Civics, Social Media and the Countdown to Election '08 February 7, 2008

BOSTON, MA - On February 5th, Massachusetts voters will head to the polls. What roll will social media have played in each voter's decision-making process? What tools and techniques are campaigns looking at to communicate with their constituencies? What's in store for November's election, and future elections?

We're putting together an excellent panel of technology and political experts who will discuss the present and future of the electoral process, and the role that social media will play as we move forward.

Our moderator for the event will be John Della Volpe. John Della Volpe is director of polling at Harvard University's Institute of Politics and founder of SocialSphere Strategies, a Web 2.0 strategy company located in Harvard Square, Cambridge. John's polls, among many other insights, accurately predicted the spikes in youth turnout in 2004, 2006 and 2008 (so far), providing insight into the ways in which digital natives and "Millennials" communicate and form opinions. He is a veteran of four presidential campaigns and dozens of other high-profile campaigns in the U.S. and abroad. He also serves as a member of the University of Massachusetts Civic Initiative Board of Advisors and was recently appointed Eisenhower Fellow for 2008 where he will study on use of social networking tools in Korea and China.

John will be joined by a panel of experts that includes:

* Morra Aarons, Internet communications consultant, former Director of Internet Marketing for the Democratic National Committee and Kerry-Edwards '04; political director of BlogHer.org.

* Joseph Carrabis, founder and chief research officer of NextStage

Official Website: http://socialmediaclub.pbwiki.com/BostonFebruary2008