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DFA Campaign Academy Agenda

Jacksonville, FL   September 12-13, 2009

Saturday

Sunday      

Training Presenters

Matt Blizek - Training Director

Matt was born and raised in rural Iowa and first got involved in politics at the University of Iowa.  In 2001 he managed my first campaign in an attempt to elect a UI student to the Iowa City Council.  Not long after he was elected Vice-President of the student body where he fought against radical tuition hikes, corrupt apartment management companies and police harassment on campus.

After graduation Matt spent the 2004 election cycle fundraising for the DNC and doing GOTV for MoveOn.org.  In 2006 he was selected to join Russ Feingold’s Patriot Corps program and was deployed to Montana where he did Field Organizing for Senator Jon Tester.

For the last two years Matt have managed a national training program for Democratic activists and candidates at Democracy for America.  Since joining DFA he has organized over 56 campaign trainings in 31 states, training over 3,000 people to become better activists, campaign staff or candidates.

Ben Chao - Communications

Ben Chao has served as a hard-nosed strategist, media consultant and Democratic evangelist for over 300 races in 38 different states from California to New York since 1992.  In that time he has earned a reputation for taking on the toughest fights … and winning.  

Campaigns & Elections Magazine named him one of their "Rising Stars of Politics" in 1998.  One statewide Democratic official in South Carolina called him “our Lee Atwater”.  Conservative FoxNews Host Laura Ingraham said of Chao, “he’s like James Carville with hair”.  Chao’s work was recently featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the same night he collected six Pollie Awards for his outstanding TV and radio commercials.

In addition to beating Republican incumbents in congressional and statewide campaigns, Chao is considered a top primary election specialist in the Democratic Party.  He earned his reputation after defeating an incumbent Democrat in a Democratic primary.  As Congressman Artur Davis’ top strategist and media consultant in all of his campaigns, he was the architect of the stunning victory over Earl Hilliard in 2002.

Chao served as Bill Richardson’s National Political Director in his presidential race in 2007/2008.  Chao led a paid staff of over 250 and created an extensive national political network in all 50 states for Governor Richardson.  Chao has also worked with corporate and issue campaigns for clients like the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church handling all public relations and media for Coretta Scott King’s funeral.  Other work includes work for the NAACP, Comcast, General Mills, Delta Airlines and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Helen Strain- Field

Florida native who has worked in hundreds of campaigns from City Hall to Congress across the United States for over 20 years. She worked for the Clinton Group, a political telephone firm as a Program Manager, House Victory 2000 for the Florida Democratic Caucus as a Regional Organizer; she has served as Vice-Chair of the Florida Democratic Party and a member of the DNC. Some highlights of her career were Advance for Election Day – Clinton/Gore 1996 in Little Rock, Ark,  Field Director for Janet Reno for Governor, Campaign Manager for Dave Aronberg for Florida State Senate and Lois Frankel for West Palm Beach Mayor as well as Field Director for Angela Alioto for San Francisco Mayor, and as the Field Director for the Florida Association of Planned Parenthoos Affiliates. Her specialty is in "foot, phone, and mail." developing field plans and implementing the tactical door to door, phone, and direct mail campaigns. She currently serves as the Vice President of External Affairs for Planned Parenthood of North Central Florida

Selene Hofer-Shall- Finance

A former crisis counselor, Selene joined the Dean for America Operations Team in 2003, helping to compile the largest FEC reports in Presidential Campaign History. She was one of the 12 original staffers of Democracy for America, working as Operations Director and assistant to the Finance Director.  Since leaving DFA, Selene has worked on numerous successful campaigns from city councils to United States Congress.  As the Finance Director for Peter Welch (VT-AL) in his successful 2006 race for Congress, she broke all previous fundraising records for the district.  Following the 2006 election, she worked in San Antonio, TX as the Finance Director for Ciro Rodriguez in the TX-23 run-off election, raising over $600,000 in less than three weeks to successfully oust a 7-term Republican incumbent. Selene returned to work for Congressman Welch as the Political and Finance Director on his first re-election campaign, as part of a team that successfully warded off all Republican opposition and secured not only the Democratic but also the Republican nomination.  Selene is a managing partner of Theseus Advisors, LLC, a political consulting firm based in Burlington, VT. She specializes in political outreach, candidate messaging, fundraising and event planning.

Mario Piscatella

After managing one Congressional campaign and consulting on another during his final semester at San Diego State University, Mario has been all over the country working on federal and coordinated campaigns, touching thirty five states in 2008 after spending nearly all of 2007 in IowaMario spent eleven months learning the ins and outs of caucuses, an experience he would apply as a lead trainer for the Nevada Democratic Party during the final weeks of their caucuses and later to a unanimous caucus victory in a Virginia Congressional Primary.  Mario spent the final months of the 2008 campaign on an idealistic crusade, assiting the Obama Coordinated efforts in Florida and Ohio while assisitng the victorious red to blue campaigns of Alan Grayson, Jim Himes and Mary Jo Kilroy.  With experience in all aspects of campaigning, Mario focuses on strategy, communications and field and is always in search of good, proud, Democratic candidates to help. on Chris Dodd's Presidential Campaign.  Serving as Western Iowa Regional Director,

Mike Biggs – Using the Florida Party Voter File