Columbia Books & Information Services

Last updated
Columbia Books & Information Services
Founded1974
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location Arlington, Virginia
Publication types The Almanac of American Politics
Nonfiction topics United States politics
Official website www.columbiabooks.com

Columbia Books & Information Services (CBIS) is an American company that serves as a publisher of reference works, online databases, and mailing lists. It was founded in 1974 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland. CBIS provides users with compliance resources and training, print directories, online databases, and customized data delivery.

Contents

History

In September 2009, CBIS acquired Association TRENDS, the resource for senior association and non-profit organization executives, formerly owned by Martineau Corporation. On August 30, 2013, CBIS acquired Thompson Information Services from Thompson Media Group, LLC. [1]

Print directories published by CBIS include the Washington Representatives Directory, which is a print directory of government relations professionals, lobbying firms, and organizations with a lobbying presence in the Washington, D.C., area. The website Lobbyists.info is an online version with searchable databases of Washington Representatives. [2]

CBIS also published National Trade and Professional Associations, a print directory of associations and executives, [3] and the National Directory of Corporate Public Affairs, a print directory of key public affairs executives in America's largest companies. It includes details of nearly 2,600 corporations that employ a federal lobbyist. Other details include: number of employees, Standard Industrial Classification and North American Industry Classification System codes, ticker symbols and names and contact information of key executives. [4]

The Original US Congress Handbook, which profiles all members of the United States Congress with biographical data, contact information for members including address, phone, fax, committee assignments and staff members, is another publication of CBIS. [5]

In 2015, Columbia Books & Information Services began publishing The Almanac of American Politics , a reference work that provides a detailed look at the politics of the United States through encyclopedic biographical histories with statistic and data compilations. [6]

Online Databases

As the world has become increasingly digital, CBIS likewise took its traditional print directories online with a series of subscription databases.

AssociationExecs.com is contains detailed profiles of trade and professional associations and their staff, featuring over 20,000 association profiles and over 180,000 staff executives.

Lobbyists.info, re-branded under Washington Representatives in 2019, contains profiles and data related to the government relations industry, including full lobbying disclosure details since 2010 and profiles for over 70,000 client and firms, and 40,000 government relations professionals.

TheGrantscape.com, powered by Thompson Grants, is a comprehensive database of federal, state, local, and private grant opportunities for the grant-seeking community. Grantscape features over 7,000 active grant opportunities, reflecting over $25 million in funding.

Training & Events

CBIS hosts many live and virtual conferences and events throughout the year, primarily under its brands Association TRENDS and Thompson Grants. These events are geared at bringing the respective industries together for insight, guided learning, and networking opportunities. Association TRENDS events include:

Thompson Grants events include:

Related Research Articles

In politics, lobbying or advocacy, is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies, but also judges of the judiciary. Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals on a personal level in their capacity as voters, constituents, or private citizens; it is also practiced by corporations in the private sector serving their own business interests; by non-profits and non-governmental organizations in the voluntary sector through advocacy groups to fulfil their mission such as requesting humanitarian aid or grantmaking; and by fellow legislators or government officials influencing each other through legislative affairs in the public sector. Lobbying or certain practices that share commonalities with lobbying are sometimes referred to as government relations, or government affairs and sometimes legislative relations, or legislative affairs. It is also an industry known by many of the aforementioned names, and has a near complete overlap with the public affairs industry. Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies, for example amateur lobbyists such as a voter or a bloc of voters within their electoral district acting as private citizens; others like professional lobbyists may engage in lobbying as a business or profession; while others are government relations support staff who work on behalf of professional lobbyists but do not actively participate in influencing or meeting face-to-face with targeted personnel enough to be considered registered lobbyists while working in the same professional circles as professional lobbyists who are legally designated as registered lobbyists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Almanac of American Politics</span>

The Almanac of American Politics is a reference work published biennially by Columbia Books & Information Services. It aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United States through an approach of profiling individual leaders and areas of the country. The first edition of the Almanac was published in 1972. The National Journal published biennial editions of the Almanac from 1984 through 2014. In 2015, Columbia Books & Information Services became the publisher.

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, publishing, lobbying, and political donations, but its focus is collaboration between companies. Associations may offer other services, such as producing conferences, setting industry standards, holding networking or charitable events, or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members.. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vin Weber</span> American politician

John Vincent Weber is an American politician, lobbyist and former Republican Congressman from Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederation of British Industry</span> UK business organization

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a British business interest group, which says it represents 190,000 businesses. The CBI has been described by the Financial Times as "Britain's biggest business lobby group". Incorporated by royal charter, its mission is to promote the conditions in which businesses of all sizes and sectors in the UK can compete and prosper for the benefit of all. In 2023, the association was shaken by numerous accusations of sexual misconduct in the organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OpenSecrets</span> Government watchdog group based in the US

OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from the 2021 merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP), both of which were organizations that tracked data on campaign finance in the United States and advocated for stricter regulation and disclosure of political donations.

<i>National Journal</i> American advisory services company and its magazine about politics

National Journal is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes daily journalism covering politics and public policy and is led by president Kevin Turpin, National Journal Daily editor-in-chief Jeff Dufour, and The Hotline editor-in-chief Kirk Bado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Police Association</span> Organization

The Canadian Police Association (CPA) is an advocacy and fundraising organization that is also a registered lobbyist with the Canadian government. The CPA represents Canadian police officers. It is divided into 27 regional chapters at municipal, provincial, and federal levels. Each of these chapters is represented by either a president or director.

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is a professional body in the United Kingdom for public relations practitioners. Founded as the Institute for Public Relations in 1948, CIPR was awarded Chartered status by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2005 and added "Chartered" to its name. As of late 2012, CIPR had 10,095 members. The association provides training and education, publishes a code of conduct and hosts awards and events. It is governed by a board of directors led by a president who is elected each year.

A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the United States.

The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States Congress, the executive branch, and in state and local governments. The foundation's primary focus was the role of money in politics. The organization sought to increase campaign finance regulations and disclosure requirements. The Sunlight Foundation ceased operations in September 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobbying in the United States</span>

Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is often perceived negatively by journalists and the American public; critics consider it to be a form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. Lobbying is subject to complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since the 1970s, the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets has grown and become the focus of criticism of American governance.

Fredric Michael "Fred" Wertheimer is an American attorney, lobbyist, and activist notable for his work on campaign finance reform and other government integrity, transparency, and accountability issues.

Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations. It is the product of the February 2019 merger of GuideStar with Foundation Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beryl Howell</span> American judge (born 1956)

Beryl Alaine Howell is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She was district's chief judge from 2016 to 2023. As chief judge, she supervised federal grand juries in the District, including for the Mueller special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and investigations into attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz PC</span> American law firm and lobbying firm

Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz PC is an American boutique law firm and lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C., that specializes in representing business interests in the food, drug, medical device, and agriculture industries in their dealings with the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture. The firm was founded in 1979 as Olsson and Frank PC, but has long been best known as Olsson Frank Weeda or, more recently, OFW Law. As of 2012, the firm employed more than 30 lawyers and senior policy advisers. By 2021, it is believed that this number has been reduced by more than half.

Direct lobbying in the United States are methods used by lobbyists to influence United States legislative bodies. Interest groups from many sectors spend billions of dollars on lobbying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of lobbying in the United States</span>

The history of lobbying in the United States is a chronicle of the rise of paid advocacy generally by special interests seeking favor in lawmaking bodies such as the United States Congress. Lobbying has usually been understood as activity by paid professionals to try to influence key legislators and executives, which is different from the right for an individual to petition the government. It has been around since the early days of the Republic, and affects every level of government from local municipal authorities to the federal government in Washington. In the nineteenth century, lobbying was mostly conducted at the state level, but in the twentieth century, there has been a marked rise in activity, particularly at the federal level in the past thirty years. While lobbying has generally been marked by controversy, there have been numerous court rulings protecting lobbying as free speech. At the same time, the courts have made no final ruling on whether the petition clause of the US Constitution covers lobbying.

Bloomberg Government is a division of Bloomberg Industry Group that provides data-driven decision tools, news, and analytics in a digital workspace for professionals who influence government action.

The Periodical Press Galleries (PPG), along with the Daily Press Galleries, Radio and Television Galleries, and Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery, comprise the four media galleries of the United States Congress. The United States Congress is the only legislature to divide its media into distinct press galleries. Collectively known as the Periodical Press Galleries, the PPG maintain two separate offices in the House and Senate wings of the Capitol in order to “assist Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and bona fide correspondents covering Congress, with media logistics and press-related concerns.”

References

  1. "Columbia Books buys Thompson Information Services". Advertising Age. August 30, 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. "Washington Representatives Directory". Lobbyists.info. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. "National Trade and Professional Associations Directory". AssociationExecs.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  4. "National Directory of Corporate Public Affairs". Lobbyists.info. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  5. "The Original U.S. Congress Handbook". USCongressHandbook.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  6. Grinapol, Corinne (June 9, 2015). "Richard Cohen Will Pen National Journal's 2016 Politics Almanac". FishBowl DC. Retrieved 10 August 2015.