March 18, 2011

Last Night’s Dem Hacks & Flacks Event Biggest Ever

Hacks and Flacks Last night’s Hacks and Flacks, organized by the Democratic Communicators Network and cohosted by Lis Smith, Ryan Rudominer, Brad Bauman, Karl Frisch, Chris Harris, Erikka Knuti and Matt Thornton, was the biggest ever.  The periodic event joins Democratic communicators and reporters in a laid back social setting, this time at Top of the Hill in the Pour House.

According to an attendee, around 300 people attended and the event raised hundreds of dollars for Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.

Among those who attended were Hari Sevugan, Doug Thornell, Politico's Alex Burns, James Hohmann, the Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez, ABC's Michael Falcone, DCCC Regional Press Secretaries Josh Schwerin and Haley Morris, DLCC Communications Director Carolyn Fiddler, the Washington Post's Phil Rucker and NBC's Carrie Dann.  (PF tipster)

 

May 26, 2010

Lunch Bunch

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Earlier this year group of DC-area communications professionals started getting together for an informal book group to discuss books relevant to our work.  The group started in February with a conversation about Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.  Participants discussed how they use new media, how it is changing the communications field and how new media can increase effectiveness in sharing messages with a variety of audiences. 

 

The group is made up of about 20 mid- to senior-level professionals including those working in public relations, new media, multimedia presentations, writing and other specialties as both consultants and in-house communicators.  A small group of the members (4 to 7) meet monthly downtown at lunchtime (some participants bring their lunches), generally in the offices of a new media company on 15th and L.  Meetings are free.

 

The next meeting, scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on June 17, will be to discuss Robert Schlesinger's White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters.  According to reviews, the book not only details the history of how messages have been developed, but “emphasizes how changes in the media (radio, television and the Internet) altered the settings and presentation of presidents’ words.”  One reviewer says “Schlesinger's coverage is wide, his research comprehensive, his pace fast, his prose light.”

 

For more information, or to join the group, please email the group’s organizer, Korey Hartwich at [email protected]. (PF Tipster)

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    Matt Mackowiak is a Washington, D.C. and Austin,TX-based Republican strategist and communications consultant and President of Potomac Strategy Group, LLC. In his career he has managed a winning Congressional campaign and worked in the U.S. Senate, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, at a leading international PR firm, on a presidential campaign in Iowa and in White House presidential advance. Follow him on Twitter - @MattMackowiak

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    Laura Gross is currently president of Scott Circle Communications. She has served as deputy director of communications at the DNC, was Gov. Howard Dean's Communications Director and she worked in the press office at USAID during the Clinton administration. Her experience also includes time in the PR department of National Public Radio and she was part of Vice President Gore's advance team when he was in The White House.
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    Blain K. Rethmeier - Contributor
    Blain K. Rethmeier is currently the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs for the American Insurance Association (AIA). Rethmeier joined AIA from the White House where he served as Special Assistant to the President for Communications and directed communications for the National Economic Council and Homeland Security Council. Prior to joining the White House, Rethmeier served as Press Secretary for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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