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Comcast Gets Federal Affairs Director
by Heather Greenfield
Lindsey Dickinson is signing up for Comcast as senior director of federal government affairs.
The senior lobbyist comes from the office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, where she served as legislative counsel and a primary liaison to the Senate Commerce Committee. During her time with Hutchison, Dickinson was lead appropriations and policy counsel on all technology, telecommunications, science, homeland security, transportation, maritime and space issues. Before her work on Capitol Hill, Dickinson worked at the Commerce Department as an adviser.
Comcast Vice President of Government Affairs Kerry Knott said, "Lindsey's deep expertise will add great value to Comcast as we navigate the evolving telecommunications policy environment in Washington."
Danielle Rodier also is joining Comcast's Washington government affairs office as policy counsel. She just finished law school at Temple University.
Two Tech Lobbyists Move To Firms
Jamie Brown and Jamie Houton have more in common than their names. They are both leaving their corporate tech lobbying jobs for lobbying firms.
The similarity ends there. Houton is leaving Microsoft to join the all-Democratic firm Elmendorf Strategies, while Brown is leaving Google for Mehlman, Vogel and Castagnetti in September.
Brown was a special assistant for legislative affairs for President Bush before joining Google last summer. There, she helped Bush lobby for his Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts. Brown knew Alex Vogel, a partner at the new firm, when she worked at the Justice Department and he worked for Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Houton, meanwhile, was an aide to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and coordinated outreach to the tech community for the Senate Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee.
AeA Lobbyist Moves To Cyber-Security Group
Timothy Jemal, a 20-year public and government affairs veteran, is moving from the tech group AeA's office in California to work with the Cyber Security Industry Alliance in Washington.
Jemal had been AeA's executive director of the Orange County and Inland Empire Council, and he lobbied for AeA at the federal, state and local levels.
At CSIA, Jemal will be senior vice president of government relations and work closely with President Tim Bennett to seek a comprehensive national law that aims to prevent further data breaches and address leaks once they occur. Another key advocacy issue will be legislation to strengthen consumer protection against secretly installed computer spyware.
"We are very pleased to welcome Tim to CSIA and believe his background in public and government affairs combined with his years of working with the technology industry will enable our organization to be more proactive in making changes to cyber-security policies that affect our member companies and consumers," Bennett said.
Before his career in California, Jemal was a lobbyist in Washington for the Armenian Assembly of America for five years.
Broadcast Group Announces Promotions
Doug Wiley has a new role at the National Association of Broadcasters. Wiley, who is currently executive vice president of government relations, will become executive vice president of administration and agencies, a new position.
The job casts Wiley as NAB's chief advocate before the Cabinet and federal agencies, and NAB hopes the realignment will raise visibility of NAB's positions within the administration.
Wiley joined NAB in April 2006. Before that, he served as senior vice president of government relations for the Electronic Industries Alliance, vice president at the Telecommunications Industry Association, and senior legislative assistant to former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley, R-Va.
"Doug has spent more than 20 years in Washington advocating on behalf of the communications industry," NAB President and CEO David Rehr said. "His experience working with both the administration and federal agencies will be of immense benefit to our public policy work promoting local radio and television broadcasting."
Laurie Knight, a former senior vice president of government relations for NAB, also has been promoted to executive vice president of government relations. She will be responsible for representing the broadcast industry before Congress.
And Meredith Long will become NAB's director of congressional and membership outreach. Long previously served as manager of government relations.
At the Motion Picture Association of America, meanwhile, Frank Cavalier has been cast as vice president and senior counsel of federal affairs and policy. Cavalier is the former vice president of federal regulator affairs at Vonage. Before that, he was the deputy legislative director for former Sen. George Allen, R-Va.
Bush Nominates Telecom Security Advisers
President Bush has nominated Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski and Kyle McSlarrow, the head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, to his National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.
"I am very proud of this honor, and look forward to contributing to this important committee and serving the president during what will be a critical new era for technology and communications," Zafirovski said.
He added that it will be an interesting time to serve on this board because "the rate of technology innovation promises to surpass that of any other time in recent history. We are entering a hyper-connected era that will not only transform the way people interact but [also] enable work, education and social interaction across all corners of the planet."
McSlarrow's appointment would bring a cable presence to a prominent government advisory group currently without one.
Zafirovski and McSlarrow would provide advice and expertise to Bush and his Cabinet on policy and technical issues related to telecom, information systems, information assurance, infrastructure protection, and other security and emergency preparedness concerns.
Two Board Members Elected To ITAA
The Information Technology Association of America has named Raymond Spencer, the CEO of Capgemini's financial services business unit, and Tetsuo Urano, the head of Fujitsu's American operations, to its board of directors.
Spencer's management and consulting experience includes more than 30 years and spans 18 countries. Before his work at Capgemini, he co-founded Kanbay International and served as its chairman and CEO.
Urano has contributed to Fujitsu's success for more than 35 years in marketing, sales and senior management positions in the United States, Europe and Japan. Before assuming control of American operations in 2005, he helped establish Fujitsu's European business.
"These appointments continue a tradition of member leadership provided by seasoned senior executives," said Dave Sanders, ITAA's chairman and a partner of TPI. "I'm confident these additions will help ITAA build upon its success in delivering policy advocacy, business development and elite networking to the industry."
Quote Of The Week
"It's just a bad environment for Republicans right now. I think that will probably change as we get closer to the general."
-- Patrick Ruffini, who served as e-campaign director for the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007, quoted in a New York Times article on online donations to the presidential candidates.
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