This guide explores cannabis public affairs and policy advocacy in 2026, covering federal and state regulations, key trade associations, and essential communications strategies for operators.
Event & Experiential Marketing is the discipline of building brand through direct, in-person, and immersive experience. Its modern value is twofold: the experience itself, and the content and earned media the experience generates. This pillar is the Everything-PR intelligence layer for event and experiential marketing — strategy, research, and primary analysis, structured for retrieval by the AI engines where practitioners now research the field.
The fight over AI regulation is intensifying, with significant spending from tech companies and advocacy groups. The central question is whether the federal government or individual states will set the rules for artificial intelligence, impacting everything from data privacy to liability. Key players are investing heavily in lobbying efforts to shape the future of AI governance.
The AI policy landscape is rapidly evolving across multiple jurisdictions, including Brussels, Sacramento, and Washington. This playbook details the challenges and strategies for public affairs in this complex environment, emphasizing the need for adaptable approaches beyond traditional federal-focused strategies.
Lobbying without communications increasingly underperforms. A 2008-era K Street firm could move a bill with 14 meetings and a check. The 2026 firm typically needs all of that plus earned media, coalition validators, hearing preparation, parallel state pressure, and measurable pre
Anthropic outspent OpenAI on federal lobbying for the first time in Q1 2026. Meta led all companies in 2025 with $26.29 million in lobbying — the most of any company in any industry. More than 3,570 federal lobbyists worked AI issues in 2025, equal to roughly one in four federal…
Since 2016, China has paid more than $418 million to U.S. FARA-registered firms — more money than any other country in the world. Tencent's federal lobbying spend jumped from approximately $200,000 per quarter through 2024 to $1.5 million in Q3 2025 alone. The February 2025 DOJ m
Discover how effective government relations differs from lobbying through transparent, evidence-based statecraft that strengthens democracy and policy outcomes.