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Oklahoma PAC Conference Recap and Resources
May 18, 2023 | 1:30 - 6:00 pm
Oklahoma Golf & Country Club
7000 NW Grand Blvd, Nichols Hills, OK 73116
The Oklahoma PAC Conference is the only program of its kind available for political and PAC professionals in our state. It combines skills training with sessions on fundraising, communication, and compliance.
Thank you to everyone who attended the 2023 OK PAC Conference. For those who missed the event or who would like to review the materials presented, we've attached resources below. We look forward to seeing you in 2024.
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Keynote Address:Kyle Roberts, President Smart Media Group kyle@smartmediagrp.com Kyle Roberts, President & CEO of Smart Media Group, is one of the top Republican media strategists in the nation. With over 20 years in political media buying, Kyle started Smart Media with a simple mission in mind: to provide GOP candidates with sophisticated traditional and digital research, faster responsiveness, and tenacious negotiation on our client’s behalf—delivering stronger results and better value. In 2012, Smart Media was one of the largest political media buying firm in the country. They executed media schedules in 132 local markets, including all of the 29 largest, reaching 85% of American households. Their analytics team tracked and analyzed $1.7 billion dollars in spending by 443 advertisers in 2012, including all of the Presidential Primary and General election spending. SMG has the fastest competitive collection intelligence tool in the industry, while combined with our custom visualization software creates dynamic interactive graph visualizations for our customers to interact with in real time. On the web, SMG ran over 40 million banner ad and video impressions for local and statewide for both issue and candidate clients, generating over 230,000 clicks and a video ad completion rate of 79% We worked with more than 37 publishers including: Pandora, Hulu, ShortTail, Daily Candy and Pandora Mobile. Their work has earned them numerous awards for innovation and creativity: American Association of Political Consultants’ Pollie Awards, Campaigns & Elections’ Reed Awards and Smart CEO’s Volt Award. Smart Media has had the privilege to work for hundreds of campaigns and issue groups including: Sen. Jeff Flake (AZ), Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC), Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), Sen. Jerry Moran (KS), Sen. John Thune (SD), Rep. Kristi Noem (SD-AL), Rep. Ben Quayle (AZ-3), Rep. Robert Hurt (VA-5), Rep. Kevin Yoder (KS-3), Meg Whitman (CA), Gov. Rick Snyder (MI), Gov. Bill Haslam (TN), The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Governors Association. In 2008, Smart Media was the lead buying agency for John McCain for President.
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Legal Compliance Chat:Denise Lawson, Partner Glenn Coffee & Associates denise@glenncoffee.com Denise Lawson has been an attorney at Glenn Coffee & Associates since its inception in 2013 and was named partner in 2021. In addition to regularly advising clients regarding the Oklahoma Ethics Commission Rules and laws governing political campaigns and changes in government regulation, Denise frequently attends trainings and conferences to ensure GCA is up to date on all relevant policies and changes which could potentially affect our clients. Denise’s practice focuses primarily on appellate litigation, Constitutional law, election law, administrative rules and regulations, state questions and initiative/referendum petitions, nonprofit associations, and contracts. Denise is also licensed to practice in the Choctaw Nation. Denise has experience representing clients in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, the Oklahoma State Election Board, the Choctaw Nation Constitutional Court, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Election Commission, the Oklahoma Accountancy Board, and others federal and state agencies. Additionally, Denise serves as general counsel to the Oklahoma Land Title Association on behalf of the firm. Denise received her Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2013. While in law school, she received numerous advocacy awards including winning the Calvert Intra-School Moot Court Competition and receiving an award for Best Brief at the ABA Appellate Advocacy Competition in New York City. Denise was also elected to the Order of the Barristers and was an active member of the American Indian Law Review. Denise earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2007. Denise was among the founding members of the University’s Debate Team and served as Vice President from 2003 to 2007. In 2005 Denise was also awarded the Cortez AM Ewing Congressional Fellowship and served as an intern in the United States House of Representatives.
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Fireside Chat:Will Gattenby, COO Oklahoma Association of Realtors wgattenby@okrealtors.com Will Gattenby is the Chief Operating Officer for the Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® where he helps oversee advocacy, communications, member engagement, and more. He has been at OAR, the state’s largest trade association, since 2019, and recently completed his REALTOR® Association Certified Executive (or RCE) professional designation. A born-and-raised Oklahoman, Will has more than a decade of strategic communication, political campaign, and government experience. His previous roles include consulting, communications, and operational roles for candidates and elected officials at every level of government, including presidential campaigns, the U.S. Senate, statewide elected officials, and all the way down to races for local judge and dependent school boards. In PAC management, Will cut his teeth at Sagac where he served clients of more than a dozen large corporations and trade associations. Currently, he helps REALTORS® maintain the state’s largest limited PAC, which seeks to support candidates who believe in the REALTORS® vision of protecting private property rights and making the American dream of homeownership more achievable. Kristin Light, PMP, Senior Advisor, Government Relations Dell Technologies Kristin.Light@Dell.com Kristin Light is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Senior Advisor of Government Affairs at Dell Technologies. She manages the Dell Political Action Committee (PAC), a program raising over $1.5M in the 2021-2022 election cycle. Kristin also oversees Dell’s North America Government Affairs budget. From candidate engagement, event management, content development and PAC Board governance, Kristin oversees the entire PAC program and ensures alignment to corporate strategies and legislative priorities. Prior to this role, she spent seven years at Sagac Public Affairs as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies and national trade associations, specializing in issue advocacy campaigns and strategic planning for their political programs. Josh Yager, Business Development Director Sagac Public Affairs josh@sagac.com A lifelong Oklahoman, Josh Yager brings over a decade of experience in project management from years in public service and the private sector. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, his professional knowledge and experience includes both crisis management as well as overseeing logistical and financial operations. He works with Sagac’s existing clients in their efforts developing strategic plans, communications, and effective solicitation campaigns. In addition to daily operations, he leads business development for new clients at state level and supports federal efforts. Outside of Sagac, he has helped with fundraising efforts for non-profit organizations and special events in the Oklahoma City metro-area.
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Best Practices Presentation:Will Cobb, Production Lead Sagac Public Affairs william@sagac.com Will Cobb has eight years of agency experience, including production, marketing, and client relations. He has led successful advertising and online marketing campaigns for professional athletes, financial institutions, and numerous clients across a vast array of industries. In his three years with Sagac Public Affairs, Will’s trade association and corporate PAC clients have been awarded nine Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants for fundraising and public affairs campaigns.
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PAC Q+ATrey Richardson, Managing Partner Sagac Public Affairs & GR Pro trey@sagac.com Trey Richardson is managing partner of Sagac Public Affairs and GR Pro, national companies providing issue advocacy, communication, market research, fundraising and electioneering solutions to hundreds of corporations, trade associations and political groups. Known for his creativity, he has influenced political finance and advocacy activities throughout the United States for more than 36 years. His legislative experience at the federal, state, and local levels of government allows him to serve a broad constituency of business interests. Trey also heads numerous organizations engaged in the creation and execution of issue advocacy and independent expenditure activities to positively affect outcomes for pro-business candidates and initiatives. Prior to his firms, Trey gained experience having led the political operations of the National Association of Realtors. While at NAR, he was responsible for planning and implementation for the raising and distributing all political funds, as well as the Association’s grassroots and issue advocacy efforts. During this tenure, he was recognized for growing the Realtor’s Political Action Committee to the largest business political committee in the nation. A station it continues to hold. Trey began his career in the political division of the Oklahoma Republican Committee in 1986 under Congressman and then-Chairman Tom Cole. There, he led field operations for special elections, congressional and gubernatorial campaigns. Upon leaving the Realtors, he continued his political career path to the 2000 and 2004 Bush/Cheney Presidential campaigns and the Republican National Committee where he raised and managed online finance activities for the efforts. He is a veteran campaign fundraiser having led finance and strategy teams for numerous presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and legislative candidates. His firms have been recognized with 104 national advertising and television awards in the last ten years for issue advocacy, electioneering and fundraising campaigns. Trey has been named as one of the “Top Political Leaders in America” by Campaigns and Elections Magazine and has received numerous awards for association and corporate government affairs programming from the American Society of Association Executives. He serves in various positions for the American Association of Political Consultants, Association of Fundraising Professionals, American Society of Association Executives, National Association of Business PACs, and Public Relations Society of America. Trey is a highly quoted media source and speaker on advocacy operations, campaign finance, and compliance for hundreds of news outlets and trade associations. He is also a prolific writer and publisher of numerous articles, research studies and whitepapers on the political economy, electioneering, public affairs, and the business of political and advocacy consulting.
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