President Obama pokes fun at Facebook's Zuckerberg

Obama pokes fun at Facebook CEOSTORY HIGHLIGHTSAt a Facebook event, President Obama repeatedly poked fun at Facebook's founderThe pair had met before at a dinner for the president and Silicon Valley eliteMark Zuckerberg praised Obama's efforts in education reform Palo Alto, California (CNN) -- President Obama began his "town hall" event at Facebook's offices on Wednesday with an anecdote.

"I hate to tell stories about Mark," Obama said, referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was moderating the session.

As if the two former Harvard students were old friends, Obama then launched into a brief retelling of a dinner party he atttended in February with the 26-year-old computer whiz and about a dozen other tech-industry elites. There, Zuckerberg sat to the president's immediate right.

"I'm the guy who got Mark to wear a jacket and tie," Obama said, referring to Zuckerberg, who abandoned his usual T-shirt and hoodie ensemble that day. "Halfway through dinner, he's starting to sweat a bit. It's really uncomfortable for him. I helped him out of his jacket.

"In fact, if you want Mark, we can take our jackets off."

And so, like Obama has often done during less-formal speeches, the president on Wednesday removed his coat. Zuckerberg followed, revealing a dress shirt and black tie. (Though, he did wear sneakers.)

"Yeah, you're a lot better at this than me," Zuckerberg joked.

That kicked off a very cordial hour-long conversation and seemed to loosen up the sometimes chilly technology prodigy. Zuckerberg stumbled during his opening remarks. "Sorry, I'm kind of nervous," he said after a flub in his introduction.

For Obama, Wednesday was a chance to connect with both Silicon Valley influencers and young people in one poke. Throughout his answers, Obama related his typical talking points -- federal deficit, education, healthcare and immigration -- to those two groups.

To the technorati, Obama promoted education in math and sciences, highlighted the especially acute real-estate market in the affluent area here, and talked up immigration reform. "We don't want them starting Intel in China, or starting Intel in France. We want them here," he said.

To the youthful audience of Facebook employees, he provided advice and stirred his familiar call for change. "Historically, part of what makes for a healthy democracy, what is a good politics, is when you have citizens who are informed, who are engaged. And what Facebook allows us to do is make sure this isn't just a one-way conversation," Obama said.

For Facebook, the meeting was an opportunity to validate itself in the eyes of Washington, where it's ramped up lobbying efforts recently. That's important for most companies growing at the rate and size Facebook is.

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