The location changes each month so stay tuned to our blog to see where the happy hour will be from month to month!

WHAT: Water Cooler Wednesday – Public Service Showcase
WHEN: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 from 6:30 – 9:00 pm
LOCATION: RFD Washington // 810 7th Street NW, Washington DC, 20001
METRO: Metro Center, Gallery Place/Chinatown (Green, Yellow, Red)
COST: Free!  No cost for registration.

The Government Relations committee has been busy planning our upcoming program for Ad 2 DC, so sorry if our blog has been quiet.

Anyway, as you all know, it’s a big election year so we understand that a lot of our industry peers are involved or will be involved in creating politically-targeted campaigns this year. Whether your campaign will focus on support for a particular issue, cause or candidate, they all will have the same message, take action. But how can you generate enough passion from your audience to make it do so?

Ad 2 DC has partnered with Rock the Vote to put on a program to discover how this organization has successfully increased young adults’ engagement in our electoral process. Attend our event, take a closer look at their past campaigns and learn how to turn a mundane topic into something people can become passionate about.

Political Marketing – An Evening with Rock the Vote
SPEAKER: Chrissy Faessen, V.P. Marketing and Communications, Rock the Vote
WHEN: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 // 6:30-8:00pm
WHERE: Bloomberg Government // 1101 K Street NW // Suite 500 // Washington, DC 20005
METRO: McPherson Square (Blue/Orange), Metro Center (Red/Orange/Blue)
COST: Ad 2 DC Members and Students $20 // DC Ad Club Members $30 // Non Members $45
REGISTRATION: http://www.dcadclub.com/calendar_day.asp?date=4/11/2012

Join us for hors d’oeuvres for a light networking reception at 6:30pm with a cash bar. The program will begin at 7:00pm.

Register now as this program will sell out soon!

If you have questions, e-mail government@ad2dc.org.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

The White House, Department of Commerce and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently endorsed the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) self-regulatory program for online interest based advertising. This program ensures that consumers will have a consistent online experience with transparency and choice regarding the collection and use of web viewing data.

This initiative was developed by the nation’s leading media, marketing, and technology companies with recommendations from the White House Administration, Congress, and the FTC. The goal of the program is to protect consumer privacy and create trust, thereby helping to insure that the free Internet – like other free media, supported primarily by advertising – continues to flourish, grow and innovate.

Last month, the DAA launched Your AdChoices, a new consumer education campaign and website to inform consumers about interest based advertising and how they can take greater control of their online privacy.

More and more businesses large and small are participating in the DAA self-regulatory program. To help AAF members learn how to participate, AAF will host a webinar on Tuesday, March 6 at 2 p.m. EST.  To learn more about the webinar, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/449668914.

If you weren’t aware, as a member of Ad 2 DC, you’re a member of our parent organization, the AAF. You should definitely register for the webinar if you or your company has any type of online presence.

For all the students in the area, the Mosaic Career Fair is coming up this Thursday! This is a greatopportunity for students looking for an internship, job, wanting to hear for leaders in the industry, orparticipate in workshops. You won’t want to miss it!
The AAF Mosaic Center on Multiculturalism implements multicultural and diversity initiatives acrossthe nation. A signature program, the Mosaic Career Fairs give college students the opportunity to learnabout internships and career opportunities in the area from recruiters representing some of the nation’stop advertising, marketing and communications companies.
Ad 2 DC will be on site, to provide information about the club, how to join and get involved! We want tohelp make the transition from college, to a group of likeminded young professionals in the industry.

We’d love to hear from you. Stop by our table at the recruiter’s expo and stay tuned for our recap of the day!

When: Thursday, March 1, 2012 //8:00am-2:30pm
Where: USA Today Headquarters // 7950 Jones Branch Drive // McLean, VA
Free to attend.

For more information: http://www.aaf.org/default.asp?id=924

Everyone says New York City, Chicago & Los Angeles are THE cities to be in for advertising. But what about DC? Washington, DC is an advertising town and we have some of the best agencies right here!

Click here to register

This month Ad 2 DC will be co-hosting with ESPN! Attend to network with some of the best in the industry and be entered in one of our many giveaways for the evening including gift cards, tickets to DC sporting events, and ESPN gear! Invite your co-workers out for this special happy hour event.

WHAT: Water Cooler Wednesday
WHEN: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 // 6:30 – 9:00 pm
WHERE: Public Bar // 1214 18th Street NW // Washington, DC 20036
METRO: Dupont Circle (Red)
COST: FREE! (no registration required; just show up)

What is the DNA of a brand experience?  Now that consumers have deeper levels of engagement with each other via mobile, apps, new networks, and emerging technologies, advertisers have a whole new breadth of insight on how consumers tick.  How are advertisers using that data to shape the future of advertising?

Learn what’s happening now and what comes next at the 2nd annual FutAd: Direct Connections.

Panelists:

-T.C. Conway – Director of Innovative Marketing,Discovery Channel
-Matt Goddard – CEO, R2integrated
-John Schultz – CEO, NetStrategies
-Anthony Pappas – President, Pappas Group
-Melanie Spring (Moderator)– Founder of Sisarinaand the #DCTweetup Group

WHEN: Thursday, February 16, 2012 // 6:30- 9pm
WHERE: CDIA – Georgetown// 1055 Thomas Jefferson St NW// Washington DC 20007
Special thank you to CDIA
METRO: McPherson Square (Blue/Orange)

Cost: Ad 2 DC & Student Members: $20 // DC Ad Club Members: $30 // Non-members: $45

Onsite registrations will be accommodated on a space-available basis only.  There will be a $10 surcharge added to all day-of and onsite registrations. Payment made after February 14, 2012 will be subjected to an additional $10.  Cancellation and refunds will not be accepted after 5:00 pm, Tuesday, February 14, 2012. No shows will be billed. Call 703-683-5954 with questions.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Another amazing Water Cooler Wednesday is coming up! Join Ad 2 DC and DC Web Women at this FREE monthly event. It is the perfect opportunity to relax, exchange ideas, hear about the upcoming FutAd: Direct Connections, and hang out with talented young professionals.

WHAT: Water Cooler Wednesday
WHEN: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 // 6:30 – 9:00 pm
WHERE: Science Club // 1136 19th St NW // Washington D.C. 20036
METRO: Farragut North (Red)
COST: FREE! (no registration required; just show up)

Happy new year, everyone! Well, 2012 is starting out with a slew of government marketing news, but today we’ll focus on the impending online blackout to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) proposed by the House and Senate respectively.

SOPA is a House Bill proposing to allow the U.S. Department of Justice and copyright holders the ability to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. PIPA is a similar bill that was proposed in the Senate. Opponents believe it violates the First Amendment and will cripple the Internet.

If the protest goes as planned, tomorrow you will not be able to access 7000 websites including Wikipedia, Mozilla, and WordPress.

You can read more about this subject at AdWeek: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/sopa-pipa-opponents-ready-day-protest-137569

If you subscribe to the AAF Government Affairs newsletter, you probably saw in last week’s issue that the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, December 8, on Internet Corporations for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s plan to expand the amount of new top level domains.

All summer long, ICANN has been announcing how it will allow for organizations to have any word in any language be a uniquely branded URL. According it its plan, in 2012, companies will not longer be restricted to generic .com, .org, .net, and etc, but instead can have their own dotbrand URL.

A lot of controversies has been brought to the attention of our Federal government such as cybersquatting, copyright infringement, and consumer fraud. This Thursday’s hearing “will examine the merits and implications of this new program and ICANN’s continuing efforts to address concerns raised by the Internet community,” according to the Senate committee’s website.

With 2012 fast approaching, the AAF proposes that the Secretary of Commerce should postpone implementation of ICANN’s plan until all serious concerns can be adequately addressed.

You can read more about this subject in last week’s AdAge article: http://adage.com/article/digital/senate-calls-hearing-icann-s-controversial-top-level-domain-expansion-plan/231350/