Why party only on the NIGHT OF the inauguration? ServiceNation will be joining Arianna Huffington and the HuffPost team to help count down the launch of a new era the NIGHT BEFORE the inauguration at a Jan. 19 “pre-inaugural” ball that will take place at the fabulous Newseum. The party will feature service as one of its themes, and Arianna Huffington is inviting Americans everywhere to join in the celebration by making a service commitment and submitting video of themselves doing service and taking their own Oath Of Office. Many of the commitments and videos will be featured onscreen during the party. Arianna explains it all–and how you can participate–in this post. Here’s an excerpt to get you started:

Barack Obama is not the only one being inaugurated on January 20th. We all are.

And that’s not just because Obama has promised to make a call to service “a central cause” of his presidency. It’s because this moment in history demands that we stop waiting on others — especially others living in Washington D.C. — to solve the problems and right the wrongs of our times. Now, more than ever, we must mine the most underutilized resource available to us: ourselves.

This is a great way to look at what is happening in America, and how we must address the great challenges ahead. America has always been at its best when citizens step forward and unite in common cause. And taking your own oath of office is the perfect way to get started. So please go forth and make some video, and then follow the submission instructions at the bottom of Arianna’s post. I love this project. And to get you into it, too, here is George Washington’s video submission: