Here are 10 thoughts on yesterday’s luncheon and presentation given by Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc. at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador:

• It was quite high-tech: TREO President Joe Snell and, I assume, others actually spoke using teleprompters. I haven’t seen that before at a Tucson business luncheon.

• On the same note, I couldn’t help but feel a couple of times that Snell looked like he was delivering a campaign speech. He pumped his fist like a candidate while, commenting on the current economic situation, he said “We will aggressively and judiciously rise to the challenge.”

Joe Snell — candidate?

• The beef was delicious but the noodles it sat upon I found impossible to eat without having them slip off the fork into my beard or lap. (Tucson Newspapers paid for the table I sat at; the lunch wasn’t a freebie.)

• UA President Robert Shelton said it’s a problem for our local economy that a median-income family in the Tucson area can only afford 45 percent of the housing stock. That leads to a tough conclusion for current homeowners: Prices must come down further for our own regional-economic good!

• The El Conquistador is really, really far out for a midday meeting if you don’t work on the Northwest Side.

• Raytheon VP Daisy Jenkins is a great public speaker. I’ve never heard before this phrase, which she used yesterday: “Our mission here is not to boil the ocean.” A great phrase when you’re trying to get people to focus and not feel overwhelmed by the tasks at hand.

Daisy Jenkins

• The only bad spot for me in Jenkins’ presentation was when she tried to present our local economic situation as being at a major crossroads. “We are a community on the brink — on the brink of failure or success,” she said. I’m tiring of this kind of false dichotomy about the drama of our moment. In my mind, the truth is, Tucson will probably keep muddling along economically in the middle like most other cities do, with strong points and weak points, neither failing nor succeeding. (In a similar vein,
politicians in this current election cycle keep calling this the most important election in our lifetime. I remember vividly how they said the same thing four years ago.)

• The UA people who measured our performance compared Tucson to 10 cities: Albuquerque, Dallas, Las Vegas, Portland, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, Austin, Denver, Phoenix and San Diego. At least we can’t say we’re “scheduling cupcakes,” as teams do in basketball and football. Of those 10 cities, only Albuquerque and perhaps Austin seem similar in size and name recognition. The others are much bigger and more recognizable. How about a cupcake? Reno? Las Cruces? El Paso?

• Parking is terrible at El Conquistador when there’s a big event. You drive up into the Catalina foothills through a never-ending series of small lots till you’re watching out for bighorn sheep. Then there’s no obvious way to get into the conference rooms through the back way.

• All that said, the event was packed and actually included some good information.