![President Obama's Final State of the Union, Jan 12, 9pm ET](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/files/tout_images/sotu2016_featured_blog.jpg)
Last Wednesday, the White House gathered a group of editors and writers from an array of personal finance and financial news websites for an afternoon of policy briefings and candid dialogue around ways to communicate more effecitvely with citizens online who are feeling their wallets pinched in these economic times.
Much of the afternoon involved a variety of policy briefings from senior officials including CEA Chair Austan Goolsbee adressing the economic recovery, CTO Aneesh Chopra explaining the Startup America Partnership, policy advisor Heather Zichal speaking to gas prices and the Administration's energy policy, Elizabeth Warren providing a consumer protections update, and NEC Director Gene Sperling covering fiscal policy. President Obama surprised the group by dropping by to welcome guests and take a few questions.