Jonah Seiger
Jonah Seiger is a public affairs communications strategist and digital politics expert. He is currently the Founder and Managing Partner with Connections Media LLC (founded 2004).
Seiger is widely regarded as an internet pioneer, having conceived and managed digital media campaigns for influential issue groups, corporations, and candidates for federal, state and local office since 1994. Most recently, Seiger and his team at Connections Media have worked with clients including Starbucks, Google, The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, PepsiCo and the successful 2005 and 2009 campaigns of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
A Native of Silicon Valley, Jonah came to DC in 1993 to work with Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) on the House Telecommunications Subcommittee. Before founding Connections Media, Jonah Seiger worked on Internet Policy issues with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center For Democracy and Technology (CDT) until 1997, when he founded mindshare Internet campaigns, one of DC’s first and most successful Web 1.0 digital agencies for public affairs.
Jonah organized some of the first online campaigns, including the 1996 "Black Page" protest, an event which Yahoo.com cited as one of the 10 most important moments in the first 10 years of the web, the first online petition to gather more than 100,000 signatures (1995) and the first live webcast of a congressional hearing (1996). During that time, The New York Times described Jonah as "a trench warrior in the battle to democratize cyberspace," in reference to his role in the landmark Supreme Court decision establishing broad First Amendment protection for the Internet. In 2001, Seiger was recognized by the American Association of Political Consultants & Harvard University as "One to Watch" on its list of "The 25 Who Are Changing the World of Internet Politics." Jonah founded Connections Media in 2004.
Seiger is frequently cited as an expert on the intersection of politics and new media. His commentary has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Wired Magazine.
Seiger serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at the George Washington University. As an Adjunct Professor at the GWU's Graduate School of Political Management, Seiger teaches a course on political communications strategies for the Internet. Seiger graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a degree in Psychology and Studies in Religion.
External links
- "Jonah Seiger, Connections Media LLC", Jonah Seiger Biography June 2010.
- "Protest Cyberspace Style for New Law", Black Page Protest (NYT 1996)
- "Internet Heavyweights Challenge Online Decency Act", CNET News (1996)
- "Congress Debates Encryption Online", First Congressional Hearing Webcast (1996)
- "Decency Ruling to Storm The Web", USA Today (1997).
- "Step Into Our Lobby," Business Week Profile of mindshare Internet Campaigns (1998)
- "Media Bistro Jonah Seiger Profile", MediaBistro.com
- "What Digital Marketers Can Learn from Bloomberg's 2009 Campaign", 360i Blog.
- "VIDEO: Social Media's Impact on the 2009 NYC Mayor's Race", Social Media Week NYC 2010.
- "@jonahseiger", Jonah Seiger Twitter Feed.