Nearly two dozen ambassadors representing countries on five continents will spend three days learning about Wyoming’s remarkable history, exploring its environmental wonders, engaging with experts about conservation efforts, and interacting with the state’s public and private sector leaders.

One of the most profound, defining moments of my career was when I worked as a Special Assitant to Charlotte Beers during her tenure as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. If you've seen the film The Devil Wears Prada , you would have a sense of what working for her was like.

The State Department announced major changes to the J-1 Summer Work and Travel Program in May and expanded a list of jobs that students should not be allowed to work. It was the latest in a series of steps to fix the program since The Associated Press reported in 2010 that abuses included participants working in strip clubs.

SportsUnited is the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ premier sports exchange program at the U.S. Department of State. Athletes and coaches from a range of sports are chosen to conduct clinics, visit schools, and engage with youth overseas in a dialogue on the importance of an education, positive health practices, and respect for diversity.

Among changes the State Department implemented was expanding a list of prohibited jobs to include manufacturing, construction and agriculture. The program also bans participants from working in the sex industry.

The GIST initiative forges links at the individual and institutional levels among technology entrepreneurs, angel investors, and the marketplace...In Africa, GIST is powered by LIONS@FRICA, a Department of State public-private partnership that shares the GIST mission to create economic opportunity through innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Tech@State keynote by Beth Simone Noveck, former deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House, will start at 11:30 a.m...Subsequent sessions will explore the potential for wikis to increase collaboration among institutions, enhance the flow of information in local communities, foster internal collaboration and increase inter-agency cooperation.

It is within this cacophony of negativity and peril that I had the chance to meet and interview, not diplomats, nor politicians, but regular, young Pakistani citizens who happen to be in an acclaimed rock and roll band called Noori. Noori are on their first music tour of the United States, sponsored by the U.S. Department of States' new cultural diplomacy initiative, Center Stage.