Danielle Radovich Piper, chief of staff for Congressman Ed Perlmutter; Jen Rokala, former district director for former U.S. Sen. Mark Udall; and Rick Ridder, co-founder of RBI Strategies and Research, celebrate RBI’s 30 years in business Friday night at the Denver Beer Co. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
Political junkies on Friday night hopped between two events, a 30th-birthday party for RBI Strategies and Research and a going-away party for journalist Eli Stokols who is heading to the bright lights and dense humidity of D.C.
Among those spotted at both parties: Congressman Ed Perlmutter and his wife Nancy; state Rep. Dan Pabon of Denver; legal sage David Fine, who served as Denver city attorney before going into private practice; and every Democrat’s right-hand man, Alan Salazar, who works for Gov. John Hickenlooper.
State Rep. Dan Pabon and Denver Councilman Chris Nevitt at RBI’s birthday party Friday night. (Photo by Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
Rick Ridder and Joannie Braden in 1985 founded Ridder/Braden Inc. The firm recently received two “Pollie” — dubbed the Oscars of political advertising — from the American Association of Political Consultants.
RBI and Spot-On Ads were recognized jointly for their work on during the 2014 political season.
“We are pleased to again receive the industry’s highest honor,” Ridder said. “This is a part of a . When Joannie Braden and I started RBI 30 years ago, we didn’t even have Internet. And now, we’ve won awards for its use.”
The Ridder-Braden event began at 5:30 p.m. at the Denver Beer Co. on Platte Street, while Stokols soiree started an hour later at The Source on Brighton Boulevard, the same place where he hosted his weekly political affairs show. Stokols, who earlier this week attended a farewell luncheon from the Capitol Press Corps, .
While the RBI affair had a definite Democratic flair to it, Stokols’ event was attended by folks on both sides of the aisle, including former House speakers Mark Ferrandino, a Democrat, and Frank McNulty, a Republican.
