Category: Politics

The 2016 Election Is Changing (Quickly) Right Before Our Eyes: A Conversation with Blue State Digital’s Joe Rospars

Posted on by Tess Kaytmaz

In 2008, the political news cycle moved to the blogs, and in 2012 it spilled into social media, but remained mostly intact as an insular conversation among journalists and opinion-shapers. In 2016, it’s now disrupted by candidates, trolls, and everyone in between.

Joe Rospars, Founder and CEO of Blue State Digital (and President Barack Obama’s chief digital strategist for both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns) will speak alongside Garance Franke-Ruta (Washington Editor of Yahoo News) for a discussion about how the relationship between campaigns, news media, and the public is being reshaped in real time before our eyes, and what it means for our political process.

This session “2016 Election Throwdown: Campaigns vs. Reporters vs. Everyone Else” will take place on Thursday, February 25 at 12:30pm at the TimesCenter (FWD Stage).

About Joe Rospars

“Joe Rospars is Founder & CEO of Blue State Digital. He previously served as chief digital strategist for Obama for America in 2008 and 2012.

Joe and BSD’s team of more than 200 strategists, creatives, and geeks advise some of the world’s leading brands, campaigns, nonprofits, and cultural institutions to inspire and mobilize people, from the NAACP to Google, the USOC to Freedom to Marry, and Oxfam to EMILY’s List.

For both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns, Joe was Barack Obama’s principal digital strategist and adviser, overseeing the digital integration of the unprecedented fundraising, communications and grassroots mobilization effort. The digital arm of the campaign provided the backbone of design and branding both online and offline, engaged a record-breaking number of Americans through mobile, social, video and the web, and raised more than a billion dollars in mostly small donations from ordinary Americans.

Joe has been recognized as part of the Digital A-List by AdAge, 100 People Who Are Changing America by Rolling Stone, Most Creative People In Business by Fast Company. He has been profiled in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, TIME, Fast Company, and Adweek, among others.” (via Blue State Digital)

View The Initial Program Of Events for SMW New York

Social Media Week New York, now in it’s 8th year, brings together thousands of professionals in marketing, media and technology. We’re excited to announce the initial schedule and speaker lineup for SMW New York, which takes place this February 22-26.

Join us across our two official venues, and hear from organizations such as Ogilvy, Starcom MediaVest, MRY, Forbes, Mashable, MTV, The Economist, GE, Pinterest, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Spotify and many more!

Register for SMW New York

If you’d like to hear from visionary speakers, and join the thousands of attendees that come to Social Media Week in New York each year, register today by purchasing your pass.

Image Credit: The Guardian

It’s Election Day — Here’s Everything You Need To Know

Posted on by Nicole Brown

We’re not going to waste your time – it’s Election Day and you need to get to the polls. But before you do, here’s everything you need to know.

Get Informed

There are the inescapable top-of-the-ballot races you probably know about, but what are your feelings on the Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014? WNYC has a fantastic guide to all the races that will appear on your local ballot – just input your address and you’ll get all the details. If you’re still undecided on that Bond Act, Gothamist has a rundown of the three ballot measures you’ll be asked to vote on. To learn more about your local candidates, Columbia University’s Who’s on the Ballot will help.

Now Vote

So where do you go from here? The Pew Charitable Trusts Voting Information Project (you probably know them as PCTVIP) teamed up with online giants like Google and Facebook to create with Get to the Polls. If you prefer a bit more edge in locating your voting facility, take Where’s My F>@king Polling Place? out for a spin.

Don’t Overshare

Want to snap a selfie with your completed ballot? Well it’s illegal in New York and a slew of other states. But for those wanting more than a simple “I Voted” sticker, the New Hampshire ACLU has your back – the group recently sued New Hampshire state government to overturn that ban. If successful, it could lead to overturning the ban nationally.

Follow the News

Twitter has launched a new #Election2014 dashboard for all your horserace needs. Poynter has a great rundown on where you can catch live coverage from every imaginable network online and off. But if you’re more of a visual learner, the Empire State Building’s tower will be lit in either red or blue tonight, based on results.

Now get out there and vote!

Who’s In Control? Online Expression: Ross LaJeunesse & Rahaf Harfoush

Posted on by Nicky Yates

The Internet has always been an instrument of the people, designed to be open and free from the bottom up, not the top down.

Ross LaJeunesse may not be a name you quickly recognize, but it should be. Ross is not only the Global Head of Free Expression and International Relations at Google, but he’s a staunch advocate of an Open Internet. This past December, Ross took the stage in front of almost 200 nations gathered in Dubai to debate control of the Internet at a treaty conference organized by the International Telecommunications Union, an arm of the United Nations.

And who would be better to join Ross than Rahaf Harfoush? Author of ArchiTechs: How to Work, Govern & Learn in a Hyper-Connected World, Rahaf is the former Associate Director of Technology Pioneers at World Economic Forum and cofounded Emerging Women, a non-profit that curates global events to strengthen local and global support systems for women entrepreneurs in emerging economies.

This duo will be looking at how governments around the world are engaging in digital diplomacy and why the cyber space will increasingly be a battle ground for deciding public opinion, something many countries wish to control. Our online lives are increasingly affecting our offline lives. This event will be enlightening for us all.

If you’re a political junkie or just interested in how governments are increasingly addressing the Internet, access and expression, you’ll want to be at the Global HQ on Tuesday for this one.

The People’s House: Beth Noveck & Susan Crawford

Posted on by Nicky Yates

We’re just three weeks away from SMW NYC! And as we get closer, we want to introduce you to the major topics we’ll be tackling throughout SMW — starting with our Global HQ.

As you may know, we’ll be examining Architects, Inventors and Collaborators, as they relate to emerging technology and new media. On Tuesday, February 19, Beth Noveck and Susan Crawford will set the stage by exploring how open government is changing civic engagement, and how access is a core component of this.

For those that don’t know, Susan Crawford is a communications policy expert and the former Special Assistant to President Barack Obama for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy. Beth Noveck also served under President Obama as the first United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer and founder and director of the White House Open Government Initiative.

Why should you care? Well, as Susan points out in this video interview with Bloomberg News, US Internet infrastructure is more than 25 years old, and if our country is going to take advantage of the entrepreneurial spirit, we need to connect bureaucracies to citizens and share data for a truly participatory democracy. Beth also discuss this in her TED talk, below:

Having these two ladies on stage together will make for a powerful start to the week. If you are interested in civic engagement, systemic change or politics in any fashion, you’ll want to be at the Global HQ on Tuesday. See more about the event here.