The First Word: NAFA Stakes Claim In International Ground, Seeks Partners

Last month, NAFA offered its first-ever seminar on international fleet management and I am pleased to say it was a resounding success. NAFA is the first association to stake a claim on this ground and we did so to fill a need for all of us to become better informed about how companies run their fleets in other countries.

We strategically and consciously limited attendance at the seminar to a maximum of twenty to enable real, in-depth networking and create a sense of camaraderie. It worked. Every single evaluation rated the content, the speakers, and the overall experience at the highest levels. Here are some of the comments that best represent the sentiments:
Chief among our supporters was Wayne Smolda, CEO of The CEI Group, Inc. Wayne attended the seminar and not only blogged about it before it started, but added this afterwards:

"I might have been better prepared to deal with them [obstacles launching CEI Europe] had someone offered back then [2003] the kind of exposure to international fleets as NAFA just did.  The conference not only validated much of what we learned about European fleet markets, but explained the reasons for the differences between practices here and there."

Wayne went on to praise our speakers, Hans Damen and Peter Egan, partners in Fleet Vision based out of Belgium. Hans, Peter, and I had been working on this seminar since June and it was rewarding to see them deliver on their promises. They were outstanding and I look forward to working with them again.  (Be sure to attend their session at I&E 2012 in St. Louis!).

Seminar participants got an unexpected benefit when Joe LaRosa, Director of Global Fleet Services at Merck & Co, who was in the same Florida hotel for another meeting, stopped by. Joe is a fellow Jersey guy and a long-time colleague of mine, as well as Peter and Hans, so he couldn’t say no to our invitations. Joe was kind enough to provide his expert perspective on fleet management in not only Europe, but Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions. Fittingly, he was then off to Brazil for meetings with his fleet people there.

The November seminar was a great first-step for NAFA, but there is more to come. 

In addition to the "global fleet management" session at I&E in April, in early 2012 we will release a Global Fleet Management Guide that covers all of the major areas of fleet management as they are handled in other countries. Believe me, there are real differences between how fleets are managed here in North America as opposed to other places on the globe. And, based on the success of last month’s seminar, we surely will be offering more seminars on this subject, both in-person and online. 

Thinking larger picture, we are also considering partnerships and other arrangements with organizations to develop and produce seminars, educational materials, and networking events outside of North America. If you would like to work with us on these efforts, please contact me. 

As my friends, Hans, Peter, and Joe would say, "Danke" "Dank u," "Merci," "Gracias," "Grazie," "Thank you!" (And a special thanks to Wayne Smolda for his support and help getting the word out!)

Have a great holiday season! Looking forward to a fantastic 2012!





Phil