As our most generous donor on Giving Tuesday, last November, we wanted to take a moment and express our gratitude to long -time member, Adam Probolsky, President at Probolsky Research. Thank you, Adam–we appreciate your generosity and your dedication to improving the industry! Check out Adam’s full interview below:

AAPC: Tell us about yourself.
Adam: I am a pollster who knows his place at the strategy table. Having grown up in the political and public affairs world from an early age, I have done everything from manage campaigns to lobby to write direct mail. Since 2000 I have offered research exclusively. So, when I am on a conf. call or sitting in a strategy meeting I know the context of how my poll or focus group results integrate into the campaign. I can back up the consultant as appropriate, but I also know when to keep my mouth shut and let others shine – which is most of the time.

AAPC: As the largest donor to AAPC’s Foundation on Giving Tuesday, talk about your reasons for wanting to give back.
Adam: I have benefitted from the support of a handful of amazing mentors throughout my career and I always keep an open-door policy. I want to support the education of future professionals in this business. Also, keeping the government out of our business is critical, having an industry group is just as important for us as it is for any other profession.

AAPC: Any advice for those up and comers in the industry?
Adam: Don’t make assumptions. It may sound self-serving coming from a pollster who wants you to spend on high-quality research at every turn, but I have seen a trend among some newer industry player to heavily rely on social media listening or other overly broad research tools. They could be effective on a national scale, but not at the District-level or more local.

AAPC: What’s on the horizon for Probolsky Research in the new year?
Adam: Growth and innovation. We are hiring new research analysts to support our growing government and public affairs practice areas. And we always innovate. We never compromise on methodology, but we also never sit idle – we are constantly testing new techniques, new products and improving how we present our data. Example: infographics and video – we are now offering both as a way to illustrate our research results and make them more actionable.

AAPC: Any lessons learned from 2017 you want to share?
Adam: It was easy to get caught up in the hype that consumed national news coverage in this Trumpian era. But we chose not to lose sight of the thousands of local and regional campaigns, government clients and public affairs efforts where national politics had little or no impact.

See the interview on the American Association of Political Consultants website here.