The Gadfly: Cutting Edge Expert

The Gadfly:

Cutting Edge Expert

By Mike McCarville

A few years back, while counseling Mick Cornett during one of his campaigns, I met a young man named Ryan Cassin, at the time working for Wilson Research Strategies. Ryan was the computer guru, the guy who knew just about everything about anything dealing with computers and the Internet.

Ryan subsequently became political director of Senator Jim Inhofe’s 2008 reelection campaign, where he grew the campaign’s email list from 6,000 to over 175,000 opt-in members. This list of supporters from over 13,000 zip codes across the country raised over $100,000 for the campaign online. The Inhofe campaign was regarded as one of the most successful campaigns to merge online and offline activism in the 2008 cycle, thanks in large part to Ryan's expertise.

Ryan then moved south, where he managed Lt. Governor Casey Cagle’s reelection campaign in Georgia. That campaign was widely recognized for its integrated new media efforts and voter contact strategy. He also worked in the 2010 cycle for newly-elected Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, creating a platform that fueled the campaign’s grassroots and field programs.

For a long time, Ryan has realized the tremendous potential of the Internet. His start began by developing software that millions across the world use to access the Internet every day. At age 14, Ryan was hired by Netscape Communications as their youngest software engineer ever. There, he helped develop the Netscape web browser and is a credited developer of Mozilla Firefox.
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A pioneer in political mobile application development, Ryan designed and deployed an iPhone-based field program for a Congressional candidate in the 2010 cycle that powered over 85,000 targeted voter contacts in six months.

Now, Ryan and some partners have put together a new media cutting edge firm, Connect+, that specializes in using the Internet to design materials and strategies and propel campaigns in the digital age.

I relate Ryan's story for a couple of reasons; first, because of his Oklahoma roots, and second, because he's saved my bacon on many occasions, the latest just last week when this site went crazy and I yelled at him for help, which he gave almost immediately and fixed the problem. It's been the same way in the past.

With this background, you can understand why, if you ever are in need of such services, I recommend you call Ryan first at (404) 448-1475.

You can check out the firm's bonafides at www.connectstrategic.com.

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