Wednesday, 02/10
2:00 PM ET
2:00 PM ET
Opening Remarks
- MC
- Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost @popeyesm
2:10 PM ET
2:10 PM ET
Keynote Fireside Chat: Following the Money: Biden's Media-Buying Calculus
Did the most expensive national political campaign in history teach us anything about how funding gets allocated going forward? The head of Biden for President's media buying team reflects on what that money bought the campaign across traditional TV and digital channels. What decisions were made to heavy up media when, when and with what messaging?
- Interviewee
- Patrick Bonsignore, Director of Paid Media, Biden for President
- Interviewer
- Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief, MediaPost @jmandese
2:35 PM ET
2:35 PM ET
That Money Panel: Is 2020 the New Normal?
With passions running so high this cycle, fund-raisers are already asking if 2020 was a black swan event or a model for political money-raising going forward. ActBlue and WinRed drove gushers of cash into local races, while live and virtual fund-raisers struggled to navigate the pandemic. And yet Democrats underperformed expectations despite record funding. Republicans suffered questions about where $1 billion went? Will donors large and small be a harder sell next time?
- Moderator
- Steve McClellan, Editor, MediaPost's Agency Daily (MAD), Mediapost @mp_mcclellan
- PanelistS
- Laura Carlson, Digital Director, Democratic Governors Association @laura_carolyn
- Elana Firsht, Director of Online Fundraising, Biden for President
- Ashley Isaac, Digital Director, NRSC
- Lyman Munschauer, Former Chief Marketing Officer, NRCC
3:10 PM ET
3:10 PM ET
Panel: Solving for Social: Data, Messaging and Policy
The social media channel was as important in 2020 as ever but far from straightforward. We explore how both parties navigated ad bans, new limitations on targeting, accuracy, flagging policies and more. We explore what we’ve learned about the future role of political micro-targeting and audience building; finding audiences for future campaigns. Did the fight over facts and misinformation monitoring have impact? Did social influencer activation redefine social strategy? And what did we learn about working with and around these platforms?
- Moderator
- Robert Aho, Partner, BrabenderCox @robertaho
- PanelistS
- Jiore Craig, Vice President and Director of the Digital Practice, GQR
- Caeli Mahon, Digital Strategist, Targeted Victory
- Tara McGowan, Founder/CEO, ACRONYM
- Madeline V. Twomey, Director of Digital Partnerships, 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee
3:40 PM ET
3:40 PM ET
Keynote Fireside Chat: Beating the Spread: How Tradition Overperformed in 2020
Unprecedented circumstances seemed to require new and unconventional means. But much of the Trump campaign's success in outperforming expectations and in penetrating new constituencies were grounded in tried and true national campaign techniques. As the campaign's CMO explores with us, ground game, messaging, authentic presence all mattered most in getting their candidate much closer to a win than most polls predicted. But how did the campaign use earned media to compensate for being outspent on TV? How did an impromptu Salsa riff help galvanize Miami Cuban enthusiasm "por Trumpt?" Kaelen Dorr shares the little wins that render big lessons.
- Interviewee
- Kaelan Dorr, Chief Marketing Officer, Donald J. Trump for President @KDORR_USA
- Interviewer
- Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost @popeyesm
4:10 PM ET
4:10 PM ET
Campaign Trivia
4:20 PM ET
4:20 PM ET
Q&A: The DNC Plan
Our annual check-in with the DNC’s digital lead peeks into a mixed bag. What digital levers were especially effective in driving record turnout and a Presidential win, and what lessons from this extraordinary cycle can be taken forward.
- Interviewee
- Patrick Stevenson, Chief Mobilization Officer, Democratic National Committee
- Interviewer
- Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief, MediaPost @jmandese
4:40 PM ET
4:40 PM ET
Q&A: The RNC Plan
When is a loss really a win? We explore how the RNC’s digital program activated historically high turnout, expanded the base, and turn a Presidential race loss into unexpected House wins.
- Interviewee
- Christian Schaeffer, Chief Digital Officer, Republican National Committee
- Interviewer
- Lisa Singer, Senior Director, Event Programming, MediaPost @LisaMSinger
5:00 PM ET
5:00 PM ET
Panel: The GOTV Pivot
The locked-down electorate of 2020 required a radical rethinking of traditional GOTV techniques. What did we learn about digital vs. door-knocking this cycle? Will relational organizing and influencers forever change the field? And how did the data-driven ground games of Republicans deepen their base while Democrats galvanized youth? We will explore whether the GOTV lessons of 2020 will be relevant farther down the ballot and beyond the unique dynamics of 2020.
- Moderator
- Wendy Davis, Policy Editor, MediaPost
- PanelistS
- Amanda Elliott, Digital Director, Republican Governors Association
- Ben Wessel, Director, NextGen America
5:15 PM ET
5:15 PM ET
Conference Concludes