Washington Conference opened yesterday with a lively keynote speech by Brad Fitch, president and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation.

After hearing Fitch’s advice on how to gain your congressman’s attention, more than 50 members traveled to Capitol Hill for congressional visits, undaunted by the taxi strike in Washington, D.C., that threatened to slow their progress.

Representative Jeff Denham (R-CA) kicked off the Washington Insiders Breakfast on the second day by sharing insights into key legislative and political developments in the 113th Congress.

(Seated, clockwise) Rep Mike Conaway (R-TX) talks with Greg Meador, Plains Dairy; Brian Perry, Perry's Ice Cream; Tom Arata, Ecolab; Jeremy Travis, Hillmar Ingredients; and (standing) Andrei Mikhalevsky, California Dairies, Inc.