Dorchester native, 20, heading IT at convention
A lover of politics, 20-year-old Andrew Binns said he has been licking envelopes since he was 6. Having developed a specialty in technology with the help of a diploma from Boston Latin School and training at TechBoston, the Dorchester native is putting both to work.
He's the technology project manager at the FleetCenter for the Democratic National Convention. He oversees 12 staff workers and volunteers and the installation of more than 1,000 computers and Internet connections at the FleetCenter. He works with technology vendors
"It's a little bit of project management, a little bit of user support, and a little bit of moving boxes," Binns said, laughing. "Pretty much everything you don't see at the convention, I do."
His abilities show "maturity beyond his years," said Chris Gruin, Binns's supervisor. "I wish I would have had him when we started nine months ago. He really is my point person down there."
The blending of computing and campaigning runs in the family: His mother is involved in community activism and his father writes technology manuals. While attending Boston Latin School, he enrolled in TechBoston, an after-school program for public school students who want to learn and practice technology skills. Besides his normal course load, Binns took Web design and networking classes.
TechBoston began in 1998 as a state- and city-funded venture. Through the program, Binns designed websites and maintained networks for Boston public schools.
He continues to help Barbara Locurto, director of service learning, maintain Boston TeachNet, a website he designed as a sophomore.
"The website is dedicated to teaching public service, and his commitment to public service behind the scenes makes it happen," Locurto said.
After graduating from high school in 2002, Binns and four of his friends headed to San Diego, taking a year off after high school. Returning to Boston last August, Binns looked for a way to apply his technical skills. He found it with the primary campaign of John F. Kerry.
Starting as a phone-calling, envelope-stuffing volunteer, Binns soon proved his worth as a computer whiz.
"Something would go wrong, and I'd be walking by, and I would say I know how to fix it," he recalled. "One day the field director said, well, what else do you know?"
During these early, lagging days of the campaign, Binns was put in charge of creating a database to organize the burgeoning collection of area contacts and donors, so that volunteers could be mobilized more effectively, said Linda Tocci, Massachusetts state director of John Kerry for President.
"For a guy fresh out of high school, he was really able to step up to the plate," Tocci said.
Binns went on to establish computer networks in the New Hampshire and Maine primary offices. After it became clear Kerry would win the nomination, more specialized help was brought in. Binns's skills were put to use at convention committee headquarters and the FleetCenter.
"You really have to pay attention to detail, which is something I learned at TechBoston when I first started," he said. "It is all about detail, and [the convention] is just another instance of that only on a larger scale."
When the convention and the election are over, Binns plans to continue computing and campaigning in college, where he hopes to pursue a degree in computer science, while taking courses in political science.
"I think if you have someone who understands both politics and technology, you can really do some amazing work," he said.
