User talk:Celinerosey

Andrew Rasiej (May 7th, 1958) is a New York-based social entrepreneur and technology strategist. A recognized pioneer at the intersection of technology and politics, Rasiej most notably founded Personal Democracy Media, which produces both the annual conference Personal Democracy Forum and the award winning blog TechPresident. Rasiej is the chairman of New York Tech Meetup and Senior Technology Advisor to the Sunlight Foundation.

Early Childhood and Education
Andrew Rasiej was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and lived his early child in Bogota, New Jersey. while attending Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City with a degree in Fine Arts in 1980.

Early Career
In 1981, Rasiej began working in real estate development, first for Harry B. Macklowe and then In 1982 joined the Rouse Company, on the redevelopment of the South Street Seaport. Following the opening of South Street Seaport Market Place in 1983, he left The Rouse Company to work for Olympia and York, where he then helped in developing The World Financial Center. In 1989, with eight years of experience in commercial real estate Rasiej started a consulting practice advising nonprofits on real estate matters. One of his first clients was the Polish Army Veterans Association, which owned Irving Plaza, an old vaudeville theater that the veterans were hoping to convert into a cultural center. In 1990, as real estate recession hindered most redevelopment plans, Rasiej net leased Irving Plaza from the veterans and re-launched the theater as a state of the art music venue. For the next seven years From 1990 to 1999, he used his experience in real estate, business management, and his interest in Internet as a new marketing vehicle for live music to help transform Irving Plaza into one of New York City's premier rock venues.

In 1994, Rasiej and Michael Dorf co-founded the Macintosh New York Festival, which later became the Intel music festival, and which later became known as the New York Digital Music Festival. In 1995, Rasiej and Dorf founded Plug-In, the first digital music conference which brought together digital music pioneers and record executives to discuss and debate the future in digital distribution of music. In 1996, Rasiej, Dorf, and one of the founders of Digital Cities (link), Ted Werth founded Digital Club Network DCN, a live streaming and archiving service showcasing musical performances from approximately 30 of the most prominent live music venues in the country. DCN received early stage funding from Boston based Atlas Ventures (link) and was eventually acquired by eMusic Group.(link).

That same year, Andrew also founded the New York Nightlife Association, which helped to improve relationships between local nightclubs and neighborhood organizations. to counter of New York City Mayor Rudolf Guiliani’s publicly stated goal to harass the nightlife industry. (look for link)

Technology and Politics
In 1997, Andrew founded the non-profit MOUSE.org (Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education), which was his first project that demonstrated his belief that technology can promote and empower citizen engagement. The Mouse Project help brought the technology and education communities together and continues to train and provide under-served schools with the technology needed to inspire students to pursue careers in a 21st century web-based economy.

From 1999 to 2004, Andrew offered new media advice to political leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and Congressional Minority leader Dick Gephardt. The 2004 presidential candidate, Howard Dean along with his campaign manager Joe Trippi named Rasiej chairman of the Technology Advisory Committee for the Dean For America Campaign. He aided the Dean campaign by implementing digital media as a method for political fundraising, voter development and community building.

Shortly after his work on the Dean Campaign, Rasiej founded Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) with Micah Sifry— a cross-partisan conference series that analyzes technology and the impact it has overtime on politics and civic life. His attention to digital solutions that create a more open and accountable government extends to his position as senior technology advisor to the Sunlight Foundation.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Rasiej sought to mobilize volunteers to help with recovery efforts in New York City and proposed the idea of a national emergency technology corps providing better aid for future natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Working with Oregon's Senior Senator Ron Wyden, Andrew's lobbying efforts were combated when in 2002, Congress voted 97-0 to create the National Emergency Technology Guard (NET Guard), which was incorporated into the law creating the Department of Homeland Security.

Andrew ran for office for New York City Public Advocate in 2005. His platform in the Democratic primary supported inexpensive wireless internet for income communities and increased access to city controlled data.

In 2010, Andrew was appointed Chairman of NY Tech Meetup, a 33,000 member organization that supports and promotes the growth of technology start ups. He is a member on the board of directors at POPTECH the annual conference that unites social innovators, along with several other tech firms and non-profits.


 * Andrew coined such terms as: We-Government, Voter-Generated Content, and Videracy, to help describe our expanding digitally connected world"**

Associations

 * Chairman of NY Tech Meetup, a 24,000-member organization for technology entrepreneurs and enthusiasts.


 * Founder of MOUSE.org, a not for profit organization focused on enhancing the technology curriculum in under-served public schools.


 * Senior Technology Advisor to the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington DC based organization that uses technology to help make government more transparent


 * Co-Founder of Mideastwire.com, which translates Arab and Farsi news pieces into English.


 * Founder of Irving Plaza, a historic live music ballroom/venue in the Gramercy neighborhood of New York City.


 * Founder of Digital Club Network, the first live music streaming and archiving channel on the internet.


 * Founder of the New York Nightlife Association, which promoted the economic vibrancy of hundreds of clubs and live music venues in New York City.


 * Co-Editor of Rebooting America, a volume of essays on democracy in the 21st century by leading technology experts from around the world.


 * Co-Founder and Publisher of TechPresident an award-winning group blog that covers how activists and candidates are using the web.


 * Member of the Board of Directors of www.poptech.com, an annual social innovation conference


 * Recipient of the 2011 Dream Big Award, which recognizes the vital role that New York's business community plays in inspiring young people


 * Recipient of the eDemocrary 2008 Award, which


 * Has appeared as a technology expert on major media channels including CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, FOX, BBC, SKY News, and the Daily Show.

In 1999 he was the recipient of the prestigious David Rockefeller Fellowship Program administered by the New York City Partnership.