About Us

Founded in 2004, BuzzMaker specializes in full service eCampaign management and online advertising. From building websites, to providing advocacy technology, to maximizing online fundraising, to growing your supporter base, we provide our clients with winning internet campaigns.

BuzzMaker is an award-winning political consulting firm. We’ve won seventeen Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) for outstanding campaign websites and online advertisements, including a Pollie for the Best International Internet Campaign. We've won one and been named a finalist for two additional Reed Awards sponsored by Campaigns & Elections magazine. And, our President was named to Aristotle's Democratic Campaign Dream Team (2010) and was named a “Rising Star” in political consulting by Campaigns & Elections magazine (2006).

BuzzMaker is a member of the American Association of Political Consultants and the International Association of Political Consultants. We are a minority owned firm.

Pollie Awards

Known as the "Oscars of Political Advertising," the Pollie Awards are the national showcase of Political and Public Affairs excellence hosted each year by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC).

  • Silver, Best International Candidate Campaign Radio Ad
  • Silver, Best Candidate Website Landing Page
  • Silver, Best Statewide State/Local Organization Website
  • Silver, Best Statewide Down Ballot Candidate Website
  • Silver, Best Local Government Website
  • Bronze, Best Facebook Application
  • Bronze, Best International Candidate Internet Campaign
  • Bronze, Best Candidate Logo
  • Bronze, Best Local/Municipal/Regional Candidate Online Advertising Campaign
  • Bronze, Best Blog – Ballot Campaigns
  • Bronze, Best U.S. House Candidate Website
  • Bronze, Best U.S. House Candidate Website
  • Honorable Mention, Best Statewide Down Ballot Candidate Website
  • Honorable Mention, Best Candidate Landing Page
  • Honorable Mention, ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’ Website
  • Honorable Mention, Best U.S. Senate Candidate Online Ad
  • Honorable Mention, Best U.S. House Candidate Website - Democrat

Reed Awards

Sponsored by Campaigns & Elections magazine, The Reeds recognize excellence in campaign management, political consulting and political design.

  • Winner, Best Website: Congressional
  • Finalist, Best Online Fundraising
  • Finalist, Best International Campaign Website
  • Finalist, Best Online Advertising Targeting
  • Finalist, Best Online Advertising for Grassroots Mobilization
  • Finalist, Best International Campaign Website
  • Finalist, Best Use of Email / Viral Marketing
  • Finalist, Best Use of Social Networking Technology

Rachel Maddow "Award"

Rachel Maddow on a BuzzMaker campaign: "That's the political tactical innovation of the day. I don't give awards, but, if I did, you'd win that one." (17 August 2011)

Leadership

BuzzMaker is a consortium of a dozen top designers, developers, videographers and online political operatives led by Matt McMillan and Clinton Herget.

Matthew A. McMillan

Matthew Alvarez McMillan is the President of BuzzMaker, a firm he founded in 2004 to provide a unique brand of high touch, full service eCampaign management to Democratic candidates and progressive organizations. He has won seventeen Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants, including a Pollie for the Best International Internet Campaign. He was named to Aristotle's Democratic Campaign Dream Team (2010) and was named a "Rising Star" in political consulting by Campaigns & Elections magazine (2006). He sits on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC).

Mr. McMillan is an expert in political new media strategy, specializing in online advertising, messaging and communications. He's harnessed the power of online advertising to reach tens of millions of voters and used it to compel over 1 million people to take action. He's helped clients quadruple their email lists and raise several million dollars online.

A skilled writer, Mr. McMillan has ghost written on behalf of leaders including President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Governor Bill Richardson, Governor Howard Dean, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, James Carville and several foreign leaders.

Internationally, Mr. McMillan has brought his unique brand of full service eCampaign management to serve political leaders in the Caribbean, South America, Central Asia and Europe. Domestically, he has worked in campaigns at all levels - from city council to U.S. Senate – in two dozen states. In addition to his electoral work, he has provided web strategy for some of America's leading unions and advocacy organizations including Working America, the Center for American Progress Action Fund and MoveOn.org.

In early 2007, Mr. McMillan took a leave of absence from BuzzMaker to serve as the Deputy to the Chief Technology Officer on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign. He has also served as the lead online writer for the Campaign for America's Future and as an account manager and writer at a leading Democratic direct mail firm.

Mr. McMillan holds a bachelor's degree in political science and history from Columbia University. In college, he was ranked among the top ten collegiate debaters in North America.

Clinton Herget

Clinton Herget is a web architect and technical consultant working primarily in the progressive political advocacy space. He currently serves as BuzzMaker's Chief Technologist.

A specialist in the rapid deployment of Web 2.0 technologies to support grassroots campaigns, Mr. Herget has a deep understanding of open-source software and its impact on advocacy. He is a contributor to the Drupal project, a modular platform for online community development. During the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, he engineered web solutions to support dozens of local, state, and national campaigns, serving millions of daily pageviews.

In addition to his work in the political advocacy, Mr. Herget has co-founded or played a lead technical role in a number of web startups, including Razume.com, an online resume review service which was named one of a dozen finalist companies in the 2008 LaunchBox Digital competition, and Changents.com, a social media site aimed at the agents of global change.

Mr. Herget holds a bachelor's degree in Government from the College of William & Mary.

Marcy Rye

Marcy Rye is the lead creative consultant to BuzzMaker. Over the past decade, work under her creative direction has won numerous Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants and in January 2010 she was selected from a group of over 70 applicants to be one of 12 design partners with DesigNYC — a group working to improve life in New York City by connecting non-profits with selected design resources.

Ms. Rye's expertise is in brand strategy and marketing; specializing in non-profit and corporate branding, creative concept development, and both print and online communications strategies. She grew a small anti-fur campaign for the Humane Society into an international success that received coverage in major design magazines and support from celebrities such as designer Todd Oldham and actress Amy Smart. Her unique blend of creative and political education resulted in creative direction for various direct mail campaigns that was instrumental in winning back the Colorado House in 2006.

A talented design technologist, Ms. Rye's expertise results in unique and truly effective online communications strategies for websites and ad campaigns that put the emphasis on ease-of-use and getting results, while her branding methods help clients achieve a memorable and unique brand presence. She has focused her efforts on working with organizations that work to improve people's lives, such as political and non-profit groups, arts and cultural organizations, and businesses that emphasize sustainability or concern for quality of life.

Ms. Rye holds a Master of Fine Arts in Design and Technology from Parsons The New School for Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She designed the course syllabus and taught website design & technology courses for over seven years at the New School University for the Parsons Digital Design program, and the New School Online University. An active member of the National Association of Women Business Owners - Los Angeles, she currently serves on the Public Policy Committee.

Lindsay Marsh

Lindsay Marsh is a senior strategy consultant with BuzzMaker. She is a seasoned political operative, who has specialized in online and offline fundraising and finance operations for state, congressional and senate campaigns.

She has worked for Democratic candidates in New England, the Midwest, the South, the Great Plains, and the Southwest, but she fondly considers D.C. to be home. From field work to polling to online organizing and campaign management, Ms. Marsh has played critical roles in almost every aspect of the modern political race.

Prior to joining the BuzzMaker team, Ms. Marsh spent time fundraising in the field for Bob Lord’s 2008 Congressional race (AZ-3) and Scott Kleeb’s Senate race (NE), before returning to Washington, D.C. and honing her social media skills as a partner in an online strategy firm. In 2003, she cut her teeth on the presidential campaigns of Dick Gephardt in Iowa and Wesley Clark in Missouri and New Mexico. In between, she worked for Lake Research Partners and Momentum Analysis, conducting surveys and focus groups across the country. In her spare time, Ms. Marsh mentors young women entering politics and enjoys another kind of race – triathlons.

Ms. Marsh holds a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and a master’s degree in Political Management, both from the George Washington University.

Mike Nellis

Mike Nellis is an experienced online political operative currently serving as a senior strategy consultant with BuzzMaker. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Online Director for the Kansas Democratic Party. In just six months at the KDP, he tripled the size of the party's email list and grew the party's social media contacts by over 200%.

Mr. Nellis has worked for several statewide political candidates, managed communications for an advocacy organization and co-managed a successful city council race in a tough year for Democrats. He also founded the online movement that successfully drafted Scott Kleeb into an open seat U.S. Senate in Nebraska in 2008 and served on Kleeb's campaign.

Mike is an avid Notre Dame football fan and dreams of coaching I-A football.

Victor Richardson

Victor Richardson is a senior strategy consultant focusing on Caribbean politics. He specializes in management consulting, field systems development, advertising creative development and communications. He has worked with several Prime Ministers, politicians and political parties in the Caribbean and Brazil.

Mr. Richardson is also a contributor to Caribarena.com and serves as an expert political commentator on Antigua’s ABS Television. Prior to relocating to Antigua, Mr. Richardson served on Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign and as a White House intern.

Mr. Richardson graduated summa cum laude from Howard University and received a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University. A dual citizen of Antigua & Barbuda and the United States, Mr. Richardson currently resides in Antigua.

Stephen Yellin

Stephen Yellin is a junior strategy associate based in New Jersey, where he graduated summa cum laude from Drew University with a B.A. in History. He is currently earning a Masters' degree in Communications and Information Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Stephen has an extensive background as an Internet blogger, including writing as a front-page columnist for DailyKos.com and being the youngest credentialed reporter at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He has contributed work to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and has been featured in numerous publications for his efforts, including the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Guardian, Wired Magazine and Salon.com.

Stephen has also advised Democratic candidate across the country in Internet outreach and communication strategies, including past and present Democratic Party members of Congress. He put that advice to good use by getting himself elected to the Union County, New Jersey Democratic Committee at the age of 19, where he currently serves as Secretary of his local Democratic Party organization. In addition to his political work, Stephen has a wide variety of literary achievements, including award-winning academic papers, plays and poetry.

Elliott Blufer

Elliott Blufer is a junior strategy associate based in Maryland.

Prior to joining BuzzMaker, he worked as an intern for Congresswoman Laura Richardson, where he played a role in shaping her human rights policy, and as a web designer, where he worked primarily on websites for educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

A native of California, Elliott chose to attend the University of Maryland so that he could get a first-hand view of the political landscape in nearby Washington, DC. At the University, he has spent time studying youth political apathy and involvement as a member of the Honors Humanities program. He will graduate in 2013 with a B.A. in Government & Politics.

Warren McQuinn

Warren McQuinn is a junior strategy associate based in California. Prior to joining BuzzMaker, he worked as an intern at Trilogy Interactive.

He is currently a student at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Cognitive Science and Linguistics.

Home