District|File is an invitation-only social networking site for politicos. The site boasts a bipartisan roster of high level political professionals, both in Washington, D.C. and around the world. Our membership includes Capitol Hill staffers and Members of Congress, senior operatives from state and federal governments, campaigns, lobbying shops, media, think tanks, the World Bank, Wall Street, and even the EU Parliament.
District|File has members from around the world and almost 30% of its roster is international. The goal of DF is to connect political professionals in Washington, D.C. and the United States with their peers across the country and abroad.
The DistrictFile story…
DistrictFile: a private social club for the political jet set
DistrictFile is not so much secret as it is private.
The social website was founded by Amir Oveissi, former aide to the Senate Republican Policy Committee and graduate of the London School of Economics. As an aide working on Capitol Hill, he realized the need to connect politically with people not just in Washington but around the world. He spent portions of his life overseas in Europe the Mideast and North Africa, completing a master’s degree at the London School of Economics. While there, he connected with politicos who often returned to their home countries to work in politics.
Like Oveissi, they were the political jet set.
“I wanted to create a private club of sorts to connect all these people socially,” he says. “I found myself always travelling overseas and wanted to meet other people involved in politics.”
In the early stages of the creation of DistrictFile, Oveissi began convening political friends on the second Thursday of each month over drinks or coffee in undisclosed locations in Washington and New York.
“We wanted to keep this group exclusive,” he says, explaining the group discovered a low-key online presence to stay connected.
Oveissi soon met Jason Roe, managing partner for Revolvis Consulting and former chief of staff to Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.). They agreed on the necessity of a social politics club, a United Nations for political types. To keep things balanced, Roe brought longtime friend Peter Mirijanian, a democratic strategist on board.
The emphasis of DistrictFile is global. Pivotal aspects are privacy and exclusivity for its members, who, while not movie stars, are accustomed to a fishbowl existence they’d sometimes like to escape. You can’t just get in by watching CNN or having an interest in politics. Members include politicians here and abroad, longtime Capitol Hill aides, American and foreign journalists and political people globally.
Getting in isn’t ever a sure thing and membership can be rescinded at any time if a person violates adequate ethics as it pertains to the site. Trusted members are invited. The degree of trust allows for varying levels of invitation rights.
“Not every member has them,” assures Oveissi.
DistrictFile 2.0, the site’s upgraded platform, launched in November 2009. The platform includes a variety of venues for members to chat about politics. The site features a magazine that is edgy in concept and international in scope, incorporating such topics as: political personalities, topics of the day, sex, travel and political exclusives.