For the past six years, PPAI has sent a group of volunteers to Washington, D.C. in order to meet with senators and congressional representatives to discuss business matters as they pertain to the promotional products industry. For five of those six years, I have been part of that group.
I take this stuff very seriously. When it comes to politics (no, we're not going there), I'm an absolute geek. Or "wonk," as the case may be. I'm fascinated by the whole process, no matter how screwed up it may be (politically speaking, we can probably all agree on that).
So once a year I get to walk around both the senate and congressional office buildings like a boss, wandering around the bowels of these impressive buildings, taking in a lot of American history, causing trouble, eating in one of the best office building cafeterias, perusing the gift shop and, every so often, advocating for all of us.
If you've read my musings before (and come back for more, anyway), you know that I might have my own unique skew on things. The hallowed grounds of our nation's capital should have no bearing on what crosses my twisted mind.
Don't get me wrong. As I said way back in the second paragraph, I take my volunteer efforts like this very seriously. It's just that sometimes I see things differently than some of the others in our group. Case in point: two of my associates and I were on our way to meet with a newly-elected congressman. As a newbie, he's located in what amounts to a temporary office… kind of like a sublet in someone else's building. Most representatives are in easy-to-find offices… not this guy. He was on the fifth floor of a building whose elevator only went up to four. This was neither a metaphor nor a statement about this guy's politics… just a fact. Being the intelligent professionals that we are, my associates and I figured we’d ride up to four and then make the effort to climb one flight of stairs in order to find this mystery office.
The beautiful thing about our government is that there’s always someone around to point you in the right direction.
We were there for business. Our business – the business of small businesses. One of my favorite talking points when speaking with our elected officials (or, more often than not, their staff members) is mentioning that ours is an industry made of up (primarily) of small businesses, and that we're looking to help and protect our members.
Take my home state of New Jersey. Or… the state I now call home: New Jersey. (sidebar to a former employer: when I say I'm from Brooklyn, I'm from Brooklyn. I may live in New Jersey, but I'm from Brooklyn. Jerk.) New Jersey's promo stats are as follows:
• Distributor volume: $820.74 million
• Supplier volume: $529.26 million
• Total promo companies: 1,286
• Industry jobs: 11,158
• Percentage of companies that are small businesses: 96%!
We are an industry of small businesses. We have to make sure that our elected officials know this, so that whenever a piece of legislation that might pertain to us crosses their desks, we want them to remember the number of people this might affect.
Earlier, I alluded to the cafeteria. A very impressive operation… something for everyone. Looking around the room, you can tell who the staff people were, who the visitors were, and who were the other people/groups visiting with their representatives to discuss matters dear to them (news flash: the world does not live on promotional products alone). Seated near my group, I could spot the delegation of postal carriers from New Jersey (an ironic coincidence), as well as a group of Colorado marijuana growers (they were much easier to spot; for one, their trays were filled). The place was packed, but the crowd moved through quickly enough… except maybe the New Jersey delegation of promotional products people, who had a little extra time to kill before their next appointment.
As such, when I saw two people looking for seats, I waved them over to the empty chairs at our table. Young couple: he was in full military dress, and she was, um… not. But clearly they were a couple. After we'd made some small talk, and I'd already run out of things to say to my own companions, I asked this couple what brought them to DC. She replied her husband had served two tours overseas, and had come home with PTSD, as well as some surgery-required injuries. Never judge a book… he looked and spoke fine, but there was a lot going on beneath the surface.
Due to his condition, she had to quit her job to take care of him full time. Physical (and other) therapy was part of the daily routine for this couple. They were in DC in order to meet with their two senators (from California) in an effort to get full-time military benefits for caregivers of those who were injured while serving our country.
What we do in the promotional industry is important. In some instances, we can save lives, which was one of the points we were making when visiting the Hill. After hearing this couple’s stories, I'm not about to complain about distributors ordering direct from overseas.