Success Stories: Public Speaking
The World in 2024: Hot Spots and Trouble Zones, October 2024, Ontario, California
As a member of the ProVisors professional trade associate, I co-presented to members of the Distribution & Manufacturing Affinity Group, speaking about how current conflict zones and corporate espionage hinder commercial trade and investments and how US companies can overcome these obstacles. My fellow ProVisor members and I are trusted advisors for manufacturing and technology developer clients throughout North America.
US–Moldova Joint Commercial Commission
Representing the US Foreign Commercial Service, I spoke at the annual US–Moldova Joint Commercial Commission, a bilateral engagement organized by the US Trade Representative Office and hosted by Moldova's Minister of Economy. Considering Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine in early 2022, this venue provided a forum for frank dialogue on free and open trade to ensure flow of vital supply chains, ensure food and water security, and to assist Moldova to forestall cyberattacks by malign actors against the country’s data sovereignty.
International Conference on Cyber Diplomacy
The Government of Romania invited me to speak on behalf of the US Government on a multinational panel during its International Conference on Cyber Diplomacy, wherein I presented progressive technologies from American providers and the evolution of data sovereignty in European Union member nations. This successfully positioned US providers to win competitive tenders issued by the government to define Romania's sovereign data cloud.
Anatomy of a Deal: Modernizing Nuclear Power
I was invited to speak about how US Government agencies unite to score strategic commercial wins. Our audience learned how an interagency program helped a US-based energy company win a multi-billion-dollar contract to build and deploy the first-ever small modular reactor in Romania. Panelists from the Departments of Commerce, State, Energy, and US Trade and Development laid out the Anatomy of the Deal that took place in the face of malign influence and amid geopolitical discord.
Local and National Government Trade and Investment Initiatives
While on a one-year assignment in Louisiana, I spoke to audiences at 12 outreach events on such diverse topics as attracting foreign direct investment, transportation ports and rail expansion, and the revision of Incoterms. This fulfilled the Commerce Department’s and the state’s mandate to develop robust trade and investment links by conveying resources into the state’s communities.
I supported Louisiana's state and national trade and investment initiatives by addressing audiences in underserved rural regions on export business development and addressed alumni from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) on export business development.
Higher Education Outreach
Recent diplomatic posts have afforded me the opportunity to address audiences of international business students and alumni entrepreneurs at secondary academies and universities, requiring deft bilingual speaking skills. My interaction with faculty and administration advanced public diplomacy with host nations, while promoting international education exports for American schools at: University of Calgary, Tulane University and Loyola University in New Orleans, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil, and Romanian American University and Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.
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Tom Hanson
Your Channel Architect
thanson@channelarchitect.world