Industry leaders Mark Penn, Jack Martin, Perry Yeatman, Tom Buckmaster, Ilyse Hogue and David Almacy will be among the headline speakers at The Holmes Report’s ThinkTank Live conference, which will take place in Washington DC on October 27.

Political campaigns have always been on the leading edge when it comes to the application of new tools and techniques in communications, from real-time research and evaluation to the use of social media and engage and activate loyal supporters. Our ThinkTankLive conference, focused on “The Intersection Between Politics and Branding,” brings together senior professionals who have worked in both worlds and asks what lessons corporate communicators and marketing executives can learn from the political realm, and also whether there are some techniques from the political arena that simply don’t work in the corporate world.

Among the confirmed speakers:

Mark Penn is worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and public affairs agency, and President of Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), a strategic research firm.  He has served as a senior adviser to corporate leaders like Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Bill Ford, and helped to elect over 25 leaders around the world, including serving as senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mark is also author of the best-selling book “Microtrends” and a regular guest on cable television and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Jack Martin became global chairman and chief executive officer of Hill & Knowlton, Inc. on Jan. 1, 2011 upon its merger with a firm he founded, Public Strategies, Inc. Martin founded Public Strategies in 1988 and directed the rapid growth of the firm. He built a strong senior management team with impressive corporate and public experience as he focused on strategic counsel at the board and executive levels for the firm's Fortune 500 clients. Martin's career has been significantly shaped by his association with his long-time friend and mentor, U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, beginning with his first job as travel aide at the age of 21, and serving as Executive Assistant in the U.S. Senate and Campaign Manager to two of Bentsen's re-election campaigns.

Perry Yeatman is currently SVP of corporate affairs at Kraft, and president of the Kraft Foods Foundation. Yeatman is a key advisor to chairman and CEO, Irene Rosenfeld. She has been deeply involved in the communications, community involvement and public policy aspects of the company's transformation during the past 5 years. From multi-billion dollar deals (including the Cadbury acquisition) to fighting hunger and spearheading Kraft Foods' first ever global week of service, Yeatman has successfully used the disciplines of corporate affairs to help drive the company's agenda internally and externally around the world. Yeatman also blogs on the Huffington Post and is an active advocate for Girl Scouts and most recently served on their National Board. She is also co-author of the award-winning book Get Ahead by Going Abroad. After postings in Singapore, Moscow and London, Perry parlayed her success overseas into a US-based senior executive position in a Fortune 100 company – all before her 36th birthday.

Tom Buckmaster is vice president of communications, overseeing global advertising, branding and communications at Honeywell, a $33 billion company with operations in more than 500 locations worldwide. Buckmaster also serves as president of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's philanthropic and community relations initiative. Tom's accomplishments at Honeywell include the repositioning of the company's brand and supporting advertising standards, implementing a contemporary universal web strategy for all on-line applications, the development and execution of an employee value proposition and the creation of a new global platform for corporate giving. Buckmaster previously served in senior leadership positions in several of the world's leading public relations agencies including president of Edelman PR New York, EVP and GM of Hill and Knowlton's Washington office and a senior partner of Fleishman Hillard.

Ilyse Hogue is senior advisor to Media Matters for America and former director of political advocacy and communications for MoveOn.org. From 2006 to 2011, Hogue served as campaign director and then the director of political advocacy and communications for MoveOn, where she was responsible for shaping political strategy and developing communications initiatives to give MoveOn's five million members a voice in Washington. Prior to joining MoveOn, she was program director at the Rainforest Action Network. She is also co-founder of smartMeme Strategy and Training project, which works to amplify the impact of grassroots organizing with new strategy and training resources, values based communications, collaborations, and meme campaigning. 

David Almacy is an SVP in Edelman’s digital public affairs practice and former White House internet director under President George W. Bush. Prior to joining Edelman, he spent almost two years as vice president of Waggener Edstrom’s Studio D digital operation, and previously served in the Bush White House as internet and e-communications director, managing online communications strategy, serving as an official spokesman for Internet press and bloggers, and acting as a liaison to the federal government web manager community

Agenda

8.30am           Registration

9am                Paul Holmes

Welcome and introduction

9.15am           Mark Penn

What politics can learn from companies and what companies can learn from politics.

10am              David Almacy

A Trans-Atlantic Analysis of Digital Media’s Impact on Shaping Policy

10.45am         Coffee break

11am              Tom Buckmaster

The Medium is the Message: Observations on the Intersection of Politics and Branding From  a Corporate Perspective

11.45pm         Ilyse Hogue

Shifting Political Realities and Bullet Proof Brands 

--Building a constituency based brand, challenges and opportunities

--Brand attacks in the political world, what they look like and how they impact

--The shifting nature of brand permeation: the brave new world of social media

12.30pm         Lunch

1.30pm           Jack Martin

Transforming the PR Model: Taking a Cue from Politics

2.15pm           Perry Yeatman

In Conversation: Kraft's global comms head discusses such public affairs challenges as her company's efforts to combat world hunger, and its merger with Cadbury, in a session moderated by Holmes Report editor-in-chief Paul Holmes.

3pm                Paul Holmes

Concluding remarks

3.15pm           Close

The Twitter hashtag for this event is #thinktankdc . You can follow us at @holmesreport