Political Roundtable with Cheryl Contee, Chris Hughes, Josh Marshall & Patrick Ruffini to Examine How the Internet Will Decide the Presidency
NEW YORK – After the nation’s major political parties have convened their nominating conventions and a time when voters turn their attention to a ramped-up election season post-Labor Day, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced today that it will host a special roundtable focused on digital media and its role in the Presidential election. Called “The Digital Election: How the Internet Will Decide the Presidency,” this landmark session will feature media and political thought leaders from across the spectrum, as part of the robust agenda for the annual IAB MIXX Conference & Expo, to be held on October 1-2, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Times Square in New York.
Featured speakers for “The Digital Election: How the Internet Will Decide the Presidency” include:
- Josh Marshall, Session Moderator & Editor and Publisher, TalkingPointsMemo
- Cheryl Contee, Co-Founder, Jack & Jill Politics, and Partner, Fission Strategy
- Chris Hughes, Co-Founder, Facebook and Editor-in-Chief, The New Republic, and chief architect of the 2008 Obama digital campaign
- Patrick Ruffini, President, Engage
“This year’s elections are not the first where digital and social media play a prominent role, but they do feature a new media landscape that is exponentially more powerful, more active and more multifaceted than ever,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Hearing perspectives about how social and digital media are shaping the 2012 elections is a timely and exciting addition to our MIXX agenda, and the speakers we’ve assembled bring unique and well-honed experiences to the conversation.”
During the session, MIXX attendees will hear Contee, Hughes, Marshall and Ruffini discuss and evaluate the impact of digital and social media in the electoral process, future trends, and lessons learned from real-life episodes involving candidates and lawmakers and their sometimes notorious social network experiences.
“The 2008 Presidential election was historic not just because of the result, but because of how the result was reached — it was digital democracy in full bloom,” said Hughes. “New media technologies played a crucial role in everything from message communications to fundraising to grassroots organization and voter engagement. This year, mobile and social technologies are transforming the political landscape yet again, although in a distinctly different way than last time around.”
“The introduction and expansion of social media in campaigns and elections has become the great ‘equalizer’ and one of the few level-playing fields in our democratic process,” said Ruffini. “The social web is now an essential component of every kind of political campaign – from local office to state and federal elections, forever altering the path to Election Day.”
“The Digital Election: How the Internet Will Decide the Presidency” will take place on the second day of MIXX, at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, October 2.
To find out more about the IAB MIXX Conference & Expo, “The Big Bang: When Technology and Creativity Collide,” please go to: www.iab.net/mixx. For the complete agenda, please visit www.iab.net/mixx/agenda.
About the IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.
