2010 Event Speakers

Keynote Speaker


David Plouffe

Exclusively Represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau

David Plouffe was the campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. After winning the election on Nov. 4, President-elect Obama credited Plouffe in his acceptance speech, calling him "the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the ... best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America."

Plouffe is credited with the campaign's successful overall strategy in the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. He was credited by The New Republic for Obama's success in the Iowa caucus and for crafting an overall strategy to prolong the primary past Super Tuesday. The Chicago Tribune writes, "Plouffe was the mastermind behind a winning strategy that looked well past Super Tuesday's contests on Feb. 5 and placed value on large and small states." Plouffe also maintained discipline over communications in the campaign, including controlling leaks and releasing information about the campaign on its terms. Averse to publicity himself, Plouffe's control over the internal workings of the Obama campaign successfully avoided the publicly aired squabbles that frequently trouble other campaigns. Speaking to staff after the Inauguration, President Obama said that it was in this sense that Plouffe “embodied the entire spirit of the campaign, that culture that he set at the top ended up permeating everybody.”

The Obama/Biden presidential campaign, awarded the agency, GMMB, and campaign manager David Plouffe, both the Titanium and Integrated Grand Prix Awards from the International Advertising Festival (2009). The campaign won for the effort's digital savvy, its success in community-building and its willingness to allow the Obama brand to be created by consumers rather than top-down communications mandates. In May 2008, David Axelrod praised Plouffe, stating that he had "done the most magnificent job of managing a campaign that I've seen in my life of watching presidential politics. To start something like this from scratch and build what we have built was a truly remarkable thing."

Plouffe began his political career when he went to work for Senator Tom Harkin's 1990 re-election campaign. He later worked as a state field director for Harkin's unsuccessful 1992 presidential campaign. In the same year, he successfully managed Congressman John Olver's first re-election bid in western Massachusetts. In 1994, Plouffe managed Delaware Attorney General Charles M. Oberly's unsuccessful campaign against Senator William V. Roth. Plouffe then worked as campaign director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1995. In 1996, Plouffe managed Bob Torricelli's successful campaign to fill Bill Bradley's New Jersey seat in the United States Senate.


Master of Ceremonies


Horace Holmes

Horace Holmes is co-anchor of ABC 7/WJLA TV's weekend news and a weekday general assignment reporter. He also is the reporter for ABC 7’s 'Choose to Save' program.

Prior to joining ABC 7, Horace anchored the Morning Show for WMAR-TV in Baltimore. Before that, he was a reporter with WBTV-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Horace has received numerous journalism honors, including two Emmy Awards: One for his reporting on the post-September 11th re-opening of Reagan National Airport; and one for his work on a Choose to Save special program. Horace also has received awards from the Associated Press, Sigma Delta Chi, Med Chi, and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Horace is an active volunteer in the community, supporting Special Olympics and the Maryland Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy.