Like most people, I sometimes get caught up in politics and want my voice to be heard. That was the case a few years ago when the U.S. Senate was preparing to vote on a controversial measure. I’d had some personal experience with the issue, and since one of our senators was still undecided, I wanted to tell him my story. Fortunately, I worked for an association that had a lobbying presence in Washington. With some well-placed phone calls, a few like-minded colleagues and I were able to arrange for our faxed letters to be hand-delivered to the senator prior to the vote. We confirmed that he received and read them before leaving his office for the Senate chambers. Then we anxiously huddled around a television in a conference room and waited for the outcome.