The spirit of PPAI’s Legislation Education and Action Day (L.E.A.D.) and Promotional Products Work! Week (PPW!W) extends throughout the year. Their continued influence on the promotional products industry was reflected in a visit by Geiger’s David Hawes, MAS+, to the Washington, D.C. office of Minnesota Sen. Al Franken on June 22.

This was Hawes’s seventh meeting with Franken. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, for which Franken wrote and also appeared on from 1976 to 2008, Hawes presented him with an H2go Force bottle from ETS Express, with “40” imprinted in ruby red, symbolizing a 40th anniversary.

“For me, lobbying is about developing relationships,” says Hawes. “Issues may come and go, but senators typically remain in office. Regardless of the issue, if our industry is under attack, we want them to have our back. However, I did mention that our industry has 764 companies in his state that provide over 21,000 jobs.”