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The value of large conferences like this year's NSA Convention in San Diego is as much in chance conversations over lunch as in listening to presentations from the podium. "It's not what you know, it's who you meet in the hallways." I was delighted meet Rebecca Staton-Reinstein over lunch on Thursday. Working as a speechwriter at Hewlett-Packard, I hear stuff all the time about the vision and strategy of large organizations. Technology companies, by their very nature, tend to look to the future and speak in terms of innovation, R&D and the new, new thing. So I was surprised to hear Rebecca explain company strategy in historical terms. Imagine, an American with sense enough to try and understand the present in terms of the past! Her current project involves interviewing CEO's about their strategic vision and how this is translated into reality. Her research was stimulated by her understanding of the strategic vision of the 18th Century framers of the US Constitution. She talks to captains of industry about t