Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, NJ, was the keynote speaker at Affiliate Summit East 2008, which took place in Boston on August 10-12, 2008.
I would guess it was one of the more unique introductions Mayor Booker has gotten, as he was introduced by the Blue Man Group.
Cory delivered what still stands as my favorite keynote in ten years of Affiliate Summit (watch the video of the Cory Booker keynote at Affiliate Summit), and he literally left many of the folks in the crowd with tears in their eyes from his moving, inspirational talk.
One of the stories he told was of a woman named Virginia Jones who had a big impact on him as he started his political career in Newark.
The following spring after the conference, he took over control of his Twitter account from his staff and has since become the standard of how a politician can connect with their constituents online.
In addition to making all sorts of positive changes in Newark, NJ, he has also done some things, such as rushing into a burning building to rescue people, which resulted in jokes that Cory Booker is a super hero.
But I think he’s simply a guy that terribly wants to change things for the better, and now he’s heading towards the end of his second term as Mayor.
He hasn’t formally kicked off his campaign for U.S. Senate, but Booker has raised nearly $2 million, and it seems likely he will throw his hat in.
That said, there would still be the matter of a tough primary in NJ, so there is a long road ahead of him.