Direct Selling: DSA National Summit, Caucus Meetings

In a session, titled "Managing Coalitions," Bennett discussed DSA's leadership of and participation in a number of cross-disciplinary coalitions—at both the state and federal level—that have led, ultimately, to passage and defeat of legislation beneficial and detrimental to direct selling, respectively.

"It was an honor to share my experience building and managing coalitions with fellow government affairs colleagues," Bennett told DSN. "DSA has a long history building relationships with organizations on the state and federal level to ensure government action supports direct selling. The strong relationships we have with these groups increases the effectiveness of the Association's advocacy efforts."…..

The previous week, the DSA in conjunction with the Congressional Direct Selling Caucus hosted a briefing: "Direct Selling: Entrepreneurism Driving Economic Growth" to discuss the value of direct selling to millions of micro-entrepreneurs and the United States economy.

DSA President Joe Mariano presented an overview of the positive impact of the direct selling channel as well as the importance of DSA's robust relationships with government officials and regulators. He also discussed the Association's legislative agenda including consumer protection legislation, tax, and independent contractor status. Caucus Co-Chair Marc Veasey (D-TX), drawing on interactions with constituents said: "It's amazing how interwoven direct selling is and how many people it affects on a daily basis."