Obama's bringing back sexy pocket protectors

President Barack Obama's meeting with his Jobs and Competitiveness Council was about as gripping as you might expect from an economic discussion among politicians and business leaders.

The meeting, held at Cree's Durham offices today and streamed live online, covered a lot of ground related to possible ways government and private business can help spur new job growth. That included improving training to create more qualified workers, reducing barriers to work visas for foreign engineers, boosting tourism in the United States and more.

Mostly, the members of the council, led by GE CEO Jeffery Immelt, used the meeting to discuss how they have held, and will continue to hold, more meetings, roundtables and other gatherings to collect ideas and suggestions.

But there were a few light-hearted moments, mostly courtesy of Obama.

One was when the president discussed how important it is to foster an interest in math and engineering among U.S. children, so this country can keep up with China, India and elsewhere.

"My biggest priority is making sure all our kids study engineering," he said. "I want the pocket protector to be the new sex appeal."

Another funny comment was a small Obama slip-up. He retold a story he heard from "Steve Jobs at Microsoft" about the slow pace of construction vs. the rapid pace of change in technology.

The punch line, of course, was that no one corrected the President that he was mixing up Apple CEO Steve Jobs with arch rival Microsoft.