On February 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously finalized its Government and Business Impersonation Rule, which will target scammers who impersonate businesses and government entities.
This rule will give the FTC much stronger tools to go after those who target the business events industry with impersonation scams including:
Hotel reservation scams. 🏨
Attendee list sale scams. 📨
What's new? The FTC will be able to directly file court cases aimed at forcing scammers to return the money they made from impersonation scams that:
Use business logos when communicating with consumers by mail or online.
Spoof business emails and web addresses, including using lookalike email addresses or websites that rely on misspellings of a company’s name.
Falsely imply business affiliation by using terms that are known to be affiliated with a business.
Advocacy works: ECA, its alliance partners, and industry leaders—including the Consumer Technology Association, the American Society of Association Executives, and IAEE's Major American Trade Show Organizers group—have been advocating in support of this new rule for more than two years including:
Supporting a coalition effort that resulted in a letter signed by 235 groups.
Highlighting the issue for members of Congress during ECA’s 2023 Legislative Action Day, which generated additional Congressional support.
What's next? The final Government and Business Impersonation Rule will be published in the Federal Register later today, which means that it will become effective on April 1.
Nearly 60 industry leaders and advocates have already registered for ECA's 2024 Legislative Action Day.
This year, Legislative Action Day will take place on Thursday, May 30 and focus on two top industry policy priorities:
Eliminating visa backlogs and modernizing the visa processing system. 🌎
Helping attract and retain the industry's next generation workforce. 👷
Once again, this year's event will be held in conjunction with the Lippman Connects Exhibition & Convention Executives Forum (ECEF), which will take place on Wednesday, May 29.
Learn more: Watch industry leaders David Adler and Russ Callahan share why they will be on Capitol Hill on May 30... and why you should join them!
3. In case you missed it...
ECA's partners in the California Coalition for Smart Decarbonization, the Western Propane Gas Association, found that the California Air Resources Board's proposed zero-emission forklift rule would cost forklift owners and operators in the state up to $27 billion.
Trade Show Executivehighlighted several advocacy wins in its recent article "Strong Start to 2024 Marked by Successful Industry Advocacy Efforts."
ECA will be on the agenda at the upcoming SISO CEO Summit, which will take place from April 8-11 in Amelia Island, FL. ECA will be joined on stage by Nancy Walsh, Yancy Weinrich, and Walter Charnizon for "Advocacy for Our Industry: What’s new from Washington DC?"
