This morning I received an email with the unfortunately chosen subject line "Gov’t Shows California Entrepreneurs How to Innovate".

It was to announce an event in Oakland CA called the InVision Tour, in which several Federal agencies will give presentations on how entrepreneurs can get funding and technical support for the agencies.

Clicking through to the event website reveals that the "The primary mission of the InVision Tour is to inform minorities in five U.S. markets on how to use the Federal Government’s 300+ laboratories and research centers for technology transfer."

It turns out that similar events will take place in Atlanta, Houston, New York and Detroit.

Obviously government funding and resources have played a huge role in many innovations. But it struck me as funny that the event publicist thought that government can actually "show entrepreneurs how to innovate" -- in California, no less, the home of perhaps more innovations than any other jurisdiction in the history of mankind.