State and Federal Communications staff Jeff Roberts, Sarah Kovit, Zachary Hoying, and Ken Kelawae will be attending the Public Affairs Council’s State and Local Government Relations Seminar in Washington D.C. The seminar will be held September 18 – 20.

If you will also be there, be sure to say hello!

State and Federal Communications is also excited be sponsoring the Tuesday morning Networking Breakfast. “We are proud to assist the Public Affairs Council,” said Elizabeth Bartz, the company’s President and CEO.

This week’s Highlighted Site of the Week is the political contributions database on OpenSecrets.org. The Get local! tracker provides charts, lists, and interactive maps for searches by state or even down to the zip code level.

According to the site, “These profiles can show you who’s making the big political contributions in your state, as well as where the money’s coming from (by city, by zip code, and graphically with our “money maps”). You’ll also find links to a money profile of your senators and representative, with a detailed look at where their campaign warchest came from.”

Each search provides a summary of political contributions, from which you can drill down to top contributors, top recipients, and presidential campaign contributions. You can also search representatives from your own, or other Congressional  Districts. You can also find search results for previous election cycles.

A big thank you goes to State and Federal Communications Research Associate Sarah Kovit for finding this Highlighted Site.

Photo of the U.S. Capitol with the flag by Florian Hirzinger on Wikipedia.

GovTech.com has published an interesting read about the relationship between technology and the elections industry.

The article, “Perspective: 5 Tech Trends in the Elections Industry“by Nicole Ciotti, lists trends to expect in the upcoming elections. Mobile phone optimized websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms will be prominent in voter outreach and in educating the public prior to the elections. Those tools will be an advantage in offering news and updates during and after the elections as well.

Photo of the vote sign by Tom Arthur on Wikipedia.

In the face of sagging public perception of lobbyists, Van Scoyoc Associates will be employing an advertising campaign with the hope of improving the industry’s image. More than just a series of plain ads, the firm will be using questionnaires seeking honest opinions and a “two-way discussion.”

In Politico’s  “Ad: ‘Lobbyist’ is no 4-letter word,” Dave Levinthal speaks with the firm, and with Patton Boggs and The American League of Lobbyists about how the public views lobbying and what the industry can do.

What is needed? They say clearer definition of lobbying activity is needed, as well as greater disclosure. Educating people about the role of lobbying would also be helpful. They speak about how the needs of local governments can better be met by lobbying, and the need for lobbying for the less advantaged.

What do you think?

In T.W Farnam’s aticle, “Revolving door of employment between Congress, lobbying firms, study shows,” the Washington Post reports that LegiStorm has published a new study revealing how many U.S. lawmakers and their staffers have left to become lobbyists.

The published totals are 400 lawmakers and 5,400 staffers in the last ten years. LegiStorm also reveals the reverse process: 605 lobbyists have moved into positions as congressional staffers.

You can find LegiStorm’s announcement on their blog here.

Roll Call reported last night about a new website that will be offering a way for people to have access to lobbying services. By helping people establish an advocacy campaign and start raising funds, YouLobby.com is meant to remove a common barrier people face when seeking lobbying services.

Could this become a game-changer in grassroots and other forms of lobbying?

Find out more about the story in Roll Call’s article, “Website Seeks to  Help Public Hire Lobbyists” by Ambreen Ali.

YouLobby.com has nothing on its website yet, but you can find out about the project on their Facebook and through their Twitter account, @YouLobby.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, will be announcing some of the recipients of the 2011 30 for the Future Awards.

The awards, hosted by the Greater Akron Chamber, recognize young professionals who have made extraordinary contributions in their industries and to greater Akron.

The dinner celebration and ceremony will be held tonight at the University of Akron’s Student Union Ballroom.

Here is a list of this year’s recipients.

Elliot Volkman has written a piece, “Contractors Use Webinars, Social Media To Extend Their Voices,” on GovWin.com’s blog. He discusses the benefits and limitations government contractors may face when using social media for their communications strategies.

Aside from discussing how to make the most out of using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, Volkman also gives advice on hosting webinars and how they can fit in with the use of social media.

Disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that U.S. House and Senate candidates set a new record in campaign fundraising for the first half of 2011. The total was more than $285 million dollars.

Here is the Federal Election Commission’s news release from August 24. The FEC also has great interactive campaign finance maps for both Presidential Campaigns as well as House and Senate Elections. The maps offer campaign finance information down to the zip code level for the current and previous election cycles.

You can read Emily Goodin’s story “House and Senate candidates raise $285.2 million in first half of 2011” from The Hill.

Alex Knott offers “Election Fundraising Sets Records in First Half of 2011” in Roll Call.

The Wall Street Journal reported last night that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will not give a penny in campaign contributions to incumbents until Congress comes up with a long-term solution to the debt problem. According to the article, 100 other heads of corporations have joined him in that pledge.

Schultz also made a plea to business leaders to start hiring again.

In “Starbucks CEO: Pledge to Halt Campaign Donations Gains Steam,” Julie Jargon names a few of the other CEOs following Schultz in the promise.

Could a movement be brewing?

State and Federal Communications  is the most trusted source in the nation for comprehensive, accurate, and timely compliance information lobbying laws, political contributions, procurement lobbying, and Canadian Compliance for U.S. Companies.

Our Executive Source Guides cover every important jurisdiction – federal, all 50 states, and more than 200 municipalities. We cover Canada too!

For the latest information on campaign finance requirements in Michigan, the state’s Bureau of Elections now has a Twitter account to keep you informed. The Twitter feed will include information about reporting deadlines, electronic filing updates, and announcements regarding training sessions. You can follow the Twitter account at @MichCFR.

According to a Michigan Department of State press release, “Secretary of State Ruth Johnson announced today that the Bureau of Elections is launching a Twitter account to alert candidates, committees and those interested in campaign finance of reports detailing campaign contributions and expenditures.”

For another way to receive the latest information, the release also mentions that the Secretary of State also has a Facebook presence.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of  State and Federal Communications, will be attending the Public Affairs Council Consultant Member Meeting in Washington, D.C. on August 23, 2011.

Elizabeth Bartz was elected president of the State Government Affairs Council (SGAC) at the annual Member Business Meeting and Luncheon held in San Antonio.

She succeeds departing president Joseph Crosby for the 2011-2012 term.

In addition to our congratulations, we would like to share a video of Elizabeth’s speech at the event, which was held during National Conference of State Legislature’s 2011 Legislative Summit in San Antonio Texas: