Running Into the Fog with Tommy Goodwin

“Pre-pandemic, in-person events contributed roughly $396 billion a year to the GDP,” says Tommy Goodwin, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA). The loss of in-person business events has been devastating to millions of people and companies worldwide. With more than 20 years of experience in public relations, Tommy’s role is to work side by side with policymakers to help with the recovery and advancement of in-person business events. 

According to Tommy, the tradeshow industry may be the largest and most important industry in the world. Not only are there millions of dollars in direct spending, but the events business provides millions of jobs to the American people. Even though we have mastered online education, Tommy explains that face-to-face events provide unique opportunities that online platforms can’t. To protect our economies and small businesses, we must work to safely return attendees and exhibitors back to face-to-face events.