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Direct Impact Co

bunch defected to DDC?

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Direct_Impact

Direct Impact (DI) is a "grassroots" public relations firm founded in 1988. According to its website, the company "has been at the forefront of the grassroots communications industry for the past two decades." Direct Impact brings a "campaign-style approach" to public relations and has "played a role in many of the major social and policy issues", including taxes, Medicare, defense and trade. They have also "tackled some of the most pressing and complicated community-based challenges" for their clients. Direct Impact is a subsidiary of the Burson-Marsteller PR firm. [1]

Contents

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Personnel

The addition of Randy Bumps to the Direct Impact team was announced in March 2011. Bumps serves as Executive Vice President for the firm. He most recently served as the Chief Political Strategist for the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) Independent Expenditure Unit and previously as NRSC Political Director. [1] [2] [3] [4] [[5]](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/business/media/14adnewsletter3.html?_r=1)[6]

Nicole Cornish was promoted to President, formerly serving as Executive Vice President, in October of 2010. As President, Cornish runs the day-to-day operations, manages the new business development process and leads key client accounts. [7] [8]

In the August 2009 issue of PRWeek, Direct Impact’s CEO Dave DenHerder was named one of the top “40 Under 40” in the Public Relations industry. His previous work as regional director for the Bush/Cheney 2004 election paved the way for his advancement to CEO of Direct Impact in 2007. [[9]](http://www.prweekus.com/40-under-40--2009/article/140777/)

In September 2005, president & CEO Craig G. Veith left Direct Impact after three years, "to pursue other interests," according to PR Week. Instead of replacing him directly, the firm hired Dennis Whitfield (formerly of BKSH & Associates and promoted Dave DenHerder (who "previously worked as a regional political director for the Bush 2004 campaign") to COO. [10]

Clients

Featured client work (though it is not clear whether the clients are current or historical) on the website include:

Contact information

Direct Impact

1110 Vermont Avenue NW

12th Floor

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-572-4470

Fax: 202-649-4329

Email: info At directimpact.com

Web: http://www.directimpact.com

Articles & sources

SourceWatch resources

References

  1. :{Jump up:(style="top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:↑ Directimpact.com About Us, accessed August 2009

External articles

Categories: 

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bs https://www.linkedin.com/company/direct-impact

https://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/p?f_CC=11479&trk=rr_connectedness

ceo

Andrew Gordon, Founder and President of Direct Impact Group, was invigorated by Direct Response Lead Generation advertising long before many others in this field. Clients prosper from his 30 years of direct marketing insider wisdom and his vast network of other direct marketing thought leaders.  Andrew’s expertise in direct response (DR) history, current conditions, and future trends, has made him a nationally recognized expert and sought after speaker.

Within the lead generation industry, Andrew has worked with some of the largest Direct Response brands including: Efinancial, Fidelity Life, Sokolove Law, Renewal By Andersen, H&R Block Mortgage, University of Phoenix Online, Dial-A-Mattress (1-800-MATTRESS), AT&T Security Systems, Direct Buy Catalog Showrooms, The Loan Depot (1-800-USA-LOAN), Assurance Mortgage Corporation Of America (AMCA) and Fortis Financial.

Andrew is well known for his ability to use DR messaging and media to move clients to the leadership position in their categories and, in many cases create category killers.  His passion for the industry is infectious and his skills in strategic planning, offer development, media planning, lead conversion and back end analysis are always in demand. He is the force guiding our client's Direct response Lead Generation programs towards minimizing their cost per lead and maximizing their ROI.

Always on the cutting edge of of new strategies and tactics, Andrew is currently researching and testing new media concepts for future deployment using  OTTtv, Social TV, Connected TV and Hybrid TV.

Andrew currently serves on the segment advisory group for the Direct Marketing Association’s Broadcast Council and is an active member of both the Electronic Retailing Association’s Radio Council and the ERA Television Council where he was the past Chair for the last three years. 

As President, Jim Gianiny oversees DDC Advocacy’s efforts to design and execute strategic advocacy programs at both the domestic and international levels.

Jim has more than 20 years of experience managing full-scale communications and mobilization campaigns. He has worked with corporate and association clients from a range of industries to build, implement, and sustain successful grassroots initiatives on critical public policy issues.

Jim has been with DDC Advocacy for 15 years; before becoming President, he served as Chief Operating Officer. In that role, he drove growth of the technology product line from a single online grassroots application to a full array of grassroots and PAC- management systems.

Prior to joining DDC Advocacy, Jim was a founding member of the Direct Impact Company, coordinating company operations and overseeing the firm’s lauded growth during the 1990s.

Jim was awarded his B.S. in Journalism from the University of Maryland.

Tom Benjamin serves on the Executive Management Team at DDC Advocacy and focuses on new business strategies and client acquisition.  In this role, he draws upon the firm’s political strategists and its campaign, digital, and creative teams to design and implement impactful issue campaigns in the legislative and regulatory arena.

For nearly 20 years, Tom has designed award-winning public affairs and grassroots advocacy campaigns for numerous Fortune 500 companies and leading trade associations.  He has led major client campaigns spanning a variety of industry sectors, notably in energy, defense, healthcare, agriculture, and transportation.  Tom joined the firm in 2005 and directed the successful startup of DDCA’s campaign consulting group.

Prior to joining DDC Advocacy, Benjamin spent 10 years at the Direct Impact Company, one of the then-largest grassroots campaign firms in the nation.  Tom served as Executive Vice President and guided large-scale client campaigns.  He also represented the firm in Brussels, Belgium, providing grassroots campaign consulting to Direct Impact’s parent company, Burson-Marsteller (a Young & Rubicam/WPP company) and its European clients.   During his tenure there, Benjamin was selected to participate in Young & Rubicam’s Virtuoso executive management training program in London, England.

Tom received a B.A. in Political Science from Villanova University.

As Partner, John Brady works on major client engagements for DDC Advocacy, and serves on the Board of Directors. In addition, John served as Chairman of the company from July 1997 through September 2009.

Prior to joining DDC Advocacy, John founded, operated, advised, and invested in a number of highly successful marketing services and communications companies. John’s most recent business venture was co-founding Resonate Networks, which allows advertisers to target audiences based on values, attitudes, and beliefs.

John was a founder of the Direct Impact Company in 1988, an organization which later became one of the nation’s leading providers of grassroots lobbying and public education campaigns, serving major corporations, trade associations, government agencies, and ad hoc issue coalitions. As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, he established a dominant market position for Direct Impact through innovations in service line, pricing, and business structure.

John graduated A. B., cum laude, in Government, from Harvard College in 1978.

s Executive Vice President of Client Relations and Development, Jim Lake brings three decades of proven experience in both the public and private sectors to the benefit of the firm’s clients. He has wide-ranging experience—both domestically and abroad—across the political and public affairs spectrums. He has a strong background in the political and advocacy arenas and in the energy, defense, financial, labor and government sectors. He also has a strong background in the corporate communications space handling crisis communications planning and management and internal communications.

Most recently, Jim served as Executive Vice President at McBee Strategic where he was responsible for overseeing domestic and international development, digital strategy and counsel for corporate and government clients. Prior to its merger with McBee, he was President and Partner at Gibraltar Associates, where he helped grow the firm from a boutique industry start-up to one of the fastest-growing privately held communications firms in the country. Previously, he served for over six years at Burson-Marsteller as Chairman of its U.S. Public Affairs Practice where he oversaw operations in eight offices and managed global issue and advocacy engagement efforts and public education campaigns.

Nationally recognized for his brand management abilities in the political and public affairs fields, Jim is the recipient of numerous industry awards for his work on behalf of his clients, including the coveted PR News, PR People Award for Brand Manager of the Year. He is also a veteran of the Reagan Administration’s Office of Presidential Advance and the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration under President George H. W. Bush.

A native Californian, Jim holds a B.A. in Economics from California State University, Fullerton.

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:{:{ }::{All the president's PR men: Raw Story investigation reveals revolving door on Iraq PR}::{Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane}::{Published: Wednesday October 17, 2007}::{

}:New questions are being raised about political operatives who have promoted President Bush?s Iraq war agenda and their role in spreading ?good news? about Iraq, illustrating a public relations revolving door among the Republican Party, the White House and the private sector.:{

}:A month long investigation by RAW STORY, originally prompted by the pro-Iraq war advertising of a ?grassroots? group called Freedom?s Watch, has unearthed a series of connections between the Bush administration and two subsidiaries of the PR giant Burson-Marsteller, particularly BM?s own ?grassroots? firm, Direct Impact.:{

}:Founded in 1988, Direct Impact boasts of over ?1,200 field representatives covering every Designated Market Area in the nation, ready to engage their community in a moment's notice. Self-designated as a ?grass roots? company, Direct Impact's community operations include media and online advocacy.:{

}:Direct Impact began working with Burson-Marsteller by 1997 and became a full-fledged subsidiary in late 2001. Following the acquisition, the formerly low-profile firm began hosting a steady stream of powerful Republican Party political and communications figures.:{

}:For example, Burson-Marsteller, which had hired formerNational Republican Congressional Committee communications director Craig Veithto oversee their Media Relations Practice, appointed him CEO of Direct Impact in late 2002.:{

}:As head of Media Relations, Veith andPrince Bandar, then Saudi ambassador to the US, had signed an agreement for Burson-Marsteller to work on repairing Saudi Arabia's image in the wake of 9/11 ? just three days after the attacks.:{

}:Veith was joined at Direct Impact in 2003 by a prominent GOP campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, who had held Veith?s former job of communications director for the NRCC since 2001. Schmidt left Direct Impact a year later to become a top strategist in the Bush-Cheney ?04 campaign, where he ran the rapid response operation. He then joined the White House staff as a Senior Adviser to the President and a Counselor to the Vice President.:{

}:In April 2005, former Bush-Cheney '04 Midwest regional political director Dave DenHerder joined Direct Impact. DenHerder would become Direct Impact's COO in September after Veith, who had been both CEO and COO, departed to found his own firm.:{

}:Freedom's Watch and Democracy Data:{

}:In August 2007, a ?grassroots? organization called Freedom?s Watch began running a series of ads attacking those who disagree with the Bush administration?s strategy in Iraq as ?anti-victory.? According to their mission statement, the group seeks to give voice to Iraq war issues which it claims have been underrepresented because ?those who want to quit while victory is possible have dominated the public debate about terror and Iraq since the 2004 election.?:{

}:Although Freedom?s Watch is a non-profit corporation ?dedicated to educating individuals about and advancing public policies that protect America?s interests at home and abroad,? the group wasexposed by the online publication, Politico, as largely consisting of wealthy Republican donors, Neoconservatives, and, most prominently, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.:{

}:In his role as press secretary, Fleischer had helped sell the Iraq war to the American people. At a September 2002 press briefing, he said, ?There is already a mountain of evidence that Saddam Hussein is gathering weapons for the purpose of using them. And adding additional information is like adding a foot to Mount Everest.? (WH Press Briefing 9/6/2002).:{

}:But Freedom?s Watch's relationship to Fleischer, as well as other political operatives in the RNC, is not the only issue surrounding the startup ?grassroots? effort.:{

}:Freedom?s Watch is hosted on servers belonging to Democracy Data and Communications (DDC) ? DEMOCRACYDATA.COM ? which for many years had common ownership, leadership, and even shared office space and telephone numbers with Direct Impact.:{

}:According to public records, in 2001 both Direct Impact and Democracy Data were located at 1029 North Royal Street, Alexandria, VA. They also shared the following telephone number: 703-684-9690 and the following fax number: 703-683-9626. In 2005, well after Burson-Marstellar had acquired Direct Impact and also well after Veith had become CEO, they continued to share the same address as well as the same phone and fax numbers.:{

}:Although there is no apparent current direct link between Freedom?s Watch and Direct Impact, the overlapping of relationships raises questions about the true origin of the ?Freedom?s Watch? grassroots effort and a larger, more political use of domestic organizations to convey a message that mirrors that of the Administration.:{

}:Blackwater USA:{

}:The most recent news buzz about Burson-Marsteller has been about their contract with the embattled security contractor Blackwater USA.:{

}:According to the Nation?s blog, Blackwater?s subsidiary BKSH was "tasked with salvaging Blackwater's tattered image and allegedly murderous conduct. ... The account is being handled by Robert Tappan, a former State Department official who directed communications for the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004.":{

}:Reached for comment last Tuesday, Paul Cordasco ? a spokesman for Burson-Marsteller ? said that the engagement with Blackwater was short term.:{

}:"Through a personal relationship, BKSH, a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, helped Blackwater prepare for their recent hearing before Congress,? Cordasco said. ?With the hearing over, BKSH's temporary engagement has ended.":{

}:Cordasco did not respond when asked to elaborate on what ?a personal relationship? means, nor to questions asking about what exactly the firm did for Blackwater.:{

}:Robert Tappan is not part of BKSH, however. In July 2006, Tappan became head of Burson-Marsteller?s Washington office with responsibility for overseeing the marketing operations of Direct Impact, a position he still maintains.:{

}:Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, Tappan had served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, holding that position from November 2002 to June 2006. Tappan?s case, one of many, illustrates the vanishing boundaries between the private sector of public relations and government communications.:{

}:While at the State Department, Tappan was said to have been involved in the distribution of domestic pro-Afghanistan war propaganda, in the form of a ?feel good? Administration pre-packaged piece about Afghanistan that appeared on local tv outlets in 2003, without a disclaimer, as a news story.:{

}:?Tracking precisely how a ?good news? report on Afghanistan could have migrated to Memphis from the State Department is far from easy,? wrote two reporters for the New York Times. ?The State Department typically distributes its segments via satellite to international news organizations like Reuters and Associated PressTelevision News, which in turn distribute them to the major United States networks, which then transmit them to local affiliates.?:{

}:??Once these products leave our hands, we have no control,? Robert A. Tappan, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, said in an interview. The department, he said, never intended its segments to be shown unedited and without attribution by local news programs. ?We do our utmost to identify them as State Department-produced products.??:{

}:Tappan was sent to Iraq in early 2004 to serve as Director of Strategic Communications for the Coalition Provisional Authority. At this point in the war, optimism about the US endeavor in Iraq was beginning to fade and the Pentagon was turning to public relations to bolster popular support.:{

}:?U.S. occupation in Iraq has led to progress, in spite of what the media say, according to Robert Tappan,? a news story after his return remarked. ?Tappan and the CPA were also responsible for an advertising campaign in Iraq,he said. The messages in the three-commercial series were ?We all yearn to live in a free Iraq,? ?I want my children to live in peace? and ?I want a prosperous Iraq.??:{

}:For his services, Tappan earned the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service ? the highest Defense Department civilian honor.:{

}:Immediately before joining the State Department, Tappan had been a senior vice president with public relations firm Powell Tate, whose co-founder and vice-chairman wasSheila Tate, a onetime press secretary to Nancy Reagan and George H.W. Bush.Tate was a participant in the Rumsfeld Group, named for the then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, a kitchen cabinet of lobbyists and Republican insiders who met informally to help the White House and the Defense Department produce sellable talking points about Iraq. In particular, they worked on ?linking the anti-terrorism cause with efforts to convince the public 'of the need to engage ?rogue states? ? including Iraq ? that are likely to harbor terrorists.??:{

}:The group was brought together after 9/11 by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria ?Torie? Clarke, who had advised Rumsfeld ?that in order to get the American public to buy into the war on terrorism, they needed to suggest a link to nation states, not just nebulous groups such as al-Qaeda.?:{

}:Like Tappan and his superiors at State, Clarke appeared to view news and the nature of reporting as a product to be delivered to the American people, ordered by a third party and often filtered through the foreign press.:{

}:In 2006, Direct Impact and Democracy Data appear to have parted ways. This was confirmed to Raw Story by Tappan in September.:{

}:?Burson-Marsteller does not have any role with Freedom?s Watch in any way, shape or form,? Tappan declared in an email to RAW STORY. ?Neither our firm, nor any of its subsidiary or affiliate companies, are involved with Freedom?s Watch. To the best of my knowledge, none of our principals, including me, have been involved with this organization, either on a personal or professional level, at any time.?:{

}:Taken in concert, this group of people suggests a pattern whereby GOP campaign and public relations expertise has been applied to selling the administration?s policies, particularly in the Middle East and Iraq, in a series of advertising campaigns where private PR and government advocacy become almost indistinguishable.:{

}:The privatization of propaganda:{

}:The National Security Act of 1947, Section 503(f), defines domestic propaganda as illegal. The Act states that ?no covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies, or media.?:{

}:However, when asked specifically by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) in February 2006 about his views of the President?s power to conduct domestic covert propaganda, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he was unable to answer the question::{

}:FEINSTEIN: Can the president suspend, in secret or otherwise, the application of Section 503 of the National Security Act, which states that no covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies or media? In other words, can he engage in otherwise illegal propaganda? :{

}:GONZALES: Senator, this will probably be my response to all of your questions of these kind of hypotheticals. Questions as to whether or not ? can Congress pass a statute that is in tension with the President?s constitutional authority? Those are very, very difficult questions, and for me to answer those questions sort of off the cuff, I think would not be responsible.Bush Administration propaganda efforts have been well-documented.:{

}:In 2004, for example, local stations were found to have received videos produced by more than 20 different federal agencies to promote the administration?s policies, many of which aired as if they were the network?s own reporting. The Army and Air Force?s Hometown News Service has delivered ?good military news? to an estimated 41 million homes. Nor were commentators immune: In January 2005, news emerged that conservative commentator Armstrong Williams had received $240,000 from the Education Department to promote the No Child Left Behind Act.:{

Larisa Alexandrovna is managing editor of investigative news for Raw Story and regularly reports on intelligence and national security stories. Contact: larisa@rawstory.com

}:Muriel Kane is director of research for Raw Story.}:http://rawstory.com/news/2007/All_presidents_PR_men_Raw_Story_1017.html===

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