February 10   CATO Institute Policy Forum: Intellectual Property and First Principles, Washington, DC

February 11   Montgomery County African Affairs Advisory Group, Silver Spring, Maryland

February 17   Lobbying Compliance at the State Level Webinar, Akron, Ohio

February 19-22   National Governors Association Winter Meeting, Washington, DC

March 2   Ohio Birthday Celebration, Washington, DC

March 7-10   Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

Now, that is one sexy topic for a conference session!! To be honest, it is a session at the 2016 Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference in Miami, Florida and yours truly is one of the session leaders along with our good friend Jennifer Spall, senior director of political programs at Wal-Mart.

Here is my #1 comment about 2016—If you are not involved with making political contributions, you might as well hibernate. It will be a huge campaign season—from city, county, state, and president. Our office is already vetting contributions for 2018 elections.

Register for the conference at www.pac.org and hear many of our contributions colleagues around the country speak about how important it is to manage and organize how, when, and why contributions are made.

And, if that isn’t enough of an enticement…Plan on joining the State and Federal Communications team on Wednesday, March 9th for lunch. We want to give you the opportunity to take a tour of our website and see the important information we provide to thousands of your counterparts in corporate and trade association government affairs firms.

There is a lot to know about campaign finance and making political contributions. And, whether you care about reform or not (as published by Doug Pinkham’s December 22nd blog), you do need to know there are things to keep track of to protect your organization. This is the week to promote to your professional development.

Until next month, remember it is impossible to have 50 state political contributions laws in your head…Join us in Miami and find out how you can be the expert at your organization.

Thank you.
Happy New Year.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz

President and CEO
@elizabethbartz

What lobbying activities are you involved in? Are you registered as a lobbyist? Could your activities trigger registration and reporting? What doesn’t require reporting in one state or municipality could easily require it in another and failure to do so could cause major problems for you and your company.

Come have lunch on us and sit down with State and Federal Communications before the start of the PAC National Conference to discuss government compliance and more.

As a special thank you, all attendees will receive a Starbucks gift card.

Check out our video for luncheon details and R.S.V.P. here!

Readers of Compliance NOW know how important professional development is to me. Everyone at State and Federal Communications knows from Day #1 they need to take advantage of the opportunities we provide for such development and are encouraged to also find other programs. We have all learned a lot from a popular seminar on grammar and many of us have attended the Disney Institute on working with our customers.

There are two Public Affairs Council programs in February 2015 you should consider attending.

National Grassroots Conference from February 3rd through 6th is the largest and really the most comprehensive conference of its kind. The speakers are corporate and association government affairs professionals who implement grassroots programs. You will learn strategies to improve your communications and increase your success.

National PAC Conference—or as we refer to it PAC PAC—from February 23rd to February 26th is definitely the leading program for a PAC professional. It combines the important skills training you need for the important elections facing our country.

There is one other plus to attending these conferences—you know, other than all the information you will learn and bring back to your organization—is they are both in Florida at a time when we could use a double dose of Vitamin D. The National Grassroots Conference is in Key West and the PAC PAC Conference is in Orlando at Universal’s Portofino Bay property. If this brings up questions, remind everyone the days start early in Florida and networking goes on through the evenings.

State and Federal Communications will be in attendance at both conferences—as we have been for years—and look forward to seeing you there. If you do have questions about either of these programs, please do not hesitate to give me a call. I would be happy to provide additional information.

Until next month, think about how you can sharpen your skills for the upcoming active legislative and election year.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO
@elizabethbartz

State and Federal Communications is excited to be a supporter of the Public Affairs Council’s National PAC Conference. We have a team of four attending this great event.

More than this, we are sponsoring the Conference Wi-Fi and the Wednesday Networking Breakfast.

Why do we sponsor, you ask? Here is State and Federal Communications President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz to explain:

If you are attending the conference, be sure to join us on Monday, March 3, for our Pre-Conference Luncheon and engage with our experts to see if you can safely say, “I comply!” Our very own compliance expert, Nola Werren, will be on-hand to answer any of your questions. Lunch will be on us and we are also giving away a $25 Starbucks gift card to all attendees!

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and four of the company staff are attending the Public Affairs Council’s 37th Annual National PAC Conference in Miami Beach, Florida. We are excited about the conference, which runs from March 4-7 and boasts the theme: “Rethink. Reinvent. Reinvigorate.”

You can follow the conversations on Twitter with the hashtag #PAC13 and the handle @PACouncil.

State and Federal Communications is proud to be the sponsor for the Wi-Fi access for this conference.

Maybe we’ll see you there!

March 4-7, 2013   2013 National PAC Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

March 6, 2013   Ohio Birthday Party, Washington, D.C.

March 13-15, 2013   SGAC Annual Meeting, Savannah, Georgia

April 14-16, 2013   NASPO Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana

April 22-25, 2013   BIO International Convention, Chicago, Illinois

The Compliance Dream Team is making their encore appearance at the PAC National Conference in Miami Beach, Florida! The extraordinary lineup is: Elizabeth Bartz of State and Federal Communications, Ken Gross from Skadden Arps, and Michael Toner from Wiley Rein. Their session will be held on Tuesday, March 5 at 3:15 p.m.

Bring your compliance concerns. This is your opportunity to unleash all those difficult questions regarding compliance issues.

The Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference will be held at the Eden Roc from March 4-7. Don’t miss what promises to be an exciting conference!

See you there!

Amol Naik from Google, Elizabeth Bartz of State and Federal Communications, Ken Gross from Skadden Arps, and Michael Toner from Wiley Rein will be making up the Compliance Dream Team.

Bring your compliance concerns. This is your opportunity to unleash all those difficult questions regarding compliance issues.

Don’t miss the Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference. See you there!

February 7, 2012     NCSL Foundation Bi-Annual Luncheon, Washington, D.C.

February 17, 2012     Innovate to Motivate, Washington, D.C.

February 25 – February 27, 2012     National Governors Association Winter Meeting, Washington, D.C.

February 27 – March 1, 2012     National PAC Conference, Miami, Florida

Appearing one time only at the Public Affair Council National PAC Conference is the Compliance Dream Team! I am extremely excited and honored to pair up with The Extra Honorable Ken Gross, The Mighty Honorable Michael Toner, and New Kid on The Block Amol Naik from Google to hear your confessions and questions.

This session will present a series of complicated and pertinent compliance questions to the panel for our expert response. There will also be an opportunity to submit anonymous compliance missteps for us to hear and provide corrective action.

This is bigger than Broadway…Larger than Hollywood. And, it will only happen on Tuesday, February 28^th at Portofino Bay, Orlando, Florida. Join us at the Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference.

Looking forward to seeing you out and about!

Elizabeth Bartz

President and CEO, State and Federal Communications, Inc.

First, get past the fact both conferences are in Florida. The Council keeps us busy enough that we rarely get more than a few hours to mill around.

Second, what you need to know is the Council makes sure it has the top-of-the-line speakers for the programs and the sessions are mixed in with people in the field who are doing great things in both grassroots advocacy and PAC recruitment.

Finally, and most important, you will find State and Federal Communications involved with the conferences. We have been involved with the advisory board for each conference, sending a number of staff, and we are included in the Market Resource Program.

You can obtain more information about these conferences at www.pac.org.

Until next month, continue to plan for your professional development. There is nothing like developing the important skills for your organization.