Thomas Gensemer
Thomas Gensemer
Thomas Gensemer is Managing Partner of Blue State Digital and based in the company’s New York and Washington, DC headquarters. Blue State Digital managed Obama for America’s extensive online fundraising, constituency building and peer-to-peer networking initiatives, all of which helped to create momentum for the President’s successful campaign in 2008’s historic election. Founded in 2004, Blue State Digital has created a highly successful online model for fundraising and advocacy for political campaigns such as those of Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Jim Webb; non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross, Sundance Institute, Alliance for Climate Protection and the Save Dafur Coalition; universities such as the University of Florida; and corporations such as Focus Features.
Thomas joined Blue State Digital in 2005 with a background in venture capital, strategy consulting, product marketing and technology startup management. Immediately prior to Blue State Digital, he was the director of Internet strategy for America Coming Together (ACT), where he managed the organization’s online fundraising, grassroots recruitment, and marketing. Prior to ACT, Thomas led online communications for General Wesley Clark’s 2004 Presidential Campaign. Thomas is a graduate of New York University and lives in Washington, DC and New York.
Martin Oetting
Martin Oetting
Dr. Martin Oetting is one of the few German marketing experts specializing in grassroots, community-based and word-of-mouth marketing approaches. He is head of research and international business development at trnd AG in Munich - the first and largest Word-of-Mouth Marketing platform in Germany. For close to five years now, trnd has been running word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for large multinationals such as Procter & Gamble or Wrigley. His doctoral dissertation about Word-of-Mouth Marketing is scheduled for publication in September 2009. A frequent speaker both in Germany and abroad, Martin also runs the biggest German Word-of-Mouth Marketing Blog (ConnectedMarketing.de). In the fall of 2008, he spent a few weeks in New York. On election day, he had the chance to join the Obama campaign team for the final phase of the street campaign in Philadelphia.
Stefan Hennewig
Stefan Hennewig
Dr. Stefan Hennewig is the Head of Internal Management at the national headquarters of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Germany’s major conservative party. In 2009, a year of multiple state and federal elections, his responsibilities include managing the CDU’s Web 2.0 election campaign, the party’s member and citizen relationships, and the team supporting Chancellor Angela Merkel (“teAM Germany”). Before joining the CDU headquarters in early 2000 as an online editor, Stefan was a fellow in the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s scholarship program for junior journalists, working as a freelancer for a diverse range of newspapers, advertising journals, and corporate magazines. He studied political science and law in Bonn and Bradford (UK) and wrote his doctoral dissertation on policy options for regulating the Internet in Germany.
Robert Heinrich
Robert Heinrich
Robert Heinrich has been Head of Public Relations of Germany's Green Party, BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN, since 2007. In the 2009 federal elections, his responsibilities included coordinating the party's online campaign. From 2003 through 2007, he managed the office of the Greens' political director and campaign manager, Steffi Lemke. Prior to this engagement, Robert Heinrich, who holds a degree in political science, was involved in numerous Green election campaigns and worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers and radio stations.
Carsten Bösel
Presentation: Carsten Bösel
Carsten Bösel is the deputy chairman of the Association of Friends of Amerika Haus Berlin. After completing his studies in American Studies, Political Science, and Communications in Berlin and Durham, NC, he started working as a study advisor at Amerika Haus Berlin, a former US public diplomacy venue. Today, he is freelancing as an independent educational consultant, writer, and translator, counseling German high school and university students on the full range of opportunities for study in North America. His most important publications include two extensive guidebooks on studying in the United States and Canada, both published by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Furthermore, Carsten regularly posts on his popular “TransatlanTicker”, a German-language blog featuring news and commentary on scholarships, admissions testing, personal essays, or US campus life. As a certified German-English translator, Carsten mainly works for institutions in education and science. A special exhibition on Charles Darwin, currently on display at the Berlin Museum of Natural History through 3 January 2010, for example, features his new translations of some of the famous naturalists’ letters and diaries.
