D.C.-Based Firm Launches DNC Convention Strategies, Partners with Charlotte Exec

Convention expo on Charlotte planned for October 24 in Washington

There’s business, and there’s politics. Then there’s the business of politics.

Conventions 2012, LLC, a Washington D.C.-based political convention firm, announced yesterday the formation of an expanded team for DNC Convention Strategies, a company that will provide convention services and produce events for corporations, nonprofit associations, and political organizations during the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Conventions 2012 is also the parent company of GOP Convention Strategies. With those two political party-specific companies, the firm is linking its resources and teams in D.C. with personnel in Charlotte and Tampa (host city of the 2012 Republican National Convention).

In Charlotte, DNC Convention Strategies is being led by Kathryn Blanchard, a native Charlottean who’s worked in public relations for twenty-five years. She founded Crown Communications in 1993 and it’s one of Charlotte’s leading PR firms. 

According to a press release, other leadership for DNC Convention Strategies includes: Anne Saunders Fabry, a veteran of Washington Democratic politics; Michael Lewan, a former Capitol Hill senior staff member who is now a government relations advocate with Brown Rudnick; Mark Lindsay, a long-time Democratic leader who has served on President Obama’s transition team, currently affiliated with the Livingston Group; and LeeAnn Petersen, a government relations professional and producer of large scale convention events since 1996, including Convention Baseball, LLC.

The formation of this group illustrates the strategic approaches in which companies are going after business opportunities for next year’s conventions—in Charlotte and Tampa. I wonder, though, if the name of this private firm will cause confusion in that some people might assume it’s a division of the actual Democratic National Convention Committee. But we’ll likely see variations of "DNC" used by several startups in the coming year. Darrell Henry, co-founder of Conventions 2012, touts that his is “the only group that has a local on-the-ground presence at both conventions.”

Conventions 2012 will host an expo on Charlotte in Washington D.C. on October 24 to bring Charlotte vendors and venues together with Washington-based organizations seeking to be active at the DNC convention. Registration for the expo is $200.

For more details, visit conventions2012.com.