An ideal candidate has the following qualifications:
• Excellent writing skills
• Knowledge of social networks and new media technologies
• Knowledge of the political landscape in races across the country
• An ability to get things done, on time
• Experience with Adobe Photoshop, not required but a great benefit
• If this opportunity is of interest to you, please send your resume and a cover letter to Audrey Savins at audrey@harrismediallc.com.

“For those seeking an example of the breakneck pace of the mounting political “call and response” attack cycle, 84 minutes may very well be a new benchmark.

Republican digital strategist Vincent Harris, consultant for onetime Republican presidential hopefuls Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, figures that such skirmishes will escalate as the public demands them.

“People on Twitter like the drama of campaigns,” Harris says. “I think that’s why they’re on Twitter. I think they’d be bored if there wasn’t this constant chatter, and I think you’re going to continue seeing campaigns go to Twitter as a means to pick those fights.”

Besides its impact on messaging, Twitter is also becoming an important fundraising tool. “Twitter was a top eight referrer to the Gingrich campaign in terms of where money was being raised,” Harris reports. “For some of my other clients, it is an even more powerful fundraising tool than Facebook.”
Still, as vital as Twitter has become for political campaigns, there is a dark side. For anyone wiling away his days and nights on TweetDeck, fatigue becomes a very real thing, for campaign staffers and journalists alike. In a world routinely grown weary of micro scoops, memes and never-ending political posturing, a social media slipup can mean lost jobs, and lost campaigns.

“There’s so much chance for burnout,” warns Harris. “I think that does scare campaigns. It is terrifying in some ways to think that anyone from my staff or anyone who has access to a campaign Twitter account could instantly tweet out to over 1 million people whatever they want to say. And once it’s out there, it’s out there.”
The issue raises real questions about the restructuring of campaigns in the social media age. Should younger staffers who are more fluent in the medium be handed the reins? Or should senior staffers who can be trusted to stay on message—and stay out of trouble—be given social media oversight?
Says Harris: “It could be 140 characters that nails the coffin, begging the question: Who do you trust?”

Click HERE to read the full article on National Journal.

“The Internet has come a long way in the past few years in terms of being able to target folks effectively,” says Vincent Harris, who directs online strategy for Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

Campaigns can target online ads by ZIP code or even more specifically, by aiming ads at every mobile device in a given area. During the Iowa primary, the Rick Perry campaign used this technique to blanket the campuses of Christian colleges with ads, Harris said. The Gingrich campaign did the same with college campuses in Alabama, and before the Florida primary, it ran ads on Facebook targeted by users’ ZIP code.

“The ability to target down to that level is awesome,” Harris says.

Sharing information and interacting with potential voters on these sites has become an inexpensive supplement to the air wars on television and radio and a more efficient engagement tool than retail politics.

Former Solicitor General Ted Cruz has put the most effort into his online campaign, aggregating more than 94,665 combined followers on Facebook and Twitter. Cruz announced his candidacy in January 2011 exclusively online, said Cruz spokesman James Bernsen, and the third person hired to the campaign was a new media director.

“Online engagement and social media are very important in terms of mobilizing our supporters, generating grassroots enthusiasm, fundraising, and communicating key campaign messages,” Bernsen said. “While they don’t replace the traditional get-out-the-vote efforts, they do allow the campaign to maximize interaction with voters.”

Bernsen said the role of social media is amplified in a statewide election in a region as large as Texas.

Besides Cruz, the rest of the field has not placed as much emphasis on a social media presence…..About 50 percent of Texans use Facebook and five percent use Twitter, said Vincent Harris, former Digital Director for Gov. Rick Perry’s failed presidential bid, who now consults for Newt Gingrich and Cruz.

At the end of the day, the deciding factor in an election is votes. Some experts say a strong social media presence does not always translate to a large number of votes.

Matt Glazer, executive director for Progress Texas, pointed to the 2010 gubernatorial election in which former Houston Mayor Bill White lost to Gov. Rick Perry although White had a larger social media presence than his opponent.

Harris said raw numbers do not tell the entire story. Interactions with followers is the most important aspect of social media campaigning, he said.

In comparison, Perry has a total of 138,394 followers on Twitter and 180,230 ‘likes’ on Facebook.

Click HERE to read the full story on Blog.Chron.com

 
AUSTIN — Harris Media, LLC is proud to announce that it has been awarded two coveted Pollie Awards, the industry’s highest honor bestowed upon political consultants at the national and international level. Harris Media was recognized in the categories of Website (Statewide) and Web Video (Best Use of Humor) for its exemplary work in the 2011 political season.

“Despite being a non-presidential campaign year, 2011 was a record year for political consultants. From the Wisconsin recall elections to the second act of the Tea Party, to the Personhood battle, we saw some of the most aggressive and impressive political and issue campaigns, which led to a record-breaking number of Pollie entries,” said AAPC President Dale Emmons.

The American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) announced this year’s winners at the 2012 Annual Pollie Awards & Conference on March 30th in Austin, Texas, during which political heavyweights Paul Begala, Karl Rove and James Carville were inducted into the AAPC Hall of Fame.

The Pollie Awards (Pollies) are bipartisan honors annually awarded by the AAPC to members of the political advertising and communications industry who have demonstrated superior work on behalf of their candidates and causes. A blind jury of their peers known as the “Judges” selects AAPC award winners. Esquire magazine has dubbed the Pollies as “…the Oscars of political advertising.”

AAPC Vice President Art Hackney added, “Our judging panel of more than 250 experts—representing all disciplines, including new media—were particularly impressed by the caliber of work to choose from. This was one of the most competitive non-presidential election seasons we’ve seen and the honorees stood out among a record-number of impressive Pollie entries. The AAPC is proud to recognize [name of firm] for its ongoing efforts in the political consulting community and for serving as a example for a new generation of campaign and political professionals.”

The annual Pollie Awards & Conference marks the beginning of the next political season where political professionals gathered to learn, celebrate, relax, network and refuel for the upcoming 2012 election cycle.

About AAPC
Founded in 1969, the AAPC is a multi-partisan organization of political and public affairs professionals dedicated to improving democracy. The AAPC has over 1,000 members hailing from all corners of the globe. It is the largest association of political and public affairs professionals in the world. The AAPC began presenting the Pollie Awards in 1993. For more information, see www.theaapc.org.

Austin, TX - The Newt Gingrich campaign reportedly has cut staff, removed his campaign manager, and plans to focus more narrowly on key states. How does that affect the campaign’s digital operations? ClickZ Politics asked Vincent Harris, digital consultant to the campaign, while visiting the offices of his Republican digital firm, Harris Media.

“The campaign was spending about a fourth of their total budget on everything online up until a couple weeks ago,” said Harris. “That number might even expand,” he added.

For more on the future of Gingrich’s digital campaign, and how outside groups can impact online efforts of campaigns, watch ClickZ senior editor Kate Kaye’s interview with Harris.

Newt Gingrich has often told voters during the presidential campaign to learn more about him by going online.

But many people who typed “Newt” into Google just before Nevada’s caucuses saw more than the traditional search results on Mr. Gingrich. They also saw an advertisement attacking his stance on housing—purchased by the campaign of rival Mitt Romney.

On Twitter, people who used Mr. Gingrich’s subject marker #250gas, a reference to his promise to cut gasoline prices, at times have seen an ad from Barack Obama touting the president’s own energy proposals.

Click HERE to read the full article on the Wall Street Journal.

Vincent Harris is an American expert on the use of social media in political campaigns. He advised several politicians, including Republican Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry and now exšéfa the House Newt Gingrich, who is still fighting for nomination to the third election. Photo: U.S. EMBASSY IN SLOVAKIA

From SME.SK (Slovakia)

It is one of the largest U.S. experts to conduct political campaigns on social networks in the current primaries advises Republican candidate Newt Gingrich. If you use social media badly, you lose the elections, said Vincent Harris.

What is important is the role of social media in the current election campaign in America? It can be compared with the year 2008?

“It’s something completely different. Four years ago, Mike Huckabee , the candidate for whom I worked used a MySpace page. No one you spend the money on Facebook, only the beginning. Governor Huckabee first started using Twitter . Campaign spending is now a very important part of the budget to online media. They invest time and Internet resources that were unimaginable in 2008. “

How about?

“Newt Gingrich is spending roughly a quarter of the total budget for the online campaign.”

Is it worth the money?

“Absolutely. You can touch the specific groups of voters and send them to the political message-made just for them. For example, in Iowa, when I worked for Governor Perry, advertising for our veterans went directly to veterans or advertisements for women only go to women. Our advertising focus on faith and values ​​directly to evangelical voters. Is it worth the money and because they can raise millions of online campaign. Newt Gingrich was collected following ten million. “

They use specific groups of the electorate in America, Facebook? They can be found on social networks?

“Yes. People on Facebook can sometimes not even realize how much give different information to advertisers or politicians. For example, if we take war veterans, we can advertise directly to people who attended West Point Military Academy and Virginia Military Institute, or those who support the military site. It is very easy to advertise directly to women, because people are on Facebook admit that they are men or women. In these primaries, women are very important demographic group that is clearly committed to one candidate. Teams of all the candidates are trying to determine how best to reach women on social networks. ” In Slovakia, for example, my parents, who are fifties, not using Facebook . For us it is almost impossible to get the group through social networks.
Read the full article at http://www.sme.sk/c/6305755/facebook-moze-prehrat-volby-tvrdi-americky-expert.html#ixzz1qzlfFZou