Social Media Club Austin April 19, 2007

Will 2008 be the year that social media influences the outcome of the presidential election?

It seems that every serious contender is factoring social media into their campaigns. John Edwards twitters. Hillary Clinton chats. Most of them have MySpace pages and flirt with the blogosphere. Four years ago, it seemed revolutionary that presidential candidate Howard Dean was blogging, and raising significant amounts of money, online. Today no serious campaign effort is without a blog.

On Thursday, April 19, Social Media Club Austin will explore the role of social media in the political process and how it will affect the outcome of the 2008 elections. We have assembled a panel of experts that crosses the political spectrum as well as generations. After what promises to be a lively discussion, the attendees will break into small groups and brainstorm social media strategies for their assigned presidential candidate.

Here’s the lineup:

Moderator
* Mike Chapman, government affairs specialist and co-founding member of Social Media Club

Panelists
* Chris Leonard is the Governor’s point person on social media and technical communications. He has designed the Texas Republican Party’s websites, and been involved with the Governor’s blog, constituent mailings, etc.

* Sam McCabe is a student at Texas State University. He has his own political consulting firm, which has had a great impact on San Marcos and Hays County elections through the use of social media techniques in combination with traditional campaign strategies. Specifically, he has used Facebook, MySpace, and text messaging strategies to increase student voter turnout by more than 1,000 percent. (Yes, that’s one thousand.)

* Jon Lebkowsky is a social media pioneer. He has written extensively and has been involved with national efforts on behalf of political candidates and issue campaigns. He is co-editor of Extreme Democracy.

*Eileen Smith of In the Pink Texas uses her advanced journalism degree to skewer politicians and the political process in her always irreverent and sometimes controversial blog. The Pink Lady is the diva of equal-opportunity snarkiness, delivering her barbs with a generous dollop of humor.

If you’re reading this, you’re invited! The cost is $5, and pre-registration is recommended to reserve a place. Sign up http://www.eventbrite.com/event/54101820

The meeting will be held in the Legislative Conference Center, Room E2.002

Official Website: http://austin.socialmediaclubpr.com