2009 Regional Conference Speakers
Whit Ayres - Ayres, McHenry & Associates
Founder and President of
Ayres, McHenry & Associates a national public opinion and public affairs
research firm located in Alexandria, Virginia, that provides research and
strategic advice for corporations, associations, and Republican candidates for
public office. Roll Call, a widely-read newspaper on Capitol Hill, called the
firm "one of the best in the nation."
Ayres' comments and analysis appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and numerous regional newspapers. He also appears periodically on Fox News, CNN, and National Public Radio.
Whit is President of the American Association of Political Consultants, and co-founder (with former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie) of Resurgent Republic.
Joel Benenson - Benenson Strategy Group
Joel Benenson is the
President of the Benenson Strategy Group, which he co-founded in 2000. He has
served as a strategic analyst and adviser to heads of state, senior members of
Congress and other national political leaders, business leaders, and major
advocacy and charitable institutions.
Benenson was the lead pollster and a senior strategist for President Barack Obama during the 2008 election, and he continues in that role today. He has also been a pollster and strategist for U.S. senators, governors and mayors from around the country. He played an integral role as a pollster for the DCCC in 2006, when the Democrats won back the majority in the House of Representatives. The team Benenson was on won eight of 10 races, including three in which incumbents were defeated.
During his career, Benenson has worked directly on research projects for some of America's most prominent CEOs, including Procter & Gamble's A.G. Lafley, General Electric's Jack Welch and AOL's Bob Pittman. He has also helped guide corporate clients through some of the most notable communication challenges in the past decade. He was the lead strategic researcher for Procter & Gamble's launch of Olestra, the fat substitute; he was instrumental in helping AOL manage its capacity crisis in the late '90s; and he helped a New York City coalition block Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plans for an Olympic stadium in Manhattan.
John Davies - Davies Public Affairs
As one of the nation's most respected
communication strategists, John Davies clearly understands the business of
persuasion. He is constantly searching for trends and methods to utilize on
behalf of his firm's clients, and applies his lifelong study of human behavior
and effective communications strategies to teach them how to earn attention and
gain influence in the complex information-saturated decision-making process of
today.
John's firm, DAVIES, is the recipient of multiple awards for their work in public affairs, communication, crisis, and political fields. For the last four years, DAVIES has been named Best Agency to Work For in several categories, including the overall Best U.S. Consultancy award. DAVIES was also a recipient of the Public Affairs Agency of the Year award.
John is a sought-after speaker and trainer on perception, persuasion, and communications. He is a founding board member of a national bank, has served as Chair of the University of California's Economic Forecast Project, President of the nation's largest scholarship foundation, and with a group of friends has been purchasing upper-middle-class homes in South Africa and operating them in a family-like manner to raise HIV infected orphans.
Fred Davis
Headquartered in Hollywood, CA, with offices in Austin, Tulsa and DC, SPI
manages the marketing of political and corporate clients. Political clients have
included President George W. Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle, Senators John
McCain, Elizabeth Dole, Bob Corker, John Cornyn, John Sununu, Chuck Grassley,
Jim Inhofe, Lamar Alexander & Paul Coverdell.
Also, Governors Sonny Perdue, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ernie Fletcher, and Fob James, with RGA work for Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. Corporate clients have included the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Loews Hotels, B.U.M. Equipment, Goodyear Farm Tires, The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Company and the Associated Funeral Directors Service Corporation.
Davis served as creative director of the McCain/Palin presidential campaign and of the Republican National Convention.
Becki Donatelli - Campaign Solutions
R. Rebecca Donatelli Chairman
Becki Donatelli is the Founder and President of Campaign Solutions. An online
political pioneer, Becki Donatelli is the first person to raise money on the
Internet. Donatelli has raised more online money for Republican candidates and
public affairs clients than any consultant in history. As Chief Internet
Consultant to John McCain's two presidential races, she directed the online
campaigns that brought the Internet to the forefront of politics and public
affairs.
During the 2008 cycle, Campaign Solutions raised an unprecedented $100 million online for Sen. McCain's election. Donatelli also managed the successful online fundraising efforts for Bush-Cheney '04, nearly all of the national GOP committees, and scores of Senate, House, and gubernatorial campaigns. Donatelli brings three decades of political experience to Campaign Solutions.
The Non Profit Times named her one of the top "12 most powerful women in direct response marketing" and the Chamber of Commerce honored her as its Business Leader of the Year. She is a member of the American Association of Political Consultants' prestigious Board of Directors. Donatelli is also a Founding Partner in the award-winning firms Connell Donatelli, Inc. and Donatelli Avella. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband Frank Donatelli.
Anupam Gupta - Mixpo
Anupam is responsible for directing
Mixpo's overall vision and strategy. He has a ceaseless passion for solving the
complex problems that ad agencies and media companies face in today's multi-
media world. Anupam believes that the real needs of advertising and media
clients provide the true roadmap for the business. Before joining Mixpo, he led
the product management and marketing teams for several MSN online services at
Microsoft. He holds an MBA from Cornell University and an undergraduate
engineering degree in computer science from Birla Institute of Technology &
Science, in India.
John Jameson - Winning Connections
Prior to starting Winning Connections, John
garnered significant political and telecommunications experience. He managed
four statewide campaigns, and served as a congressional chief-of-staff. And at
American Mobile Satellite Corporation-a cutting-edge telecommunications firm-
John gained in-depth knowledge of telephone technology.
Wayne Johnson - The Wayne Johnson Agency
A veteran of more than 250 local,
state, national and international campaigns, Wayne Johnson currently serves as
Chairman and immediate past president of the American Association of Political
Consultants, the trade
association representing the nation's more than 1,000 political and public
affairs professionals. He was also elected in 2007 as an American representative
to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Political
Consultants.
Wayne Johnson has served as a lecturer at universities and political training seminars in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Zambia, South Africa, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, and elsewhere. His articles have often appeared in trade publications, e.g. Campaign & Elections Magazine, which named him a "Mover and Shaker" in U.S. politics.
A three-time National Winner in the annual "Silver Microphone Awards," for Best Political Radio Ad, the firm was also honored for Best Copywriting among both political and commercial radio advertisers.
Anders Jones - Rapleaf
Anders Jones is director of Rapleaf
Political, where he manages solutions for political advocacy and social
awareness. Prior to joining Rapleaf, Anders was a co-founder of International
Asset Services, a development-focused venture fund based in the Caribbean (sold
in 2008). He also founded Teens for Technology, a 501-c-3 NGO that works with
communities in developing nations to put computers and IT in schools. Anders
holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University, and is a
contributing author to How To Change the World Before You Are 20.
Rose Kapolczynski
Rose Kapolczynski has
three decades of experience in politics and government, including managing all
three of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's winning Senate campaigns.
In 2005, Kapolczynski and Yvette Martinez founded Progressive Strategy Partners, a consulting firm specializing in strategy, management, and communications for candidates, ballot measures and organizations. In 2008, she was honored as "Public Affairs Professional of the Year" by the American Association of Political Consultants.
Natalie LeBlanc - MSHC Partners
Natalie LeBlanc joined MSHC Partners in 2007 where she manages direct mail
strategies for candidate and issue-advocacy campaigns.
Her clients have included Al Franken for Senate, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and national vote-by-mail registration for the League of Conservation Voters. Prior to joining MSHC Partners, Natalie served as the Political and Legislative Director for NARAL Pro-Choice California, spent two election cycles with California-based mail firm Terris, Barnes and Walters and worked on the ground for various campaigns in Northern California.
Christopher Lehane - Fabiani & Lehane
Christopher Lehane, a partner in the California-based
company Fabiani & Lehane, has since 2001 provided strategic advice and tactical
execution to corporate, entertainment, political and professional sports clients
facing complex financial, communications, government affairs, electoral and
legal challenges.
JLehane's work has included: Representing well-known sports and entertainment organizations, franchises and individuals; Fortune 100 and 500 private and public companies; major real estate development deals; renewable energy ventures; large transportation and infrastructure projects; litigation support in many high profile legal matters; Democratic candidates for president and other elected and appointed officials; ballot initiative campaigns and various philanthropic and public interest entities.
In the 1990s, Lehane served in various positions in the Clinton-Gore Administration. From 1998-2000, he was the Press Secretary for former Vice President Al Gore both at the White House and on the 2000 presidential campaign. From 1995 through 1997, Lehane was Special Assistant Counsel to President Bill Clinton, providing legal, communications and political counsel to the President and First Lady of the United States.
Lehane has been profiled and written about in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, US News & World Report, The New Republic and PR Weekly. In addition, Lehane has been featured in the hour-long C-SPAN program The Road to the White House, ABC’s Nightline, CNN and various other television outlets. Lehane is a regular a political commentator appearing in national, cable and local television media outlets and is a frequent featured speaker at numerous forums and events sponsored by institutions such as universities and colleges, major law firms, professional sports leagues, trade organizations, Democratic Party entities and other businesses, civic and philanthropic organizations.
Donna Lucas - Lucas Public Affairs
Donna Lucas is founder and
principal of Lucas Public Affairs, a strategic consulting, public affairs, and
communications firm.
One of the nation's foremost public affairs strategists and a widely recognized expert in media relations and political affairs, Lucas has provided strategic counsel to large corporate clients, labor unions, non-profits, initiative campaigns, and political candidates. She also has worked on several statewide initiative campaigns on a variety of policy issues including gaming, housing, education, local government, campaign finance, and energy.
Currently Lucas serves on the Boards of Directors for California Forward, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), Venoco, Inc., and the Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women and Families.
Steven Maviglio - Forza Communications
Steve Maviglio
is the principal of Forza Communications, a Sacramento-based public
affairs/campaign firm. He was formerly Deputy Chief of Staff for two history-
making California Assembly Speakers, Karen Bass and Fabian Nunez, where he
provided strategic communication and political advice to the Speaker and the
Assembly Democratic Caucus. Capitol Weekly recently named him one of the most
powerful staffers in the Capitol.
Steve has been working in political communications and campaigns for more than 25 years. He was Deputy Chief of Staff for Speaker Fabian Nunez, and during the 2006 campaign, he was a spokesperson for the California Democratic Party. During 2005, he was a strategist for the Alliance for a Better California, which defeated all of Governor Schwarzenegger's initiatives in the 2005 Special Election. Previously, he was Press Secretary for three years for Governor Gray Davis, serving as his chief spokesperson. Steve also served in the New Hampshire legislature for three terms.
John McLaughlin - McLaughlin & Associates
John McLaughlin
has worked professionally as a strategic consultant, market researcher and
pollster for over 25 years. During this time he has earned a reputation for
helping some of America's most successful corporations and winning some of the
toughest elections in the nation. His political clients have included Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Forbes, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert,
and 14 current and former U.S. Senators and 25 members of Congress.
John also has done extensive market research and consulting for non-profit and corporate clients. His major clients have included Allstate, Smithfield Foods, Pfizer, CTIA - The Wireless Association, The Latino Coalition, The Media Research Center, The New York Jets, The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida, Trigon and McGuire Woods Consulting. He is a founding partner of Opiniones Latinas, a public opinion research company dedicated to researching opinions of Latinos nationwide.
John has appeared on every major broadcast and cable channel, as well as prominent radio talk shows across America, and works as a consultant to CBS News Radio and MTV. His articles have been published in a wide range of publications including National Review, Middle East Quarterly, Campaigns and Elections, and The Polling Report. His work has been recognized by winning Telly and PR Week Campaign Awards.
Joseph Mercurio - National Political Services, Inc
Joseph Mercurio has
worked as a political consultant for more than 30 years and has provided polling
and media services in every part of the United States, on nearly 500 campaigns,
propositions and other ballot initiatives.
Among his past and present clients are: the Democratic National Committee, state and local party committees; Presidential candidates including Garry Hart for President 1984; Senate races including Senators, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Warren Rudman, John Danforth and Lloyd Benson; Governors, including Martha Lane Collins; Attorneys General including Bob Abrams and Joe Lieberman; C. Virginia Fields for Borough President and Mayor; and other congressional, state and local campaigns.
Beth Miller - Wilson-Miller Communications
A founding partner of
Wilson-Miller Communications, Beth Miller is one of the most respected
communications professionals in California and has served as a counselor to
governors, statewide elected officials, members of Congress, numerous other
federal and state government officials as well as political party leaders. A
veteran of many national, state and local campaigns, Beth provides strategic
direction to political candidates and initiative campaigns as well as corporate
clients, coalitions and trade
associations.
As Deputy Director of Communications and Chief Deputy Press Secretary to former California Governor Pete Wilson, Chief Assistant Secretary of State to former Secretary of State Bill Jones, Department of Energy press secretary in the G.H.W. Bush Administration and a Capitol Hill communications director, Beth has substantial expertise in federal and state government, public policy, communications and media relations.
Costas Panagopoulos - Fordham University
Dr. Costas Panagopoulos is Assistant Professor of Political
Science and Director of the Center for Electoral Politics and the Master's
Program in Elections and Campaign Management at Fordham University. Dr.
Panagopoulos's academic research focuses on American politics, with an emphasis
on campaigns and elections, randomized field experiments on voting behavior and
mobilization, campaign strategy, public opinion, campaign finance and Congress.
His work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Political Behavior, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, PS: Political Science and Politics, Women & Politics, and Social Science Computer Review. Dr. Panagopoulos is editor of Rewiring Politics: Presidential Nominating Conventions in the Media Age (LSU Press) and Politicking Online: The Transformation of Election Campaign Communications (Rutgers University Press) and coauthor (with Joshua Schank) of All Roads Lead to Congress: The $300 Billion Fight Over Highway Funding (CQ Press).
Jefrey Pollock - Global Strategy Group
Founding
Partner and President Jefrey Pollock leads the firm's research practice. He has
advised several U.S. Governors - including Brian Schweitzer (MT), Joe Manchin
(WV) and Chet Culver (IA) - Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Arlen Specter
(PA), and many other members of Congress. He has also consulted on behalf of
many of the world's leading NGOs and corporations, including the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Con Edison and Starwood. Jefrey earned degrees
from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, where he is
currently an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy and Administration.
Andrew Rasiej - Personal Democracy Forum
Andrew Rasiej
is the Founder of Personal Democracy Forum, an annual conference and website
covering the intersection of politics and technology; as well as techPresident,
a group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web,
and how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign. He has served as
an advisor to Senators and Congressman and political candidates on the use of
Information Technology for campaign and policy purposes since 1999.
Frank Schubert - Schubert Flint
Frank
Schubert, president of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, is one of the most
successful issue management and public affairs professionals in America.
He has twice been named by the American Association of Political Consultants as
the country's most valuable public affairs professional. He is the only person
to have won this prestigious award twice. He also has three times been honored
for assembling and managing the profession's Public Affairs Team of the Year.
Most recently, he was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award
from the International Association of Business Communicators (Sacramento
Chapter).
Charles Scrase - Google
Charles Scrase joined Google
full-time in 2008 after working the previous as a management intern while in
business school at Duke University, where he was elected class president. Prior
to his masters education, Charles spent five years abroad doing international
educational development work, first as a United States Peace Corps volunteer and
then as the Director for a regional literacy education initiative in the West
Indies. Charles now leads the Elections, Issues and Advocacy team at Google.
Charles holds degrees from both the University of Michigan (B.A) and Duke
University (MBA).
Hank Sheinkopf
Hank Sheinkopf has been a political, public affairs and governmental relations
consultant for over 30 years. He has worked on political and issue campaigns on
four continents and in nine foreign nations, in addition to over six hundred
domestic campaigns in forty six American states. Sheinkopf maintains a broad
base of political, public sector and corporate clients in wide array of
industries including healthcare, real estate, finance, education, and gaming.
Sheinkopf is widely sought out by media outlets around the world and has served
as a CNN on-air contributor. Hank Sheinkopf is the president of Sheinkopf
Communications.
George Skelton - LA Times
Political columnist George Skelton has covered government and politics for The Times since 1974.
Through the years he has been a political writer in Los Angeles, Sacramento bureau chief and White House correspondent. He has written a column on Sacramento politics, "Capitol Journal," since 1993.
Prior to joining The Times, he was the Sacramento bureau manager for United Press International. His other jobs include political writer for The Sacramento Union, state capital writer and sports writer for United Press International, and local government reporter for the Sunnyvale (Calif.) Daily Standard.
Garry South - The Garry South Group
Garry South, Principal of The Garry South Group, has been called the "Carville
of California" by The New York Times and "one of the top political strategists
in the Democratic Party" by DailyKos.net. Over the past 38 years, he has
managed or played leading roles in campaigns for President, U.S. Senate,
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Legislature, County Executive, County
Supervisor, Mayor and City Council. In 1998, South managed the come-from-
behind, landslide victory of Gray Davis as the first Democratic Governor of
California elected in 20 years - and only the fourth in the entire 20th century.
For his achievement, he was named "Campaign Manager of the Year" by the AAPC,
an honor he shares with Karl Rove, James Carville and the late Lee Atwater. In
2002, he directed Davis's reelection effort, helping Davis become only the third
Democratic Governor in the state's history to win a second four-year term. He
is a member of the Council on American Politics of George Washington
University's Graduate School of Political Management, a regular contributor of
opinion pieces to major publications, and a frequent guest commentator on NPR.
Jim Spencer - The Campaign Network
Jim Spencer,
president of The Campaign Network, has over 35 years of experience as a
Democratic political consultant. He has advised hundreds of political campaigns
at every level - from city council to president - in every major region of the
country. Jim has played a leadership role in every U.S. presidential campaign
since 1980. He was most recently involved in President Obama's campaign, and
held a key strategy post in John Kerry's 2004 campaign. He is the former vice
president of Winning Directions, the industry's premier Democratic mail firm.
His strategic analysis and innovative voter contact programs have led to
numerous upset victories for Democratic candidates at the federal, state and
municipal levels. For 10 years, he held the post of political director and
district manager for Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-MA). Jim also worked on
an executive level for the Massachusetts Democratic State Party as well as
strategic counsel for some of New England's largest labor unions.
Marty Stone - Stones' Phones
MARTY STONE has 23 years of political
experience, in both the legislative and electoral fields. As a former US
Congressional candidate himself, Marty brings a one-of-a-kind perspective and
unique insight to electoral campaigns. Marty has also worked on hundreds of
Congressional races as the former PAC director, California director, and Western
States director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He served
as the finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
As an expert on special elections, Marty has a proven track record on winning when turnout is low. And with substantial experience with recounts, he knows how to get his candidates seated even after Election Day.
Marty's legislative experience spans both progressive and corporate causes. As vice president for government regulations for AGRISystems, Marty arranged U.S. Senate hearings on the firm's innovative technologies. On a pro-bono basis, Marty has worked with the National Democratic Institute in Bosnia, Croatia, and Azerbaijan. And he was a media consultant with Laguens, Hamburger, Stone.
In 2000, in search of affordable, high-quality, strategic campaign telephone solutions, Marty and his brother Paul teamed up to start Stones' Phones. And 10 years later, he's proud to remain at the cutting edge of telephone outreach.
Rob Stutzman - Navigators Global
Rob Stutzman is a principal of
Navigators Global and is based in Sacramento. He is the former deputy chief of
staff of communications for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. During
the 2008 presidential campaign, Mr. Stutzman served as senior California advisor
to Governor Mitt Romney's campaign. Rob is a veteran of nearly two decades of
campaigns. He also served as communications director for Attorney General Dan
Lungren and worked in the Office of the Minority Leader in the California State
Senate.
He specializes in media relations, crisis communications, strategic Internet communications, litigation support, land use campaigns and political campaigns.As a frequent writer and speaker in the public policy and political arena, he has a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy from Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego.
Doc Sweitzer - The Campaign Group
Thomas M. "Doc" Sweitzer is co-founder of The
Campaign Group, a Democratic political media consulting firm headquartered in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since 1980, The Campaign Group has helped elect
over forty Members of the House and Senate, and hundreds of office holders
across the country. Just a few of Doc's current clients include Gov. Ed
Rendell, Gov. Bill Richardson, Gov. Jay Nixon, Gov. Jack Markell, Sen. Jeff
Bingaman, Sen. Tom Carper, Rep. Joe Sestak, and Connecticut AG Richard
Blumenthal. Doc is a veteran of several presidential campaigns as well as seven
international political campaigns.
Ben Tulchin - Tulchin Ressearch
Ben Tulchin is the Founder and
President of Tulchin Research. Tulchin has provided research and consulting
services to a wide range of clients across the country, including government
agencies, candidates for elected office, ballot measure campaigns, labor unions,
non-profits, corporations, and foundations.
Tulchin serves as a senior strategist for candidate and ballot measure campaigns. He has directed the polling operations for candidates at all levels of the ballot box, from president to city council. His clients have included former DNC Chairman and presidential candidate Howard Dean, former California Governor Gray Davis, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Harry Reid, and he has helped elect and re-elect several members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Tulchin has provided public opinion research, targeting, and message development guidance to some of America's top non-profits, foundations, and corporations. He has helped create and guide numerous successful public education campaigns for non-profit foundations, including the California Endowment, the California Wellness Foundation, the California League of Conservation Voters, and the Wilderness Society, as well as labor unions such as the California Teachers Association and SEIU.
Leo Wallach - Winner Mandebach Campaigns
Leo Wallach is Vice President of Winner & Mandabach Campaigns, the nation's
leading ballot measure consulting firm. Leo is a veteran of more than 15 ballot
measure and issue advocacy campaigns in seven states. In California, he has
served as campaign manager on major statewide ballot measures related to gaming;
eminent domain and land use laws; and water and environmental issues.
Kevin Wardally - Bill Lynch Associates
Kevin
Wardally is the Senior Vice President for Political and Government Affairs at
Bill Lynch Associates, LLC (BLA) - a national political consulting and lobbying
firm. In his role, Mr. Wardally has the responsibility of providing strategic
development, leadership and counsel to BLA's clients which range from
corporations, not-for-profit organizations, political candidates, labor
organizations and community based groups.
Since joining the BLA team, Mr. Wardally's work has included: helping steward Columbia University through New York City's ULURP process by developing and garnering both community and government support for the successful re-zoning of 35 acres in West Harlem - this was one of the largest development projects in the City's history; the successful election of Congressman Keith Ellison - the first African-American from Minnesota and the first Muslim ever elected in the U.S. Congress; he continues to serve as the lead strategist/campaign manager for New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, the Democratic Leader of State Senate; and provided strategy and analysis for the creation of radio and print ads for the successful re-election of US Senator Hillary Clinton. Most recently in 2009 he lead the efforts as chief strategist to successfully elect John Liu New York City Comptroller (the first Asian elected citywide official in NYC) and Cy Vance Manhattan DA (the first new Manhattan DA in over 35 years).
Paul Winn - Mart Media Group
Paul Winn is the Senior
Paul Winn is COO of Smart Media Group, a GOP media buying firm which placed
one-fifth of all political advertising dollars in 2008. Paul has planned and
executed media campaigns for candidates ranging from Virginia State Senator
McWaters to John McCain for President.
Paul started managing campaigns in the cordial world of New York State politics, learning the vast differences between neighborhoods separated by an avenue and words he would never repeat in front of his mother. Prior to joining Smart Media Group, Paul managed successful PR campaigns for American Airlines and created advertising for GOP candidates around the country.
Theo Yedinsky - Social Stream Consulting
Theo Yedinsky is the president of Social Stream Consulting, a social media and political strategy firm. He was the New Media Director for Mayor Gavin Newsom's campaign for Governor - which boasted the largest Facebook and twitter followings for a non-presidential Democratic candidate.
Previously, Theo was a media and general consultant at Storefront Political Media and helped found the New Politics Institute (NPI) www.NewPolitics.net, a think tank to study the impact of technology and new media in campaigns.
In 2004, he was Political Director for the Kerry Campaign during the New Hampshire Primary and then served as Deputy Program Director for the DNCC and the Deputy Coordinated Campaign Director in Florida.