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Sean Garrett

Partner, 463 Communications

Sean maintains a close watch on emerging technology trends and how they intersect with society and public policy. He has been an active participant in important technology industry developments since managing communications for a 1996 California initiative campaign that, for the first time, brought key Silicon Valley leaders together for a political cause.

In 2004, Sean achieved a long-time goal of co-founding a senior-level communications firm with 463's launch. He brings 20 years of communications experience to the firm and helps clients develop creative corporate leadership campaigns, reputation management programs and innovative social media efforts. 463 represents companies and organizations including, among others, Skype, Cisco, Sun, the top executive industry policy group TechNet, the Consumer Electronics Association and the non-profits Center for Democracy and Technology and the Advisory Board to the Congressional Internet Caucus from both its Palo Alto and Washington, DC office.

Sean gained in-house experience when he ran communications for the Web 1.0 online music company Listen.com from pre-launch to the heights of more than $120 million in funding and support from all five big music labels and public figures such as Madonna. During that time, Sean managed a team and helped position Listen as a leading voice in the evolvement of digital music that gained consistent media coverage as diverse as Rolling Stone, MTV, the Wall Street Journal, CNET and the Bay Guardian. Eventually, Sean also had the experience of managing Listen communications through more troubled times as it faced the impact of Napster and the dot com implosion. (Listen is now Rhapsody under Real Networks).

Prior to 463, Sean was a Vice President at Applied Communications and then Bite Communications after the firm acquired Applied and ran both multi-million dollar accounts and work with start-ups like Plaxo. In 1997, he helped launch TechNet to significant national media attention and, working directly with John Doerr, ran PR for the group for two years while at Alexander Communications. Sean split his time between California politics and working on political and corporate efforts in the former Soviet Union between 1990 and 1996 - ranging from two years on California Governor Pete Wilson's communications team to helping a political party in Lithuania during the nation's first free parliamentary election.

Sean has also consistently been involved in debates about technology policy and societal trends through "The 463" blog and as a speaker at conferences.

He earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. Sean lives in San Francisco with his wife Chantel and his daughter Calla.

Appearances

Biography last updated November 2007