Friday Round Up
#Weekend
Awesome events: Fall Out Boy and other artists are in town for Stay Amped – a concert to end gun violence – ahead of March for Our Lives tomorrow; Here’s a handy guide to navigating around the city this weekend; Take a trip across the pond to Amsterdam without even leaving the District. The Park at CityCenterDC will be featuring 40,000 tulips that will have you forgetting it snowed literally two days ago; Tulips aren’t the only flowers in the spotlight – DC officially kicks off the National Cherry Blossom Festival at Warner Theatre on Sunday; For those that would rather ring in spring by destroying their socks to make room for boat shoes and flip flops, you can do you at the Annapolis Oyster Roast & Sock Burning; We’re still trying to regain consciousness after our breath was taken away by JT last weekend, but Demi Lovato is in town and her performance might cause similar side effects.
#Sponsored
ROUNDUP PRESENTED BY
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#TheGist By NJI Media
The cherry blossoms are playing hard to get – and it’s working. Here’s #TheGist on what goes into planning for – and around – the most wonderful time of the year 
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#NewsYouCanUse
This Police Department in Pennsylvania is over traffic reports; Georgetown’s newest bar is the reason people will be spending lots of money at Church; Congrats DC! You’re a super cool place to visit!; The creators of the “Beach” are bringing you a Fun House this summer; College to Congress is bringing the next generation of America’s decision makers to DC; Even if you don’t like Peeps, they make for good craft projects; Watch out world, there’s a new kid on the tech block; Wanna be on the VIP list for Wizards watch parties and other events? Check out ways to be a part of the Monumental Sports Network here.
#FamousForDC
Check out Abby Sevcik, Maddie Dun, and Robert Rubama’s amazing new music video – local talent recorded at the Carnegie Institute on P; Adam Harbison slayed the “We the People DC” insta on Wednesday’s non-snow day; Congrats Luke Hatzis on your new zipcode!; Looking forward to seeing Eric Nedd in Galveston; Ask Teddy Prill why he’s smiling so much this week; Ryan Hill is here, there and everywhere; Congrats to the NFPRHA on a successful gala; Eric Willson ain’t holding back; Did Wednesday’s snowfall meet Chrys Kefalas’ expectations?; We’re friends of the pod and flip cup; Never again will we forget Emily Miller; Does the legendary Kevin Smith read this far down?; America Rising celebrates 5 years this week; Amber Marchand lost a school closings bet with us this week; Hello Seamus Kraft; Congratulate Neda Semnani on her pub date; Bryce Harper and the Nats play ball in 7 days; Congrats Sarah Gunion!; Is Lauren Pratapas dating Justin Timberlake? We ALL saw him singing to her Sunday night….; Have you told Ryan Grim happy birthday today?; Ask Neil Chatterjee about missed free throws; Elaina Plott with the scoop; Elizabeth Vincent finally got her snow day; Karina Carlson is a solo road trip pro; Hi Ethan Stackpole!; The Imperiale kiddos are good at snuggling; Go Audrey Henson!; Erin Ebert had a picturesque snow day; How many kids tore up the Capitol Hill slopes on Wednesday?; Sarah Demarest’s kids make snowmen that are bigger than they are – that is TALENT; Newt Gingrich knows how to use snowshoes and hashtags; We hope Tara Bauer’s brief moment of peace was made up of several brief moments; Did Sloane Bravo have the best first snow day or the cutest first snow day?; So what’s Jake Wilkins going to do with Logan Dobson’s money?; Ian Martorana KNOWS what’s up; A boat sounds nice, John Goodwin; Is Victoria Langton good at laser tag or REALLY good at laser tag?; Lauren Hagen got some facetime in Reuters; Mike Dunkle’s hobbies include carpentry and moving garage doors off of cars; Is Maria Davis ready to kick off the weekend with a soul-er eclipse?; Does Alex Gangitano read this far down?; We love Ann Snead and we can’t wait to tell her in person in APRIL!
#MakingMoves by S-3 Public Affairs
Congratulations to Caitlin Conant on her new role as Political Director of CBS News. Most recently, Conant was Executive Director of Communications at CBS following nearly a decade on Capitol Hill and on various presidential and Senate campaigns. #DoBigThings; After three years as a national political reporter at Politico, Gabriel Debenedetti is making moves to New York Magazine as a national correspondent. Before Politico, Debendetti also covered national politics for Reuters; TIME recently announced two additions to its White House team: LA Times White House reporter Brian Bennett joins as senior White House correspondent and TIMES’ own Tessa Berenson has been promoted to White House correspondent; After a decade with National Review, Kevin Williamson is making moves to The Atlantic as an Ideas columnist; Tom Berman is shifting roles at The Associated Press from deputy Europe editor to regional news director for the central United States; Previously an associate editor at The Atlantic, Clare Foran has joined CNN Politics as a breaking news writer; The Internet Association recently named Jordan Haas as its new director of trade and international policy. Haas comes from the International Trade Administration, where he most recently served as Director for the Office of Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs; Eric Rosen, most recently senior vice president for global government affairs at Herbalife, is rejoining Invariant to head its technology practice; Precision Strategies adds Julia Watts, most recently associate director of policy and campaigns at the American Sustainable Business Council, as principal, mobilization and campaign movement; From the ONE campaign, Rubio alum Sally Canfield is joining Definers Public Affairs as senior vice president; The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions welcomes Alex Gleason, former legislative assistant to Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), as associate director of legislative affairs; Michael Ambrosini and Katie Hrkman are the latest additions to Michel Best & Friedrich’s DC office. Ambrosini comes from Data Trust and Hrkman most recently was deputy director of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships; The National Marine Manufacturers Association adds Lance West, previously a legislative aide to Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WV) as a director of federal affairs; From FWD Communications, Jarad Geldner has joined H+K Strategies as director; CLS Strategies welcomes Chris Beatty and Michael Amato as managing directors in its public affairs, crisis and international communications practices. Beatty comes from KRL International and Amato most recently served as communications director at the Office of Personnel Management; Christine Heenan, founder and president of the Clarendon Group, is joining the Rockefeller Foundation as vice president for policy, partnerships and communications; At Comcast, Mitch Rose has been promoted to senior vice president of congressional and federal government affairs; The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association adds Laura Hylden Henry, most recently the PAC lead for the American College of Radiology, as its new PAC and political director; Executive Director for media relations at strategic marketing at AEI Judy Mayka Stecker has a new role as assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS; At DHS, Tyler Houlton is shifting roles from acting press secretary to press secretary/deputy assistant secretary for public affairs; And finally, congratulations to Mickey Sundermann, who is leaving Sen. Grassley’s (R-IA) office to be digital director for Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s congressional campaign
#Birthdays
Famous birthday wishes to Wolf Blitzer, Rebecca Spicer, Queen Sarah Fritz, Grafton Pritchartt, Ken Spain, Andy Moskowitz, Charles Cooper, Alex Smith, Clinton Yates, Pat Manion, Andrew Rafferty, Chris Taylor, Kathryn Lopez, Ryan Grim, Tara Maller, Patrick Nevins, Courtney Lamie, Johnny DeStefano, Matt Margolis, Anna Liddicoat, Jessica Haese, Justin Ailes, Caitlyn Goodman, Wells Ellenberg, Matt Lira, Ali Napolitano, Dejan Pavlovic, Megan McCoskey, Lauren Cricchi, Tyler Harned, Marc Marriott, Nicole Pratt, Ismail Tekin, Thomas Maxwell, Jim Vorndran, Will Marty!; Scott Lazarus and Stefanie O’Brien!
#BYE
Where you at, spring?
