Chuck DeFeo is CEO and President of Connell Donatelli. He oversees all new media communications planning and advertising on behalf of political, corporate, and public affairs clients. Connell Donatelli specializes in online strategy, fundraising, advertising, and social media.

For over a decade DeFeo has been innovating at the intersection of politics, media and the Internet. He most recently served as General Manager for Interactive and Social Media at The Washington Times. DeFeo was Vice President and General Manager of Townhall.com and Salem News-Talk Online from 2005 through 2008, overseeing a network of 36 talk radio and blogging web properties. Under his leadership, Townhall.com grew to the largest conservative community site in America with over 2 million monthly unique visitors, 9,000 bloggers, and an email list of 800,000.

DeFeo is best known for his groundbreaking work in 2003-2004 as eCampaign Manager for Bush-Cheney ’04, where he oversaw the development of the 7.2 million person email list and managed the online effort for the President’s reelection effort. He served in a similar capacity with the Republican National Committee during the 2002 Election. DeFeo spent much of his career in policy and technology roles for Senator and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

This interview was conducted on June 9th at 10:00am and has been edited for clarity.

10:05 AM Anna Curran: You worked as the eCampaign manager for Bush Cheney '04. From that perspective, what was it like watching this past election cycle seeing the innovations in Internet operations and online strategy? What did you expect to see? And what were you surprised by?

10:14 AM Chuck DeFeo: A lot of the innovations that we pioneered in the 2004 cycle like the friend to friend tools, the walk lists with maps and directions, the house parties, online phone banking were refined in 2008 but not re-engineered by either side. What was more powerful this time around though was the ability to combine those tools with social media. In 2004 we were dependent on our own organizations to build online databases of supporters. In 2008, those same tactics and tools could be combined with Facebook and other social media that either didn't exist in 2004 or hadn't reached critical mass yet. The result for the Obama campaign was and is a much larger scale and sustainable grassroots organization.

10:17 AM Anna Curran: Chuck, you just recently joined Connell Donatelli as president and CEO. You will be overseeing media communications planning and advertising on for political, corporate, and public affairs clients. Can you tell us about your professional background and how you came to be billed as a "Campaign & Social Web Expert [who] Looks to Grow Center-Right Activism?"

10:27 AM Chuck DeFeo: I have been very fortunate to work in management positions for political campaigns from state senate candidates to presidential campaigns. I know very well the metrics and goals that drive political campaigns. For the last few years with Townhall.com and talk radio, I have worked to build online community and debate. And most recently at The Washington Times I worked with Six Apart, the makers of Movable Type, to integrate the social web into their blogging platforms. There is a great dialogue happening across the social web that can and should be better integrated into the blogosphere. I am excited to combine these two experiences in my new role.

After two cycles of tough losses, the Republican Party is searching to better define itself for the voting public and re-establish the ideas and principles that define us. As we better define who we are and what we believe, we will be positioned to win elections and lead again. The social web and new media is critical to finding these ideas that resonate and carrying them to the voting public.

10:31 AM Anna Curran: You serve on the board of MeetUp.com's Politics and Governance Advisory Council. Can you tell our readers about the group and its mission? What are some of the interesting things that you have been able to accomplish as a group?

10:38 AM Chuck DeFeo:I have a lot of admiration for Scott Heiferman and the team at MeetUp.com. While most people looked at the Internet and its potential to connect people across the globe, Scott was one of the few that recognized its ability to reconnect people to their local community. Tip O'Neil's adage that "all politics is local," still holds true because elections still happen offline, and every individual's voting booth is just down the street from their home. MeetUp was and is one of few web tools focused on creating and strengthening those offline, local relationships that political campaigns thrive on.

10:40 AM Anna Curran:  Who inspires you? And what motivates you to work in this field?

10:47 AM Chuck DeFeo: Every where I go, every person I meet, I keep in the back of my mind the same question,"what am I learning here or what can this person teach me?" I learn from the people I encounter and that's one of the reason's why I appreciate PdF. No one has a monopoly on knowledge and I never want to stop learning. So I get inspired by A LOT of people and why I so strongly believe in the social web.

I stay in the field of politics because ideas matter. There is nothing like working for a cause that you believe in and are willing to sacrifice for. I spent a good part of my career working for Senator and Attorney General Ashcroft. Something he told me once was, when you wake up in the morning you should ask yourself, "Who do you serve? Yourself or others?"

How you answer that question will tell you if you are on the right track or not. Regardless if you like his politics or not, he really is a great man.

10:57 AM Anna Curran: Were there other life lessons that he taught you?

10:58 AM Chuck DeFeo: Oh sure, but that is a much longer conversation...

11:01 AM  Anna Curran: Ok, well save those for our next interview. For now, I do have one last question... What is your favorite book of all time? Why?

11:01 AM Chuck DeFeo:I know I am supposed to say the Tipping Point, or what ever Seth Godin's latest book is, or something political like What it Takes but there is still one book that I still enjoy more than others. Its a classic. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. And I like both endings.

Making something out of nothing and over coming the adversity that is life.

11:03 AM Anna Curran: Do you see yourself in that narrative?

11:04 AM Chuck DeFeo: I think every person that strives should see something of themselves in that narrative.

11:05 AM  Anna Curran: Actually, one more thing. I understand that your wife just had a baby... A Girl?

11:07 AM  Chuck DeFeo: Yes. Layna Ann DeFeo.  Layna is greek for truth and light.She looks like my grandmother whose name was Ann. She is doing great. She is holding at around 6 pounds, but she still has her days and nights mixed up. So she is keeping Mom and Dad up a lot at night. She was born Friday, May 29 at 2:47 pm EST. We hadn't picked a name yet so we spent all weekend working on it.

11:09 AM  Anna Curran: So she was named after she was born?

11:11 AM  Chuck DeFeo: Yep. Two days after she was born.

11:12 AM  Anna Curran: Wow! That must have been some pressure to come up with her name...