Tim D.

I joined Jan Baran to discuss key PAC trends to watch ahead of the midterms — from emerging industry spending blocs to the legal battles that could reshape contribution rules. With courts weighing new challenges and sectors like AI and crypto ramping up political investment, the landscape is evolving quickly. Take a listen for insights on what may shape political engagement in the cycle ahead and let’s chat live at the Public Affairs Council’s PAC conference next month in Tampa.

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H/Advisors Abernathy recently found that CEOs who actively use digital channels now outpace lawmakers in shaping public policy agendas. That's a massive advantage in a complex public affairs landscape. Our 'Social In The C-Suite, Public Affairs Edition' research showed that: 🎯 Executives strengthen their credibility on public policy when they focus on business impact over political ideology. 🎯 CEOs can carefully use digital channels to discuss complex topics positioning themselves as pragmatic, solutions‑driven voices in an increasingly noisy policy landscape. 🎯 Policymakers are taking notice, as they are among the most likely to follow CEOs on social media. Now is the time to aligned your executive communications and public affairs strategy. Download the full report: https://lnkd.in/gPBtribA

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Political consulting firms have a well-documented partnership problem. The ones that scale and stick around are the exception, not the rule. Echo Canyon Consulting operates across both campaign services and public affairs, which means managing two fundamentally different service lines under one roof. Campaign work is high velocity and deadline driven. Public affairs is relationship intensive, longer burn, and requires a different kind of institutional patience. Most firms pick one or the other for a reason, and the ones that try to do both without clear ownership tend to drift. What makes it work at Echo Canyon is that Jon Seaton and Matthew Kenney own their respective sides of the business with genuine depth. Jon leads the campaign side with the kind of relationships and operational experience that only comes from decades of high stakes electoral work. Matt runs public affairs with a network and strategic patience that operates on a completely different timeline. That clarity of ownership means Echo Canyon isn't competing internally, it's drawing on two distinct wells of expertise and bringing both to the table for clients. For a candidate, a corporation, or an organization trying to navigate the political landscape, that alignment matters in a practical way. You're not getting a firm that dabbles in both. You're getting dedicated leadership on each side that talks to each other, shares intelligence across service lines, and builds strategy that accounts for both the electoral and the institutional dimension of whatever problem you're trying to solve. That cross pollination is genuinely hard to replicate, and it's what separates firms that can handle complexity from the ones that hand you off the moment your needs go beyond their core service.

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Wonderful gathering of incredible communications leaders, getting real about what it takes to communicate with clarity. One of the common threads: thoughtful assessment and adaptability. How are stakeholders shifting? Are all the right communications elements fully dialed in? Is there a better, more high impact path to consider? It was a good reminder of why I love working in communications. We also shared insights from our latest Brands in Motion study, developed with Ipsos, which underscores the importance of staying tuned in and adaptable. The research explores how expectations are shifting—and what audiences need most right now. Spoiler: It’s not perfection. It’s honesty, action, and the courage to evolve. #WeBrandsInMotion #Communications #Leadership #Adaptability 

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