Category: Blog Post

New Subsidiary To Build Cutting-Edge Tech For Public Affairs And Policy Analysis

Washington, D.C. – Bullpen Strategy Group (BSG) today announced the launch of Bullpen Technology Group (BTG), a new subsidiary dedicated to building innovative resources and applications to help meet today’s evolving communications, policy analysis, and public affairs challenges. As part of this initiative, Bullpen Strategy Group has acquired Pundit Analytics, a startup founded by former Microsoft software engineer Glenn Parham that uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to automate competitive intelligence in politics. Parham will lead BTG as its Chief Technology Officer.

Also joining BTG’s leadership team is political technologist Eric Wilson, who will serve as Senior Vice President for Strategy to BTG. Wilson is a veteran of numerous political campaigns and has directed digital departments in campaigns for president, governor and Senate. Eric has also advised national party committees in the US and Australia.

Bullpen Technology Group will leverage A.I., machine learning, natural language processing, and other emerging technologies to develop tools and services that help corporations, trade associations, and public affairs campaigners navigate their communications, public policy, and public affairs challenges, as well as offer technology-focused advisory services to clients. Using a data-driven approach, BTG will bring custom tools to the market specifically designed for business customers looking for more efficient analysis and research tools.

“First and foremost, Bullpen Technology Group will be about building and creating,” said Glenn Parham, BTG CTO. “Many industries need the digital, data-driven tools that we’ll bring to market or custom build, and BTG will be at the forefront of applying the innovative techniques honed in Silicon Valley to a specific public affairs and competitive intelligence context. I’m beyond excited to join BTG to create the tools that will give our customers greater insights into the political, policy and public affairs environment around them.”

“Our team is ready to shake up public affairs and policy analysis with innovative tools to help executives better shape their strategies and professionals better serve their clients with data and technology,” explained Eric Wilson, SVP for Strategy. “The stakes have never been higher and we’re going to empower our partners to put points on the board for their companies and clients.”

“At Bullpen Strategy Group, we recognize that automation and artificial intelligence can play a key role in supporting the needs of our clients, and can make the jobs of our expert communicators and researchers more efficient and effective,” said Bullpen Strategy Group CEO Joe Pounder. “We’re thrilled to have Glenn Parham join our team, lead Bullpen Technology Group, and bring his tech expertise to bat for a whole new range of business clients.”

Bullpen Technology Group Leadership

Glenn Parham – Chief Technology Officer, BTG
Glenn Parham joins as Chief Technology Officer. As a software engineer with a background in data science and machine learning, Parham is an expert in applying concepts used in Silicon Valley to monitoring and predicting politics, as well as creating automation tools for public affairs. Parham served as Co-Founder and CEO of Pundit Analytics, and has worked as a Software Engineer at Microsoft and as a Data Intelligence Engineer at Crowdpulse. He studied data science and economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Eric Wilson – Senior Vice President for Strategy, BTG
Eric Wilson is a political technologist driving innovation and digital transformation. He is a veteran of numerous campaigns on the state, federal, and international level. Eric led Marco Rubio’s digital team during his 2016 campaign for president, served as digital director of Ed Gillespie’s campaigns for Virginia Governor in 2017 and US Senate in 2014, and advised on digital strategy for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign in 2016 and the Liberal Party of Australia in 2016. In addition, Eric has held digital strategy roles at the American Action Network, Engage, and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Eric is the managing partner of Startup Caucus, an investment fund and startup accelerator for Republican campaign technology. He teaches and trains candidates and their campaign teams how to win online at BestPracticeDigital.com. He is also is the Director of the Center for Campaign Innovation, a non-profit research and training center guiding conservatives through the digital transformation of politics. Named Campaigns & Election’s “2019 Digital Influencer of the Year” and a Harvard Ash Center Technology & Democracy Fellow, Eric is frequently interviewed by the media about campaigns and technology and regularly speaks domestically and internationally about the digital transformation of politics.

Learn more about Bullpen Technology Group at bullpentechnologygroup.com and Bullpen Strategy Group at bullpenstrategygroup.com

Washington, DC – Bullpen Strategy Group is excited to announce that Vaughn Jennings will be joining our firm as Senior Vice President to grow our expanding Strategic and Crisis Communications practice. Vaughn Jennings comes to BSG with more than 15 years of PR, advocacy and crisis management experience. Before joining BSG, Vaughn served as Vice President of Communications at Airlines for America, the trade association representing major U.S. passenger and cargo airlines, where he was integral to developing communications strategies around some of the industry’s most complex PR challenges, including advocating for passage of the CARES Act.

“Businesses today find themselves facing challenges that were unimaginable just six months ago, challenges that require creative, strategic thinking and confidence they can get their message out when it matters,” said Jennings. “BSG is uniquely situated to help our clients solve problems and navigate whatever challenges the next news cycle presents. I’m excited to work alongside the talented team Joe has assembled to channel my experience into furthering that mission.”

“The core of Bullpen Strategy Group is our talent and expertise, and we could not be more thrilled to have Vaughn Jennings come aboard our growing firm,” said Joe Pounder, BSG CEO. “Vaughn’s 15 years of experience working on some of the top communications challenges in Washington, and his most recent work on the CARES Act debate, will be a fantastic resource for our clients. The Bullpen Strategy Group team has spent their careers working in the bullpen on high-stakes political and corporate PR challenges, and Vaughn Jennings embodies this spirit and expertise.”

About Vaughn:
Vaughn Jennings comes to BSG with more than 15 years of PR, advocacy and crisis management experience. He has spent his career advising CEOs, members of Congress and other executives on strategic communications and crisis response counseling, and has engaged at the forefront of some of the most prominent public policy debates in Washington and beyond.

Prior to joining BSG, Jennings served as Vice President of Communications at Airlines for America, the trade association representing major U.S. passenger and cargo airlines. Vaughn’s work as a lead spokesman and strategist for the airline industry bolstered his reputation as an expert communicator, trusted advisor and leading PR crisis manager. Vaughn played an integral role in navigating the airline industry’s most high-profile debates and contentious news cycles, and he helped drive award-winning advocacy and crisis communications campaigns on behalf of airlines, employees and travelers.

Vaughn previously served as an advisor to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. John Sullivan from Oklahoma. During his time on the Hill, he played a leading role in shaping national, state and grassroots communications strategies on political issues ranging from alternative fuels and sources of energy to healthcare and telecommunications policy.

He is a graduate of Wake Forest University and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two daughters.

Washington, DC – Bullpen Strategy Group (BSG) is excited to announce that Olivia Perez-Cubas will be joining our growing public affairs firm as Vice President in our strategic communications practice. The BSG team has spent years working in the bullpen on high-stakes political campaigns – at the center of the action where strategy, communications, and research merge – and we are looking forward to Perez-Cubas bringing her skills and experience to the table for our clients.

Perez-Cubas built a career as an expert communicator at the highest levels in Washington DC. She most recently served as Communications Director to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, and is now Communications Director for Winning For Women, a 501(C)(4) organization that helps center-right women pursue political leadership opportunities. Perez-Cubas will continue to serve as Communications Director for Winning For Women and the SuperPAC WFW Action Fund in her new role at BSG.

“I’m thrilled to join the talented team at BSG and be a part of its growing communications practice,” said Perez-Cubas. “BSG is led by some of the most effective communicators in the industry who have drawn on their expertise to develop a unique approach to public affairs, and I look forward to working with Joe again and alongside this team to deliver successful results to clients.”

“Since launching Bullpen Strategy Group eight months ago, we’ve grown significantly and are now providing strategic advisory and communications support to companies in a diverse set of industries. Olivia is an excellent addition to the team who will help us meet the needs of our current clients and expand our communications offerings,” said Joe Pounder, BSG CEO. “It’s been fun to see Olivia become a top communicator, and I look forward to working with her again and leaning on her insights and experience as BSG continues to expand.”

About Olivia:
Olivia brings extensive communications experience from political campaigns, the U.S. Senate, and non-profits. Most recently, she served as Communications Director at Winning For Women and the SuperPAC WFW Action Fund, which is the first SuperPAC dedicated solely to electing Republican women. 
 
She got her start in politics upon joining Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s Senate communications team in 2013. Not long after, she was tapped to join Rubio’s presidential campaign on day one where she served as Media Director. She was the Press Secretary for the 2016 re-election campaign and spent much of her time traveling the state with Rubio. After rejoining his Senate team as Communications Director in 2017, she was named by Roll Call as one of the top Latino staffers on Capitol Hill. Her career began as a news writer at WSVN, the FOX affiliate in Miami, Florida. She is a graduate of Florida State University.

About BSG:
Bullpen Strategy Group (BSG) is an insights-focused public affairs firm specializing in analysis, strategy and project management to help companies and clients anticipate and manage competitive, regulatory, political, legal, and media risks. Beyond traditional strategic communications, BSG provides critical insights to help inform our clients’ strategies to address challenges, including media, think tank and influence analysis, corporate due diligence, communications, rapid response, news intelligence, analytics, and media monitoring.

When we launched Bullpen in September, we said we were bringing a different approach to public affairs. People have noticed. Part of this change in approach requires us to diversify our talent bench and we are excited to do that.

Today we are announcing two recent hires, Joe Perticone and Merav Ceren.

Joe, who will join as a Director, comes to BSG with extensive experience as a journalist in Washington. Most recently, as a Capitol Hill reporter for Business Insider. Prior to reporting at Business Insider, Perticone covered the 2016 presidential campaign and Congress for Independent Journal Review.

Merav, who joins us as a Vice President, comes from Delve, where she led a research team focused on local, state, and federal policy issues. Prior to Delve, Ceren was a legislative fellow for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, building a strong portfolio on Middle East geopolitics and diplomacy, energy geopolitics, and more.

They both offer unique perspectives on politics, policy and the media environment that we know will create value for our current roster of clients.

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Medium is a new platform for me and the perfect way to share a new venture.

As of today, I am the new owner of Definers Public Affairs. I bought out my partner, Matt Rhoades, so that we could both chase new challenges. Matt is someone I’ve respected for a long time — I was his intern on the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign and I’ve had the pleasure of working with him for over a decade now on one project or another. Together, we’ve built several great organizations and when he said he wanted to pursue a new opportunity, I decided I wanted to step back into Definers.

However, that’s just the beginning of the story. The public affairs market is evolving and so must Definers. That’s why I’m teaming up with Brian Rogers and Alex Angel to launch a new, insights-driven public affairs firm in the coming weeks called Bullpen Strategy Group (BSG). Brian and Alex are colleagues I’ve known for a long time. They are people I trust and respect, but also two talented individuals who have a history of chalking up wins for clients.

But what does insights-driven public affairs mean?

Clients today don’t just want an army of consultants. They want to anticipate threats, analyze and fully understand their challenges, and deploy strategies to address them driven by keen insights. BSG will specialize in analysis and insights to empower our clients to anticipate and manage competitive, regulatory, political, legal, and media risks.

Beyond traditional strategic communications, BSG will offer critical insights to inform the “how” of responding to the challenges they face. Our team will provide corporate due diligence, communications, rapid response, political intelligence, analytics, and media monitoring to empower smart decision making. Clients want an experience that gives them actionable insights and that’s what our collaborative offering from the “Bullpen” will do.

The team at Definers has been extremely effective, but it’s time for a new firm and a mission that rises to the opportunity we see.

Joe Pounder, BSG CEO

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