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58 SMT Magazine • June 2016 Goldman: I think a lot of people don't understand that it can make a difference. They think, 'I'm just one little person, what can I possibly accomplish? The policymakers have a million other things on their minds. How do you make a difference? Hasselmann: Well, your voice as an individual is important, but when there is a collective voice that is unified, it's very important. I always point out that firefighters, nurses, policemen, teachers, etc., all have representation here. Goldman: Tremendous representation. Hasselmann: Exactly, and so should manufac- turers and the electronics industry. We're just using the tools in our toolbox to represent the i ndustry and be that collective voice. You men- tioned that these members of Congress and their staff have all these issues to think about, and they're all over the map meeting with tons of people. IPC represents the whole supply chain. IPC members are in every continental state, and IPC represents almost a million workers. So when you tell that story to members of Con - gress, they'll listen. We're their constituents in almost every district. So if we come in and we're organized, if we have a succinct message and we have credible data, we can have a real impact. Goldman: What do you expect to accomplish over the next two days? What's the mission? Hasselmann: This year is a little different be- cause we're in a presidential election year. Con- gress has very few legislative days this year, so we have a small window of opportunity to edu- cate these policymakers, and to lay the ground- work for the coming year with a new President and a new Congress. A lot of our goals here are focused on meeting policymakers that may be even more influential next year. So we're meet- ing with surrogates from the presidential cam- paigns tomorrow; some are current members of Congress, others are former high-ranking offi- cials who now represent these campaigns. But we're also solidifying and still educating a lot of these policymakers about IPC and who we are and what we stand for as an industry. Goldman: I can imagine what happens is you get some of them educated and then they move on. You've got to keep on educating. Hasselmann: That's why we're here, for the industry. The 48 hours that these executives come to town for IMPACT help us do our job for the rest of the year. That's not just in the U.S.—we're focused globally—but this particu- lar event in D.C. is very important. It's exciting and I love doing it. Goldman: One of the things that I hope to accom- plish is to get across to a lot of people that aren't here why there's good reason to be here. Hasselmann: Well, thank you for that. When I started here three years ago, one of my goals was to make sure that we had a stronger com- munications effort. What's that cliché? If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I think that is what happened in the past, like there was a small seg- ment of the industry that knew the importance of what we were doing on the advocacy front, but it wasn't enough. Now the industry is getting more involved— through the board of directors, through our government relations steering committee, and through various other groups. This is a good thing; we need to be at the table. You know, the other cliché is: If you're not at the table, you're on the menu! I think because our industry is so connected to government, whether it's here or in the EU or " IPC members are in every continental state, and IPC represents almost a million workers. So when you tell that story to members of Congress, they'll listen. "