PEOPLE

People

Fri. Jun 27, 2008


RECORD HIRE. The Recording Industry Association of America has hired Alexandrine De Bianchi as a director of federal government relations. De Bianchi joins Michael Platt, another recent government relations hire at RIAA. De Bianchi and Platt will work as advocates for the music industry on intellectual property rights and telecommunications issues before Congress and federal agencies. De Bianchi says she enjoys “being able to debate issues that I am passionate about” and describes herself as a “people person.” De Bianchi has worked as senior legislative assistant for Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., a member of the Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee. She has also served as an analyst at Dittberner Associates and an intern at the FCC. De Bianchi grew up in Maplewood, N.J. While she was earning her undergraduate degree at Rochester Institute of Technology, De Bianchi interned for a lobbying firm during a semester in Washington. Out of college, she worked on fundraising for the brief 2000 Senate campaign of former Rep. Peter Kostmayer, D-Pa. De Bianchi moved to Washington and worked as a legislative assistant for Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., and earned a master’s degree from George Mason University during that time. Platt came over to RIAA from TechNet earlier this year, which he joined in February 2007. Platt has served as legislative director for Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and was an aide for former Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark.

LAND MANAGER. Bill Hartwig, the former chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a new senior adviser with Dawson & Associates, a lobbying and consulting firm that specializes in water and natural resources. Also joining Dawson & Associates is Estus Whitfield, a former policy coordinator and chief environmental adviser for Florida governors.

by Winter Casey