John Hlinko is a frequent pundit on CNN, Fox, and other places, and the author of the recently released book, Share, Retweet, Repeat: Get Your Message Read and Spread, ranked by Amazon.com as the # 1 “hot new release” in both the “web marketing” and “retail” categories. Hlinko is also the founder of Left Action, a network of over 1,000,000 activists, built primarily through viral marketing.
Hlinko has been long recognized as an innovator and “Buzz Czar” on the grassroots marketing front, received numerous awards for his work, and been covered by nearly all the major broadcast and print news outlets. He has also been quoted as a grassroots expert in more than a dozen books ranging from “Power Public Relations” to “Burning at the Grassroots.” He has worked with some of the web’s biggest breakout viral success stories, starting with MoveOn.org in its earliest days, and continuing up to a “draft Obama” effort to build support for Barack Obama in advance of his presidential run.
From 2004 to 2009, John worked with Grassroots Enterprise, an online public affairs company, where he served as VP of Marketing and Creative Engagement, and later as President & CEO. Since then, John has launched his own social media consultancy, Hlinko Consulting, advising a range of clients, including PR firms, Fortune 500 companies, and national advocacy organizations.
In recognition of his work, PR Week named him as one of the top five “PR Professionals of the Year.” The American Association of Political Consultants awarded him its prestigious “Rookie of the Year” Pollie, an award for excellence in public affairs. In 2004, he was named one of the world’s top 25, “individuals, organizations and companies that are having the greatest impact on the way the Internet is changing politics,” by the World Forum on e-Democracy.
John was the founder of “DraftWesleyClark.com,” one of the most successful grassroots movements in American political history, and the 2004 “Golden Dot” winner for “Best Breakout/Impact Internet Movement.”
In 1998, he helped lead MoveOn.org, an anti-impeachment petition that generated over half a million signatures and several million dollars in donations, and redefined American democracy. John also is the creator of ActForLove.org, a dating site for activists that promises the opportunity to “take action, get action.”
John holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MA in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also came in second place at Valley Stream Central High School for “class clown.” But the guy who came in first ended up on Saturday Night Live, so cut him some slack, okay?
Hlinko lives in New York City.
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