Latest / Rittener Reflections / EP 35: Leading the Trade Community – With WIT‑NC, TTRA, and PAEI

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EP 35: Leading the Trade Community – With WIT‑NC, TTRA, and PAEI · Rittener Reflections

• jeff (00:00) Hello again, this is Jeff Rittner, and you are listening to episode 35 of Rittner Reflections. Today is a special edition because I am joined by three luminaries in the world of global trade. Gabrielle Griffith, president of Women in International Trade Northern California, Giselle Perez, president of PAEI Professional Association of Exporter and Importer. And Ken Montgomery, Executive Director of TTRA, the Technology Trade Regulation Alliance. I am so excited because I have wanted to have each one of these great leaders on my podcast, and to get all three at one time is a huge bonus. Although each leader in their own way is an influencer in the trade community, together they represent three associations. That have supported, educated, and connected trade professionals for decades. I've known all three for many years, and I've personally benefited from the work their organizations do, whether through the education, the advocacy, or simply building a community where trade professionals can grow. So for this episode, we're going to start by getting to know them personally, who they are, how they came into trade, and what drives them as leaders. Then we'll talk about their associations, what each one does, how they complement each other, and why their collaboration matters. From there, we'll dive into a unique conference they've built together, a one-day event coming up in October designed to bring the trade community together around best practices, emerging risks. And the realities of trade in 2026. And once we've covered that, I am hoping that we'll have some time to widen the lens a little bit and talk about the trade profession as it sits today and where do we see it heading in the years ahead. Gabrielle, Giselle, and Ken, welcome. It is so good to have you here today with me. Welcome. Gabrielle Griffith (02:36) Thanks for having us. jeff (02:37) you're welcome. let's start with personal introductions. I'm I'm going to begin with you, Gabrielle, and then I'll go to you to you, Giselle, and then over to you, Ken. So, Gabrielle, you've spent more than two decades across government, commerce, and high tech, and you also lead a consulting practice. Tell us a bit about your journey and what drives you, your work in the trade community. Gabrielle Griffith (03:03) Yeah, so again, thank you for having me, and it's such an honor to just be here chatting with all of you today. so yeah, I am currently serving as the Wit N C president, which is such an honor. It unites a lot of my passions that I know we'll we'll cover today. I've been a director here at BPE Global for almost ten years, which is remarkable. And as you said I've been around for a while in the trade space, almost over well over twenty years. and this is a space I actually actively sought out. Many in our industry have a narrative of randomly falling into it. And my grandfather was an ambassador from France to several countries throughout the world and always had really fun trade stories, so I knew I wanted to do something in trade that didn't involve, you know, going the federal government way and one road led to another and I ended up a high tech retail, started my career, Department of Commerce, but now consulting I really get to see and experience it all and haven't looked back since. jeff (04:04) so you're now president of the Wit N C and so help us understand what is Wit N C. Give us give us the background, the history. What are you guys here to do? Gabrielle Griffith (04:12) Yeah, Wit and C is an incredible trade organization here in the Bay Area. We are the Northern California chapter of the Organization for Women in Trade. So OWIT is something that you will often hear as you travel around various areas. But as far as specific trade chapters of the OWIT umbrella, there's a very strong chapter in DC, and there's Wit NC, which was founded over 20 years ago. And that is where I met The president of the company I work for now, Beth Pride, who at the time was serving as president. And with NC's mission is really to just drive the best networking events as possible here in the Bay Area. And we just have been driving and fostering that as much as we can. I am a huge connector by just a core personality trait. So having the opportunity to really marry the regulations that we're seeing with What we're hearing on the ground of what the challenges of how this looks playing out within organizations across the board and sitting back and just really reflecting on what would serve our community the best. that's where Wood NC excels. And it's an honor to just have that kind of creative liberty to think about, you know, not only, hey, this would be a really interesting topic, but this is a really pragmatic topic that we know attendees can take back to their desks and and enforce tomorrow. jeff (05:37) And so how many individuals belong to wit I see it. How how large is this organization? Is pretty large or Gabrielle Griffith (05:46) Yes. Currently we have over one hundred members. and it's a constant revolving door. We have over twenty different sponsors across all different sectors. Because we're here in Northern California, we do lean predominantly high tech, of course. and our members run the gamut from trade compliance leaders to legal to consultants and in law firms. jeff (06:09) Okay. And so it's it's Wit N C Northern California. Are are folks only from Northern California or do you do you pull in people from around the states? Gabrielle Griffith (06:18) We have members our board is about seven board members, and one of our board members, our director of programs, sits in New York City. So given the nature of what we do, and the ebb and flow of our jobs and where we're stationed at at a moment's notice, we're obviously not exclusive to Northern California. It is predominantly folks who are here in Northern California who can attend our events. but we do have a few members in the DC area as well as overseas. and one of my big objectives as I'm serving as WIT NC is to really bridge and connect with the leadership over WIT DC and just grow it even more to really open the the avenues of the network. 'cause we have a lot of members of their chapter who attend our events when they're in town. jeff (07:00) Yeah. That's great. Wow, fantastic. Well, I have had the privilege of attending some of your events and they are really, really wonderful. So great. I'm gonna jump Gabrielle Griffith (07:09) Thank you. Thank you. jeff (07:11) over to you, Giselle. to you are you're in the trenches every day at Nvidia and you lead the global trade operations. I can only imagine what your life must be like over the last couple of years. So tell us, how did you get into trade and what keeps you passionate about this work? Gieselle (07:32) So I like Gabrielle sought out this glamorous profession. I think, you know, Gab Gabrielle and I are a bit of anomalies because we do hear like most people just stumble upon trade compliance and their career paths. however after obtaining my degree in international relations, I realized I did not want to be like Gabrielle's grandfather Gabrielle Griffith (07:56) Mm. Gieselle (07:57) and go the Foreign Service route. so knowing that I did some research, but prior to that I kind of took what some would call like a gap year and I worked abroad in the UK and Ireland just to get some of that international experience and then traveled a bit before coming back to the States and really doing research on trade. so I I went back to USC, to speak to my professors and Found a job in the Bay Area that I applied for. while I was in my undergraduate, I hung out with most of the engineers. And so it just seemed like a natural place to land, right? Here in Silicon Valley, in the semiconductor field. that's how I started. my former manager at that company, Martina della Torre. sat on the board of PAEI at the time. And so she, you know, one evening said, we're having a board meeting. Why don't you come, you know, sit in on the meeting. And I I didn't realize at the time it was more of a recruitment. so, but it was fabulous. it's it's really helped me early in my career learn this profession, right? because early on there wasn't as amount the same amount of information out there. that we have now. so it really was about networking and getting to know my peers. So I would say I've I've been involved with PAI now and sat on the board at some capacity or another since about 1998. And it's been the best decision of my life. Right. So now I'm I'm more about giving back too right because early on I I learned a lot from my peers and actually got mentors from the organization as well. So that's that's a little bit about my path or trajectory. jeff (09:57) Wow, that's it that's amazing. so tell us about PAEI. a little history of you know, what what are you guys about? Who do you serve? What makes PAI so special? Gieselle (10:11) So PA is not like Wit, not a chapter, but we are very much a local organization. I mean, it came out of the need for education and trade in the Silicon Valley, right? So Cindy Scholake was one of the founders. And I I know Jeff, you know her personally, right? so jeff (10:29) Yes, yes. Gieselle (10:31) so she kind of with Tuttle and a couple others organized this this nonprofit. in order to serve the trade community. And we did start with co-sponsoring BIS events here in Northern California. So that was also a draw for me to participate in in PAI because I got that, you know, in person with the BIS licensing officers through volunteering through PAEI. so again we were starting more of a local but now We do have board members that are on the East Coast. we have other officers that are on the East Coast. we do have international members at time in our organization, but we are predominantly local and mostly focused on high tech industry and serving jeff (11:23) I see. Gieselle (11:23) that community. jeff (11:25) I see. And w what's the size again? How how many members do you have? Gieselle (11:30) it's equivalent to wit again, 'cause we're more based in Bay Area. So we do have jeff (11:32) Okay, yeah. Right. Gieselle (11:35) corporate members and you have, you know, two members per organization or a company, and then you have individual members. So we have a combination of both. so a l a little over a hundred a as well. It it jeff (11:49) Okay. Gieselle (11:49) fluctuates. jeff (11:50) I see. Yeah. And you also offer programs. You said you you do that in conjunction with BIS. Is that still the case or not? Gieselle (11:59) So currently BIS has kind of ceased some of their training. So jeff (12:04) Mm-hmm. Gieselle (12:05) we have been doing our own. So where we also instead of having an encryption program that BIS used to offer here in the Valley, we've actually coordinated it ourselves amongst the board members and then even bringing in some former licensing officers. So we're gonna try to supplement that that we are not jeff (12:26) Okay. Gieselle (12:26) currently having. those events here now by maybe doing more of these and we do have support from the local BIS officers that they you know will help us you know with any programming still even though they're not doing this. They have to get approval though, obviously. jeff (12:43) Right, right. Right. Gieselle (12:45) But yes, so that it we're still kind of trying to keep that rhythm of having these events, jeff (12:50) Right. Right. Gieselle (12:52) even though they're not formal BIS events. jeff (12:55) Right. Okay, that's fantastic. Well, so so glad that you're here, Giselle. And I'd like to kind of move over now to to Ken and Ken, you have spent your career shaping trade policy and supporting companies through TTRA. So how did your path lead you here and and what motivates your leadership in this trade community? Ken Montgomery (13:20) Thank you, Jeff. Well, I'm from the generation before a career path in global trade compliance or international trade regulation was broadly defined and advertised. I began my career as an industrial engineer I supported the Global Distribution Logistics Organization. And we decided to set up a customs bonded warehouse in the Netherlands to support our growing European customer base. I was tasked with developing the policies and procedures for the bonded warehouse and helped implement an inventory control and global trade management system to provide the automated tools and reports needed to meet the Dutch customs regulations as well as company internal controls. I also spent a significant time in Amsterdam and Dublin, which was very rewarding. I really enjoyed that role and at that time decided to continue my career focusing on international trade and ultimately trade regulation and compliance. Since moving to Washington, DC, back in 2004, I have worked for three different trade associations supporting members with customs and export laws and regulations. And in 2023, we formed the Technology Trade Regulation Alliance. jeff (14:36) tell us about TTRA, you know, a little history, who do you serve and what makes you s unique in this trade community? Ken Montgomery (14:43) We had been part of three different trade associations, starting with the American Electronics Association, then Tech America, followed by CompTIA. And in 2023, we decided to go out and form our own alliance and specifically support the member companies with customs and export laws and regulations. So we did that in 2023. We have about 40 member companies and we support them with not only advocacy but benchmarking, education, and compliance. jeff (15:14) Okay. And how many members do you have, Ken, in in T T R A? Ken Montgomery (15:20) We have right about forty technology companies all across the spectrum within the tech industry. jeff (15:27) Okay, and is that both on customs and export side or are you predominantly more of a customs shop? Ken Montgomery (15:34) Great question. We we have approximately a half and half. So we have a a customs committee and an export controls committee. Each of those committees we have about 280 to 300 people on those committees that are interested in the topic. we also have working groups within those committees, but it is pretty much divided equally. jeff (15:58) Okay, great. Well, thank you, for sharing that and thank you all three of you for just kind of walking us through your own journey and also your organization. I I thought maybe before we move on, if you'll permit me, I thought maybe I would just share briefly a little bit of my own experience with each one of your groups. Gabrielle with w women in international trade, you know, while I was at Intel, you know, we were I think very active in the WIT programs. I even had the opportunity one time to come in and speak. And so I always enjoyed going to those meetings because they were rich in content and you had great networking. So I I I've always have a special place for WIT. And now that I'm kind of on my own, I I joined and I come to most everything you do. I think one of the events I enjoy is the one you do around Lunar New Year. And I know at Intel we've hosted that a few times and that's been been special. Giselle, I I wanna just take a second and talk you mentioned PAI and how important it was in your career. You know, I have to tell you maybe you've all have heard the story, maybe you haven't, but you know, back when I started back in floppy disks, the company eventually got bought off and you know, and pretty soon I didn't have a job. And so at that time the trade world had changed dramatically because of the end of the Cold War. And the falling down of the the Berlin wall. And so I wasn't quite sure there was a future in trade. So I had two resumes. One was trade and one was logistics. Because I had done quite quite a bit of logistics. And and then it was my birthday and somebody told me, Hey, you know, there's this organization called PAI and they're having their annual holiday dinner tonight. You should go. They oftentimes we'll talk about open positions. And I s I said, Okay, maybe I'll just I'll pop down there and see. So I went. And lo and behold, there was Mr. Toddle Jr. and and Ms. Murphy. And and and they they they told us all that there were two positions at Intel in the w area of export. And so I I went and contacted Intel and had an interview in two days and a job in two days later, and the rest is kind of history as they say. But I think for me, PA PAA always holds a special place because if I hadn't gone to that meeting that night, Right, if I hadn't heard about those jobs, you know, where would I be today? What would I have been doing and so on. And so I always think very fondly of PAI and I've always enjoyed all the interactions. And then finally, Ken, I have to just say, you know, you are such an incredible partner. I have worked with you at AEA, I've worked with you at Tech America, I've worked with you at TTRA now. And one of the things, Ken, that I always appreciate is you are so consistent. you're always providing good information to the trade community. You're always convening people together to really try to solve regulatory issues. And one of the things you may not all know about Ken is you know, I sit on the RapTech at BIS, which is now being reconstituted. We can talk about that later. But I would go to the meetings four times a year and and I go up to the room at Commerce and I'd walk in and always there was Ken. Ken was there and Ken took notes. And before the meeting was over that afternoon, because there was an open session in the morning, a public session, and then a close, before the closed meeting was over in the afternoon, Ken already had the minutes of the meeting published for everyone to read and look at. And that's that's what you bring, Ken. And so I really appreciate you and have enjoyed interacting with you and in all of these organizations. So with that, Ken, let's stick with you. And I would love if you could help our listeners give them a an idea of this conference. there's a conference I mentioned earlier, there's a conference that's gonna happen in October, I think the fourteenth. It's known often known as the Best Practices Conference. can you help us understand this conference, 'cause I think you're the one that started it, right? Ken Montgomery (19:47) I would love to do that because as you've said earlier, it it brings a special place in my heart, this conference. This will be our nineteenth year of convening this Global Trade Compliance Best Practices Conference. TTRA members conceived it when we were part of the American Electronics Association way back around 2005. And we had a customs and export best practices working group. And we decided to develop an all-day conference for members where we could also network with peers and colleagues in addition to addressing the hottest compliance topics of the membership. So we've done 17 conferences. That were hosted in person at technology companies. This is actually, I think, the third time that Intel has graciously hosted this conference. And we held two conferences remotely during the pandemic. So this year's conference will take place on October 14th. We are very fortunate to be in the Andy Grove Center Auditorium at Intel. It will be an all-day event. And one of the things that is unique about this year's conference is the Andy Grove Center holds 350 people. And we've always been constrained to about 125 people just based on the conference facilities that the technology companies had to provide for us. So we're really looking forward to it this year, and I think we're going to have a great event. jeff (21:15) Yes, I I'm looking for it as well. And can you can you describe or maybe g Gabrielle or Giselle, either one of you, how how did you guys decide to come together and do this collaboratively? Gieselle (21:29) I was gonna say it's strength and numbers, right? that's part of it. But Gabrielle you can go ahead, lead. Yeah. Gabrielle Griffith (21:34) No, I was just gonna say, as you probably surmised, we have a lot of overlap across our membership because we each of our organizations, I like to think about us as a big happy event diagram where trade is all at our core, but we all offer such unique values for various purposes and not to mention the industries, but I think it was just natural that we we pull together. I think it's in the speaking from the wit and sea side, wit historic. Prior to the pandemic, hosted monthly events. and with the return, I don't say return to home, with folks shifting into more of a working from home environment, we have vastly reduced the number of in-person events that we have, which has really augmented the quality, I would say, of our events and how long our events are. And so, in thinking about this conference and our mission, it was just like we all bring so much to the table this best practice conference is is legendary and Ken's in D C but we've got, you know, this we're floating over here on the West Coast with all these this overlap between PAI and WIT NC and it just it felt very natural from the Wit N C side to just, you know, together we're stronger and together I feel that we achieve our mission at Wit N C in in the s in the best possible way by by collaborating with PAEI and TTRA to to pull to pull our resources and and brains together to deliver on this conference. jeff (23:03) That's great. So do you have specific goals that you're trying to achieve with this conference this year? Is there I mean, this is a very unique time in in in global trade and we don't have BIS updates anymore and this this is this is an important event for people to really get together. So any specific goals that you're hoping to achieve? Gabrielle Griffith (23:22) Yeah. I can just jump on I think that from last year I organized a panel and spoke on a panel, and this year I'm helping organize one of the panels, which we'll we'll tease later. But I would say a personal goal of mine and as I've spoken to the folks leading the panels is to not over prep. Like to prep for these panels and have the framework, but really because we're in such a tectonic environment right now and we know that we're going to see, you know, more coming down the pike in the next few weeks, months between now and the conference. my my biggest goal is that in in working with the speakers is to think about building the framework in the run-up, but make a framework that's going to be flexible to to pivot in the at the 11th hour for to to talk about the latest whatever it will be at that point in time because that That is super important to me. I want the goal to be the most hot off the press, relevant, pragmatic t feedback and takeaways of what the latest regulatory environment looks like and what our audience can instantly do and take back to their teams that that evening after the conference. jeff (24:35) You you mentioned teasers. If you guys are okay with this, I would love to give listeners a little teaser of what to expect at this conference. And Gabrielle, I understand that you are going to kick off with a discussion on export. tell us a bit more about that. Gabrielle Griffith (24:53) Yes, so the day is going to kick off with panel one is export focused. it's specifically tailored to address our new enforcement-minded era that we are that we're currently live in. And I would say what's been the coolest to overhear, I'm not involved in the planning of this panel, but in our overall prep, the feedback that I'm hearing is I'm hearing a shift more from Like the update mindset, like this is the latest in export controls, like almost the delivery of a status update to this group is talking about, you know, yes, this is the latest, but in practice, this is what's happening, this how we're manag managing it on the ground. This is how we're dealing with internal governance, this is how our escalation decisions are made. so the idea is that ever all of us are so reactive right now. and we have gotten acclimated, I would say. That's kind of a common theme in our in our conferences of the past few years. It's like w that tectonic environment I mentioned, we are acclimated to it, but it's this conference and this day, this in one day only, it's really about just coming together and taking a collective breath and processing this. So that export panel is really like, yes, this is happening, but okay, what do we do with all of this information? jeff (26:07) Yeah. Right. Yeah, fortunately you're holding this conference, I believe it's on a Thursday. Am I right? Fourteenth? A Wednesday. Ken Montgomery (26:18) Wednesday. Gabrielle Griffith (26:18) Wednesday. jeff (26:19) that's even better because if you hold it on a Friday, you never know what sort of change might be announced, whether it's on export or custom side. Gabrielle Griffith (26:28) We'd have to hold a five PM Pacific Standard Time conference for that to hit 'cause it only hits at five PM between three to five PM on a Friday afternoon. jeff (26:37) Right. Well, I can tell you a funny story when I had a global summit. I had all my trade people from around the world in Arizona and rumors were swirling and the second day of the conference the BIS decided on May nineteenth to drop Huawei on the entity list. So you can imagine the the the bad news was there went our conference. The good news we're all there. So we set up a war room and we got everybody active and engaged and we were on our way. So anyway, timing is always interesting. Gabrielle Griffith (27:08) Well, that's really funny that you chose that story, Jeff, because I remember that day distinctly and I was at it was someone el it was another conference. It was like ICPA or PA jeff (27:19) Mm. Uh-huh. Gabrielle Griffith (27:21) not PA, AAI maybe. I don't know if anyone here recalls, but when that happened, I we had a lot of clients at that conference and they did that in the hot in the hotel that afternoon. It was just like watching everybody just like shuffle and just war room instantly, just pull everyone together. So that was huge. jeff (27:41) So maybe you didn't maybe you better ask the Intel people to have a war room set up for you guys. Gabrielle Griffith (27:46) Okay. jeff (27:49) So Ken, is it Gabrielle Griffith (27:50) Ken's like, no. jeff (27:52) is there a particular topic you wanna give us a teaser on? Ken Montgomery (27:57) Sure, I will. We have a panel this year that we've never had before, and it's titled Legal Lens, using legal effectively in trade compliance. TTRA over the years has facilitated benchmarking studies, and one of the recurring requests is always on the organization structure. Where is customs and export compliance function and where does it reside within the company? As I mentioned in starting my career, the Customs and Export Function was part of the global logistics organization But over the past several years, we've noticed in our benchmarking surveys that more global trade compliance departments have transitioned to the legal function. And we've even had TTRA member companies that have used our benchmarking studies. To justify moving to the legal function because they thought they would have more benefits and more authority within that organization. So, some of the topics that the panel will address this year include when to leverage in-house versus outside counsel, how best to manage the legal budget. Determining when to involve legal and when issues can be handled by the compliance team, and also applying lessons learned from acquisitions, voluntary self-disclosures, and other high-risk scenarios. jeff (29:18) Now that one sounds fascinating. I I think you guys are hitting on a really important inflection point, right, with this focus on the legal side. So this'll be fascinating to listen to how how that's put forward. Giselle, there is no conference today that doesn't have some discussion about AI. Do you have this on the agenda Gieselle (29:39) Yes, jeff (29:40) this time? Gieselle (29:41) yes, we do. And as you mentioned, AI is everywhere and and trade is not immune to this. So we will have a panel that will be discussing AI tools, how the trade compliance community is benefiting from the use of these tools, also some of their journeys about like which tools to use or or know what could help them in their trade compliance program. So I always say like this event is like a meeting of the minds. So you're getting the best of you know the industry speaking to this you know relevant topic that is impacting everyone. So if you really wanna, you know, know how industry is using these AI tools, what works, what doesn't and The trade professionals' journeys, I mean, this is a a great event to attend just to even get some insight on other trade compliance professionals and how they are utilizing these tools. jeff (30:46) Yeah, I am super happy that you have that on the agenda. I I can't tell you how many discussions I have with people that contact me that are dealing with, you know, AI in the trade community. And there are a lot of people that are trying to put out their solutions and trying to develop tools and like you said, ways to make the trade work a little easier. and so it'll be it'll be fascinating to hear some of the stories and some of the folks that are working on that. So so while while we're wrapping up on the topic of the conference, I'd like to give each of you an opportunity, Gabrielle Griffith (31:20) Mm-hmm. jeff (31:21) like if you could walk through w you know, I I'm thinking about coming. Why should I come? What's the value to me if I came to this conference? And I don't know which one you want to start, but yeah, what what do you guys think? Ken Montgomery (31:33) Well start off. One of the things that that attendees have really appreciated in the past, most every conference we've kept it to industry professionals only. So we close the doors of the conference room, of the auditorium, and the attendees know that it's all compliance personnel in that auditorium. And they can have frank and open discussions on these really critical compliance topics. So that's one thing that a new attendee I hope will experience. so that was something that I would share. Gabrielle Griffith (32:05) Yeah, I I think that the value of this conference, the attendees run the gamut. Obviously, there's all of us will c we'll say the seasoned compliance professionals, but I also would be remiss to not highlight the up-and-coming next generation of trade compliance professionals. And what's really great about this conference is for the seasoned professionals, it does offer that environment to really have the closed room. conversation about how are we digesting this, how are we doing this in practice, but it also it's fostering this this community of being able to meet the next generation of trade compliance professionals. So whether it's from, you know, I don't want to say something as obvious as like hiring purposes, but I think most people I've encountered in this in this trade compliance industry really like Uplifting the next generation. And there's something to be said about this next wave of new grads to folks who are five to ten years, fifteen years into their career here, who have such value to add in how they approach the trade industry. And there's such a bridge. And I just am really looking forward to the networking event. We we didn't talk yet about we're doing a obviously the day of the conference, but there is a networking event the night prior in a nearby hotel, But that's also gonna be a great forum to really just network and and get to know your people. The value of this is to just take a step back and like Giselle, I know we hear the the the refrain is therapy. and it is therapy, but it's knowledge and it's networking and it's no learning newfangled ways to to to address and and strategize in in our worlds and how to do things better. We can learn a lot from every every person along their trade compliance path. Ken Montgomery (34:03) And we've we've always done a program evaluation following all of our conferences. And usually the the two highest Points that we have in the program evaluations are the quality of the expert speakers that we are able to assemble for the conference. And I know that's for this year as well. We have some really strong industry professionals. And the second thing that comes out is, of course, the networking that Gabrielle mentioned, both at the conference, being able to exchange information and contact information on topics of importance to the various companies, as well as our networking gap. Gieselle (34:45) Yeah, and and the responses are candid, right? I mean it's like cause you're in this room, this closed room, and so people are open. This is not something you're gonna find, you know, if you, you know, ask chat GBT, right? this is information that's shared amongst industry professionals. And as Gabrielle says, yes, it is therapeutic. Be I won't wanna say misery loves company, but it it's it's All all these things. I mean, it's like we you're learning from the best. If you're new in the industry, you're learning from folks that have been in the industry for quite some time. it is your opportunity to network. it's just a a great safe environment for trade professionals. I I have always enjoyed attending from early on. I learned a lot. and it's it's great to share in this community. jeff (35:35) Thank thank you, Giselle. I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have been to many of these and they always I always walk away with just one sense of network and community and the other a sense of, you know, learning important things. And I can tell you last year I I d I came to the networking event the night before and you know, I don't know if this was just where we are as a trade community or if it was a result of the pandemic or what it was, but it was packed. I don't know if you recall this, but it was absolutely packed. There was hardly a place to stand. And everybody was just there for a long time, just networking and talking and catching up with each other. And I it was f it was fabulous. I d I just don't know if you've had a lot of that lately. So I I anticipate this you know, this coming in October it should be rich rich time again. So so listening, you know, to the three of you described the conference in in It's pretty clear that this is a real opportune moment, right, to to really address what you referred to, Gabrielle, as a unprecedented, you know, situation in the trade profession right now. I mean it most people are, you know, just doing everything they can to stay on top of Gabrielle Griffith (36:47) Yeah. jeff (36:47) everything that's coming their way. And to be able to be with others and step back a little bit and and learn is so so valuable. But let before we wrap up here, let's just talk Just briefly, what is going on in the trade community in today and how do you see it shaping over the next couple of years? Gabrielle Griffith (37:03) Yeah, I think that as a consultant of the group here, I really see the gamut of trade compliance people across all industries. and I think, you know, the number one, I think last year's conference, the theme or again the refrain was, you know, no one knew trade compliance before. We were like the basement function and now everybody knows trade. But this year I'm hearing the word on repeat is burnout. And I think it's it seems like it's a more vulnerable world like talking to clients just with folks on the import side of the house who are having to provide financials and forecasts and response to the tariff climate right now are really struggling with keeping up with the pace, how to you know provide forecasts. we work with a lot of VCs, so trying to provide updates on, you know, what the roadmap would look like for one of their targets who is looking to scale and grow supply chain in certain capacities in response to the tariffs. On the export side, you know, it's the it's the sea of unknowns. Like, are we going to get the affiliate's rule? Are we having AI diffusion? Like it's not so much a question of if but when and there's a certain kind of the the impending stress of knowing something's coming but not what and the way that the regulations drop. and you know it's it's just been nonstop. So we have been doing a lot of therapy and I think that a lot of going back to the panels and the teasers, what I'm seeing across all of the panels is a focus on the framework. Like how are we using one of the panels is AI, how are we using AI to help us navigate triage manage? How are we on the custom side scene, you know, how are we deal how are we how are we dealing with this? So to me, like on the human side, the burnout is real and this in in that word has come up in the in the panel prepping of like to the burned out trade compliance person, like this is your conference. Come here, get therapy, but also get some tools and and and hopefully feel a little bit better about the state of affairs and your job security that you have. jeff (39:13) Right, right, right. Any other thoughts? Ken Montgomery (39:18) Yes, I would add, Jeff, you know, twenty years ago when I came to Washington, DC, on a weekly basis, we had the ability to meet with government officials in the Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Defense, as well as customs and border protection. there is just not the openness now or the ability to meet with government officials on an ongoing basis. they have less staff. For training and programs that we've talked about earlier in this session. So, therefore, it's really critical for individuals and companies to participate in associations, alliances, and local groups like PAEI and WITNC. and conferences such as this to share the information that we have and share amongst industry what we know and how we can comply with it. Gieselle (40:13) Yeah. Al along the same lines, I mean, we've seen the shift from BIS helping educate the trade community to now a shift of enforcement, right? So that that's where the resources are going. so it that's what makes this event even more valuable, right? It's like you you get in the room with your peers and you're able to discuss, you know, your lessons learned of navigating this new environment. I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't say but what's gonna come jeff (40:43) Ha. Gieselle (40:44) down next, but we do see this shift from the training that BIS was, you know, involved more with the community to now it's like okay, now it's more of an enforcement. so those are my just insights. Those again, that's what I'm saying, jeff (40:59) Okay, well no th I would whole wholeheartedly agree with you, Giselle. I think that you know, this is an un unusual time and I think you made a comment earlier, I think kind of tongue in cheek, but I think it couldn't be more true. Strength in numbers. And I think coming together Gieselle (41:15) Mm. jeff (41:16) makes us all stronger and we can go back into our worlds and and tackle the the task at hand and fight the the monsters that we have to and all the rest of that. So I I think if you're listening to this podcast, hopefully you have been encouraged and maybe pulled a little bit towards coming to this conference. I I think I don't think you can go wrong. I don't think you can spend a better day than you would coming here. could you each one of you maybe one last opportunity to share what you'd like to share to the audience before we before I close it up. Gabrielle Griffith (41:49) Yeah, I would just share that the panels are addressing some unprecedented topics. it's looking really great, super exciting, motivating panels for me. I can't wait to hear them. It's one day, come to the networking event, get some therapy, get some new tools on how to do your job even better than you're already doing, and I don't I think it'll be worth everyone's while. Gieselle (42:11) I would like to encourage people if they are not involved in a trade organization to join, whether it's WIT or PAI or or participating in TTRA, it is really beneficial in your profession. So I again I just want to encourage the community to to join a trade organization and and not just attend events but participate on the board or volunteer. That's how you build your network and and do attend this event 'cause it is a stellar event and it's always been great. It's gonna be great again this year. So jeff (42:49) Thank you. And Ken, final word. Ken Montgomery (42:54) Yes, I I agree with both Gabrielle and Giselle. I would just say we were having it at a beautiful venue this year at the Intel Andy Grove Center, as well as the night before our networking and social gathering at the Element Hotel, which is actually across the street from Intel. And as we've all mentioned, the trade community, trade compliance community is a relatively small group. but a lot of really intelligent people but also fun to work with and it's a close community. So please come out and and join us either for the networking gathering or the conference and we look forward to seeing you. jeff (43:33) Thank you very much, Ken. I'd like to close with just an expression of my gratitude for each of you. I really appreciate you coming onto this podcast and all of the things that you have shared. I think that the listeners will find this to be this conference to be quite attractive. And I'm I'm hoping that people will take advantage and and actually attend. I can tell you, from my vantage point, I I see and I hear the the struggle that people are going through. And I I just feel like if there's an opportunity to get together with others and to actually hear what others are going through, which is probably the same thing you're going through, and to be able to actually you know, take away some of the key nuggets that are going to be shared by some of the experts that are speaking here, I I just don't know how you miss it. So I would encourage you please sign up and come join us. It'll be incredible a moment. And finally I'll just say I appreciate you guys again joining me and we will talk to you and see you all real soon. you have been listening to Writtener Reflections. Thank you again for joining. I will talk to you all real soon. Thank you.