I’m stoked about:

• She’s a theoretical mathematician. (She’s a geek! Cute!…Gail, if you’re reading, “geek” is a term of endearment. Geeks are cool nowadays.)

• She taught Marketing at Harvard Business School.

• She kind of bites her lower lip when she smiles, which makes her photos adorable. I think she even out-smiled me in the photo above!

Anyway, welcome, Gail. It was lovely to meet you.