January 15, 2019
Washington, DC

Event Sponsors

Agenda

Tuesday, 01/15

8:00 AM ET
8:00 AM ET
Registration & Check-In
9:00 AM ET
9:00 AM ET
Opening Remarks
MC
Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost 
9:15 AM ET
9:15 AM ET
Panel: TV vs Digital 2018

TV vs Digital political media spend is the argument that never ends. But this cycle the allocation math became more complicated as record levels of campaign cash sought places to go and these options went further downstream into even more local campaigns. Digital channels became more central to campaign organizations and spend, especially in the fight for younger voters, At the same time addressable TV, OTT and data-infused linear buying helped the TV plan evolve beyond spray and pray. What did allocation look like in the last cycle and what did the campaigns learn? Are we any closer to attributing media more accurately and capturing those evolving media habits?

Moderator
Tim Lim, Partner, NewCo 
PanelistS
Catherine Algeri, Director of Integrated Marketing, DSCC 
Zachary Moffatt, Senior Advisor, Sen. Tim Scott, 2024 
Rebecca Pearcey, National Independent Expenditure Director, DLCC 
Melissa Sharp, Senior Media Planner, National Media 
10:00 AM ET
10:00 AM ET
Keynote Q&A: Reflections on Bread, Butter, and Partisanship
While election rhetoric this cycle seemed to be fueled by DC partisanship, bread and butter issues resonated most successfully on the ground in many contests. Former RNC Chair, frequent TV analyst and podcaster (“Man of Steele”), Michael Steele shares his insights about the tension between popular, local politics and national party priorities. How did the mid-terms actually play out differently…in the media, on digital and social channels, and on the ground? And what lessons should both parties take from the 2018 cycle in 2020?
Interviewee
Michael Steele, Former Chairman, RNC 
Interviewer
Alex Weprin, Editor, Digital News Daily, MediaPost 
10:30 AM ET
10:30 AM ET
11:00 AM ET
11:00 AM ET
The Best Laid Plans: DNC/RNC After-Action Reports
At Marketing Politics 2018, digital leaders at the RNC, Doug Hochberg, and DNC, Caitlin Mitchell, shared their plans to win in November. Doug and Caitlin’s successor Patrick Stevenson return to report on what went right, what went wrong in their digital plans. How did the digital teams, data and media integrate with regional groups and campaigns? Most importantly, what were the lessons learned for the 2018 cycle?
IntervieweeS
Doug Hochberg, Chief Digital Officer, Republican National Committee 
Patrick Stevenson, Chief Mobilization Officer, Democratic National Committee 
InterviewerS
Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief, MediaPost 
Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost 
11:45 AM ET
11:45 AM ET
Panel: The New Social Cycle

Automated, dynamic and data-driven advertising on a massive scale on Facebook in particular was the breakaway digital story of 2016. But amid growing controversy around how these platforms were abused and gamed by bad actors, legit campaigners now face new rules. Account verification, political ad flagging, stricter policing of accounts and shares, public ad archives have all changed the channel. Key media buyers in the space assess whether and how these changes impacted their social strategy - where and how they allocated, the creative they deployed, and the ways they worked with the platforms.

Moderator
Toby Fallsgraff, Managing Director, Campaigns, Do Big Things 
PanelistS
Phil Bartel, Deputy Director, Independent Expenditure Unit, National Republican Senatorial Committee 
Luke Partridge, Director, Digital Communications, Global Strategy Group 
Aimee Stern, Community Outreach, Andrew Gillum for Governor 
12:15 PM ET
12:15 PM ET
Panel: Pocket Pester Politics: Is The Peer-to-Peer Texting Channel Working?

A new generation of peer-messaging apps for campaigns took political marketing to an entirely new and intimate level this cycle. Questions emerged immediately about their legality, let alone debates about their effectiveness in recruiting or alienating constituents. What did we find out? About the new channel's impact on fundraising? On turnout? On its effectiveness in finding pockets of voters invisible to email and TV? About voter response?

Moderator
Howard Polskin, President & Chief Curator, TheRighting 
PanelistS
Jon Adams, Digital Director, National Republican Senatorial Committee 
Greta Carnes, Digital Organizing Director, ACRONYM 
Ted Peterson, Former Digital Director, NRCC 
12:45 PM ET
12:45 PM ET
Lunch
1:45 PM ET
1:45 PM ET
Presentation: Campaigning for Digital
In the mid-term cycle, Democratic Super-PAC Priorities USA didn’t just leverage digital channels. It leveraged digital channels to evangelize digital itself among local campaigns. Director of Advertising Danielle Butterfield explains how the PAC offered tools and best practices to every campaign of every size in order to close the digital gap with Republicans everywhere.
Presenter
Danielle Butterfield, Director of Advertising, Priorities USA 
2:15 PM ET
2:15 PM ET
Panel: Data In, Targeting Out

Cross-channel digital campaigns are only as good as the voter identification data and profile used to target them. How have campaigns evolved their harvesting of voter data to ensure a richer and more relevant set of data points? Which channels and appeals are netting richer data? And on the targeting side how are campaigns best penetrating walled gardens to effectively find their voter list and identify persuadable prospects? Everyone promised laser targeted campaigns with fresh, reliable data. But what data is proving of real value in the political ad market?

Moderator
Sue Zoldak, Founder, Zoldak Agency 
PanelistS
Ben Friedmann, Chief Digital Officer, Republican Governors Association 
Pamela Stamoulis, Digital Director, Senate Majority 
Phil Vangelakos, Sr. Vice President, Push Digital Inc. 
3:00 PM ET
3:00 PM ET
Coffee Break
3:30 PM ET
3:30 PM ET
Panel: D-GOTV: Do Digits Drive Turnout?

The human field operation's ground game remains the heart of GOTV strategy. But how are digital channels helping best to make the human channel more efficient and complement those efforts to reach other voters? Text messaging, mobile apps and alerts, targeted Web and mobile ads, email and even social shares were employed this cycle to get supporters to the polls. What worked?

Moderator
Ross Fadner, Director, Event Programming, MediaPost 
PanelistS
Alex Kellner, Managing Director, Bully Pulpit 
Billy McBeath, Digital Director, American Crossroads 
Jess Reid, Digital Director, Kaine for Virginia 
Jeffrey Rich, Digital Political Director, RNC 
4:15 PM ET
4:15 PM ET
Conference Ends

Venue

Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, DC
400 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, District Of Columbia, 20001

Within Hyatt's inviting accommodations, you'll find gracious service, deluxe amenities, extensive business facilities - among the largest in the city - plush Grand BedsTM, tempting dining, newly remodeled ballroom level and meeting space. Enjoy easy access to all historic attractions of the nation's capital from Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The hotel is conveniently located by Union Station for easy transit to exciting DC attractions, including the White House, National Mall, US Capitol and Smithsonian.

Upon arrival of event registration, you will be asked to show proof of the COVID-19 vaccination - AND Booster shot in order to enter the conference. 

Masks will also be required at all times during the conference sessions and in networking areas of the event, except when eating or drinking.

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MediaPost strives for excellence in its coverage of media, marketing and advertising. Our mission is to critically engage key questions for brand marketers, media buyers, sellers and emerging platforms. We choose speakers exclusively for their ability to bring perspective and insight to our stage. All conferences are programmed by proven, expert, unbiased journalists. MediaPost has never and will never engage in "pay to play" conferencing.