Tim Coco
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| birthname = Timothy John Coco
| name = Timothy John Coco
| image =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|04|30}}
| birth_place = Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Advertising agency executive
| spouse = Genesio Januario Oliveira, Jr. (2005–present)
| url =
| alma_mater = Lesley University (B.S.)
Northern Essex Community College
}}
Timothy John Coco (born April 30, 1961) is an American business executive, Internet radio pioneer and civil rights activist. He founded COCO+CO., Inc. in 1991 and continues to lead the advertising agency as president and chief executive officer. He gained international notoriety between 2007 and 2010 when he fought—ultimately successful—to be reunited with his same sex spouse when the United States' Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) separated them.{{cite news|title=Kerry Requests Asylum in Case of Gay Man| work=The New York Times | date=March 21, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/politics/22asylum.html?_r=0|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=6}}
Early life and education
Tim Coco was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Joseph, owner of a plumbing and heating company, and Annie, a homemaker.{{cite web|last1=Coco|first1=Tim|title=An old-time Yankee with an Italian name|url=http://www.cocoboston.com/newsletter/2013/11/an-old-time-yankee-with-an-italian-name/|website=www.cocoboston.com|publisher=COCO+CO., Inc.|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=1}}
Coco is a life-long Haverhill, Massachusetts resident. He attended Haverhill Public Schools and graduated from Haverhill High School in 1979. He received his associate degree from Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill, Mass., and Bachelor's from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.{{cite web|title=WHAV's Tim Coco to Run for State Senate|url=http://www.valleypatriot.com/VP0412coco.htm|website=www.valleypatriot.com|publisher=Valley Patriot|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=2}}
At the age of 17, Coco became an intern at WHAV Broadcasting Co., Haverhill, owner and operator of WHAV (AM) and then-WHAV-FM. By the time of his graduation from high school, he was a full-time employee of the news department. In 1981, he became a staff writer for the Scripps League Newspapers, Inc.-owned Haverhill Gazette. In 1985, he joined the then-Ottaway Newspapers, Inc.-owned Daily News of Newburyport as staff writer.{{cite web|title=Local Leaders Serving the Community|url=http://www.whav.net/staff.htm|website=www.whav.net|publisher=Public Media of New England, Inc.|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=3}}
While working at the Daily News of Newburyport, he was recruited by David Sokol of Ogden Corporation, New York, to develop community relations and marketing strategies for the company and serve as its spokesman.{{cite web|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Julia|title=Haverhill Plant Built Amid Similar Debate And Battle|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-03-26/news/8901160581_1_incinerator-garbage-burning-nuclear-plant|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053941/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-03-26/news/8901160581_1_incinerator-garbage-burning-nuclear-plant|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2016|website=www.sun-sentinel.com|publisher=Sun-Sentinel|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=4}}
Personal life
Shortly after Massachusetts permitted same-sex marriage, Coco married Genesio J. Oliveira Jr. in 2005. Coco and Oliveira, a citizen of Brazil, met in 2002 while the latter was visiting Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite web|title=Reunite this family|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/27/reunite_this_family/|website=www.boston.com|publisher=Boston Globe|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=5}} Immigration Judge Francis L. Cramer and, later, the Board of Immigration Appeals refused to recognize the marriage, citing the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).{{cite news|title=Kerry Requests Asylum in Case of Gay Man| work=The New York Times | date=March 21, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/us/politics/22asylum.html?_r=0|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=6}}
Oliveira was ordered to “voluntarily” depart the U.S. within 60 days and he complied Aug. 17, 2007, beginning what would be a three-year fight by the couple to be reunited. Coco used his advertising skills to launch an international campaign even as civil rights groups predicted the strategy would be unsuccessful.{{cite web|last1 = Kiritsy|first1 = Laura|title = Love in exile: One year later, Brazilian spouse still blocked from returning|url = http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc3=&id=78844&pf=1|website = www.edgeboston.com|publisher = Bay Windows|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 7}} The couple created a website, www.reunitethisfamily.com; held candlelight vigils;{{cite web|last1=Quinn|first1=Joni|title=I just want Junior to be able to come home|url=http://www.hgazette.com/local/x1723397899/I-just-want-Junior-to-be-able-to-come-home|website=www.hgazette.com|publisher=Haverhill Gazette|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=8}} won editorial coverage of their plight,{{cite web|title=Reunite This Family|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/27/reunite_this_family/|website=www.boston.com|publisher=Boston Globe|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=9}} posted videos online; placed an advertisement in Washington Post's Express newspaper, asking President Bush and Congress to “Make This Right!”{{cite web|last1 = Gianatasio|first1 = David|title = Mass. ad exec fights two battles with ads|url = http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/mass-ad-exec-fights-two-battles-ads-15930|website = www.adweek.com|publisher = AdWeek|ref = 10}}
"We didn't go into it to be activists, we went into it to be together," Coco told the Associated Press in 2009.{{cite web|title = Kerry wants asylum for Brazilian gay man married in Mass.|url = http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/kerry-asylum-brazilian-gay-man-married-mass-article-1.370591#ixzz340eGDBqi|website = www.nydailynews.com| date=March 20, 2009 |publisher = New York Daily News|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 11}}
The campaign caught the attention of former presidential candidate and then-Senator John F. Kerry (D-Massachusetts) in 2008. After the election of President Barack Obama, Kerry worked with United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder to arrange humanitarian Parole (United States immigration) — “a rare exemption that allows otherwise ineligible people into the country,”{{cite web|title=Happiness, for one year only|url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/06/05/happiness_for_one_year_only/|website=www.boston.com|publisher=Boston Globe|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=12}} according to the Boston Globe.
On June 2, 2010, Oliveira stepped onto U.S. soil. At about the same time, Francis L. Cramer—the immigration judge that first refused to recognize the Coco-Oliveira marriage—retired.{{cite web|last1 = Goldstein|first1 = Joshua|title = Boston Immigration Judge Francis L. Cramer Retires|url = http://massachusettsimmigrationlawyerblog.com/immigration-news-boston/boston_immigration_judge_franc/|website = massachusettsimmigrationlawyerblog.com|publisher = Joshua Goldstein|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 13}} According to a July 28, 2008 U.S. Department of Justice report, “An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General,”{{cite web|title=An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General|url=https://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0807/final.pdf|website=www.justice.gov|publisher=Office of the Inspector General|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=14}} confirmed Cramer was an illegal appointment, lacked basic immigration experience and apparently passed the DOJ's anti gay litmus test which favored immigration judges who espoused conservative priorities.
Coco may have also played a role in the withdrawal of Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) as U.S. commerce secretary by President Obama. He detailed for the media Gregg's role in having his former campaign treasurer, Cramer, appointed as immigration judge.{{cite web|last1=Capodelupo|first1=Donna|title=I'm Just Saying: Haverhill's link to Commerce nomination|url=http://www.hgazette.com/opinion/x1723399119/Im-Just-Saying-Haverhills-link-to-Commerce-nomination/print|website=www.hgazette.com|publisher=Haverhill Gazette|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=15}} Coco went on to file a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.{{cite web|title=Couple forcibly separated by illegal judge call on Obama not to tap Sen. Gregg; Renews call for ethics investigation|url=http://www.reunitethisfamily.com/press.htm|website=www.reunitethisfamily.com|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=16}}
COCO+CO., Inc.
At Ogden, Coco was one of the first to embrace integrated corporation communications—the concept of combining the previously discrete business functions of advertising, public relations, marketing communications, investor relations and regulatory affairs. In 1991, he founded COCO+CO. to share this concept with other industries.
In 2012, Coco wrote, “…messages crafted by separate advertising agencies, public relations firms and printers send inconsistent and confusing messages to prospects. Even business logos tended to disproportionately stretch or condense or appear in differing colors as each outside firm made different interpretations. With today's addition of the World Wide Web, social media, mobile devices, e-newsletters and other means of reaching audiences, the problem has grown exponentially.”{{cite web|last1=Coco|first1=Tim|title=www.cocoboston.com|url=http://www.cocoboston.com/newsletter/2012/01/why-i-hate-%E2%80%98advertising-agencies%E2%80%99/|publisher=COCO+CO., Inc.|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=17}}
Coco reasoned, “To be successful, businesses must simply send relevant messages by vehicles most likely to reach target audiences. Unfortunately, this is neither the advice nor the services businesses receive because of the economic self interests and the conflicts of interests of their advisors.”
Internet radio
After the wave of mergers and consolidations struck the radio industry following passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, WHAV was merged into a small group of radio stations and ceased its traditional local programming. The WHAV call sign disappeared completely at the end of 2002.{{cite web|last1 = Fybush|first1 = Scott|title = North East RadioWatch: September 10, 2002|url = http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-020910.html|website = www.bostonradio.org|publisher = Northeast Radio Watch|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 18}} Coco resurrected the call as an Internet radio and cable television station Jan. 3, 2004 and federally trademarked the name in 2008.{{cite web|title = No Longer on the Air, But Still WHAV|url = http://www.radioworld.com/article/no-longer-on-the-air-but-still-whav/21255|website = www.radioworld.com|publisher = Radio World|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 19}}
Although able to reach the world, Coco returned the station to its hyperlocal roots, restoring staple programs such as local news, Open Mike Show,{{cite web|title = Old WHAV talk show revived|url = http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?552137-Old-WHAV-talk-show-revived|website = www.radiodiscussions.com|publisher = Radio Discussions|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 20}} community calendar, local weather, etc.
In 2011, Coco spun WHAV off into a new nonprofit corporation, Public Media of New England, Inc. He continues to serve as volunteer president and general manager. In the fall of 2013, Coco submitted WHAV's application to the Federal Communications Commission for an LPFM license at 98.1 MHz.{{cite web|last1 = Stimson|first1 = Leslie|title = WHAV Applies for LPFM|url = http://www.radioworld.com/article/whav-applies-for-lpfm/222365|website = www.radioworld.com|publisher = Radio World|accessdate = 8 June 2014|ref = 21}} The station signed on at 97.9 FM in September, 2016.
Politics
Coco ran for Massachusetts state senate in 2012.{{cite web|last1=Laidler|first1=John|title=Seven candidates vie for Baddour's 1st Essex Senate seat |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/07/19/seven_vie_for_baddours_state_senate_seat/|website=www.boston.com|publisher=Boston Globe|ref=22}} While he won every precinct by a "landslide" in the largest city of the First Essex District, Haverhill,{{cite web|last1=Lippa|first1=Alex|title=City's voters are loyal to their own|url=http://www.hgazette.com/local/x1709877192/Citys-voters-are-loyal-to-their-own|website=www.hgazette.com|date=September 6, 2012 |publisher=Haverhill Gazette|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=23}} he narrowly lost the Democratic primary election by 704 votes to Kathleen O'Connor Ives.{{cite web|last1=Moser|first1=Douglas|title=Seacoast takes out Dems Coco, Manzi|url=http://www.eagletribune.com/haverhill/x550068767/Seacoast-takes-out-Dems-Coco-Manzi|website=www.eagletribune.com|date=September 7, 2012 |publisher=Eagle-Tribune|accessdate=8 June 2014|ref=24}}