2012
Communications Director, Darcy Burner for Congress
*Created and implemented full press and media plan for congressional campaign.
*Crafted, along with candidate, entire messaging for campaign.
*Served as senior staff and helped plan all campaign activities and strategies with candidate, manager and finance director.
*Wrote and designed mail pieces, scripts for advertisements and robocalls, pr
ess releases and blog posts.
*Managed relationships between the campaign and all local and national press and bloggers.
*Managed entire new media campaign.
2011-2012
Labor Reporter/Blogger, Crooks and Liars
*Reported on/wrote articles covering labor movement at national and state levels.
*Reported on state level politics in battleground states, including governor’s races, recall efforts and state employee conflicts with politicians in states like Wisconsin, Ohio and New York.
*Covered Republican primaries in 2012.
*Established the Progressive Information Project to gather and disseminate information about progressive politics and information of use to progressive activists.
2010-2011
Freelance Writer/Reporter
*Attended and reported on events for ThinkProgress, covering candidates such as Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, Sarah Palin and Michael Steele. Content frequently picked up by various sources, such as Politico.
*Wrote articles and recorded video for ThinkProgress, which was edited and posted to sites like YouTube.
*Blogging Fellow with Media Matters writing about gun control.
*Wrote series of articles on 2010 congressional candidates and their stances on Social Security for OurFuture.org.
*Wrote candidate endorsements for AFSCME state newsletter sent out to all members in Florida.
*Wrote articles on Florida politics and the Florida legislative session for Creative Loafing Tampa.
*Wrote articles for the Guardian Online for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
2009-2011
Vice Chair, Florida Democratic Party Legislative Liaison Committee
*Managed the committee’s rapid response program.
*Wrote talking points and action guides for members.
*Maintained group e-mail listserv.
*Chaired meetings and gave reports to state Executive Committee in absence of chair.
2009-2010
New Media Director, Kendrick Meek for Florida
*Served as senior staff, involved in campaign planning and messaging, in a primary where we defeated a challenger who outspent us $27 million to $3 million. We won 57%-31% and new media played a key role in overcoming the money advantage.
*Established and maintained the broadest social networking presence of any candidate in the 2010 cycle.
*Produced daily content on Facebook, Twitter and other websites that regularly made more than 40,000 voter contacts.
*Wrote, edited and published mass mailers and press advisories.
*Wrote blog posts for the website and social networking sites.
*Identified, contacted and worked with bloggers across the state and country to promote the campaign. Outreach efforts noted by Darksyde of Daily Kos as one of the best in the nation and commended by Matt Stoller and others.
*Edited and uploaded video and photographs to various websites.
*Managed accounts on all social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, with a focus on content and increasing membership and participation.
*Built the largest Facebook, Twitter and text messaging programs of any senatorial challenger in the 2010 cycle.
*Monitored news stories and blogs and proposed ideas for opportunities for action to promote progressive agenda.
*Monitored blogs and produced daily blog clips for campaign.
*Managed a constituent database and e-mail list of nearly 100,000.
*Launched an online rapid response team to promote the campaign message on various sites.
*Oversaw the design and management of the KendrickMeek.com website, using BlueStateDigital, including user management, staff training
*Planned and executed text message program in multiple languages.
*Engaged in thorough research of Charlie Crist and on-the-spot research of numerous topics, including a number of stories that were published in various newspapers and promoted by groups such as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee via e-mail and press contacts.
*Participated in senior staff level planning and messaging meetings.
*Performed various press secretary duties from time to time.
*Performed a multitude of other campaign-related duties as needed.
2008-Present
Board Member, Progress Florida
*Advised Progress Florida leaders on issues related to the organizations goals and activities
2008-2012
Campaign Consultant, various campaigns
*Advised numerous state and local campaigns, including Scott Maddox for Attorney General, Julie Conley for State Representative, Rick Neuhoff for Palm Beach County Commission, Scott Goodlin for Jefferson County Commission and others.
2007-2009
Founder & President, Florida Democratic Party Netroots Coalition
*Created a constituency caucus within the Florida Democratic Party and got party approval at the first opportunity
*The purpose of the organization is to encourage the use of online technology by candidates, committees and caucuses and provide them with the tools and training to use that technology successfully
*Recruited several dozen party activists from around the state
*At the 2008 Jefferson-Jackson weekend, organized and promoted the Netroots Conference and JJ Soiree which increased participation and attendance over the 2007 events
*At the 2007 state convention, organized and promoted the Netroots Conference, which had several hundred attendees, three workshops on various Netroots technology and techniques, and attracted participation from nationally-renowned bloggers Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (of Daily Kos) and Matt Stoller (of OpenLeft)
*At the 2007 state convention, organized and promoted the Progressive Soiree, a party and social function that attracted several hundred attendees and participation from presidential candidate Mike Gravel
2007-2012
Host, Florida Progressive Radio
*Established the daily show via BlogTalkRadio that deals with state and local politics in Florida. We have aired more than 500 shows
*Recruited numerous other hosts and guest hosts from around the state
*Interviewed nearly 30 candidates for legislative or congressional office and more than 70 activists and party officials on the show
*Our interview with Congressman Robert Wexler on impeachment was the most listened-to show in BlogTalkRadio history
*Our show earned a featured spot on the BlogTalkRadio front page and is in rotation on TalkLeft, the streaming progressive online radio station
2007
Office Manager, Mark Ravenscraft for State Senate Campaign
*Served as the primary staff for three-week special election campaign
*Ran all day-to-day operations of the campaign
*Served as campaign treasurer
*Managed to get 35% of the primary vote in a 13-county election while spending only around $3000
2006
Campaign Manager, Patrick Detscher for County Commission
*Joined campaign with three weeks left
*With 10% of the resources in the five-candidate race, managed to get 10% of the vote
*The campaign was lauded by the Tallahassee Democrat as a well-run campaign
2006
Leon County Coordinator, Yes on Amendment 4 Campaign
*Joined campaign after the signature-gathering process was complete
*Served as public relations for the campaign at various county events
*The amendment passed with overwhelming support and Leon County was one of the highest percentage counties in favor of the Amendment
2005-2012
Blogger/Reporter, Florida Progressive Coalition
*Primary author of Florida Progressive Coalition Blog
*Founded and organized the Florida Progressive Coalition, a group dedicated to recruiting activists around the state to engage in active solutions for advancing progressive causes in the state
*Established the largest group blog in the state of Florida that provides daily coverage of Florida politics, earning national recognition as one of the top state-level political blogs in the country
*Established the Florida Politics Wiki, an online encyclopedia that contains more than 600 articles and 20,000 weblinks to information on Florida politicians, elections and issues – the largest online repository of information on politics in the state
*Established strong relationships with the state party, more than 100 bloggers, contacts at the DNC, DCCC, PFAW, NOI and other progressive organizations
*Designed and implemented a plan to promote the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq amongst Florida congressional challengers. Seven candidates have signed on to the plan because of our efforts, bringing Florida to 10 total, the highest of any state
*Provided coverage of statewide and national events, such as Democratic conventions, DNC meetings, YearlyKos, Take Back America and others
*Worked with state and national organizations on Twitter campaigns, including coining of phrase “TwitterBomb,” which was used in rapid response to several recent political events, such as John McCain’s “suspension” of his campaign
*Created progressive video blogging channel at http://zannel.com/quinnelk, with cross-posts to other blogs
*Was the most prolific video blogger reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Denver
2004 - 2006
Social Science Instructor, Central Florida Community College - Citrus Campus
*Teaching ISS1010 - Introduction to Social Sciences, AMH2010 - American History to 1877, POS2041 - National Government, AMH2020 - American History since 1877, AMH2090 - History of American Women, AMH2091 - Introduction to African-American History, assisted students outside of class as needed, advised student organizations, managed student activities budget, served on college committees, served in Faculty Senate.
2001 - 2012
Political Science Adjunct Professor, Various Colleges
*Taught at Tallahassee Community College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida and Lake-Sumter Community College.
*Taught POS1041 - National Government, POS1601 - U.S. Constitution, POS2001 - Introduction to Political Science,
CPO2001 – Intro to Comparative Politics, AMH1041 – American Experience I, assisted students outside of class as needed, advised student organizations.
1995 - 2003
Staff Assistant, Various Departments
*Provided complete support to all Humanities full-time and part-time adjuncts, assisted with preparation of course materials, assisted with Internet research, assisted faculty and staff with computer and technology needs and conducted related workshops, other duties as needed.
*Assisted director of Academic Computing Center, prepared various reports and documents, managed department budget, designed and maintained department web page, other duties as needed.
*Provided support to all Social Sciences faculty, assisted with preparation of course materials, assisted with various research projects, general office duties, other duties as assigned.
*Provided support to all Social Sciences faculty, assisted with preparation of course materials, assisted with various research projects, general office duties, other duties as assigned.
1998-2012
Blogger, Various web sites
*Primary blogger/reporter for T. Rex’s Guide to Life and Florida Progressive Coalition.
*In addition to posting at my primary sites, I have blogged or cross-posted diaries at numerous blogs at the state and national level.
*Other state blogs: FLA Politics, Progress Florida, Tallahassee Democrat blog, numerous others.
*Other national blogs: Blog for America, Blogs United, I Am Progress, MyDD, OpenLeft, Daily Kos, Pam’s House Blend, African American Political Pundit, numerous others.
*Established the first political blog in the state of Florida.
*Established one of the top 200 progressive blogs in the United States.
*Served as editor-in-chief of Open Source Politics blog during the 2004 election cycle. Education
Master of Arts Degree, History, Florida State University, Coursework complete
Focus: American History Since 1865, Sub-field: Middle East
Master of Science Degree, Political Science, Florida State University, 2000
Focus: American Politics, Sub-fields: Public Administration, Sociology
Bachelor of Science Degree, Political Science, Florida State University, 1998
Minor: English, Sub-fields: American Politics, Public Administration, International Relations
Associate in Arts Degree, Tallahassee Community College, 1996
Focus: Journalism
