Mike Antich: Promoting The Interests Of Affiliates Within NAFA
The Affiliates Committee is hard at work promoting the interests of all NAFA Affiliates.
The Affiliates Committee recently met in Phoenix on February 3. Here is a summary of our discussions:
The focus of our discussions was the upcoming I&E on April 21-24 in St. Louis, in particular, how Expo exhibitors can attract more attendees to their booths and follow through on these leads. In addition, NAFA will introduce new Web-based tools to be used by Expo attendees to help them be more effective on the show floor. One of these new tools is a smartphone "app" called "Map Your Show." This mobile phone application allows attendees to map out, in advance, the booths they’d like to visit at the I&E Expo to help manage their time and effectiveness on the show floor.
The updates about the 2012 I&E are very encouraging. NAFA Executive Director Phil Russo, CAE, reported that conference registrations by fleet managers are tracking ahead of registrations at the same time last year for the 2011 I&E. NAFA management reported that the recently announced menu pricing has been well-received by attendees. Perhaps more encouraging is that the overwhelming majority of registered attendees, to date, have opted to pay for full-conference access. Another encouraging trend is that sponsorship revenue commitments for the 2012 I&E have been tracking ahead of same time last year for last year’s conference.
A new initiative to be launched by the Affiliates Committee involves setting up conference calls with all Affiliate chairs at each NAFA Chapter to discuss ways the National Affiliates Committee can better assist them. This is in keeping with the mission of the Affiliates Committee, which is to present the interests and concerns of Affiliates to NAFA and support the mission and goals of the Association. We hope to use these teleconferences to provide a "voice" for all Affiliates, who are in a leadership position at NAFA. In future Affiliates Forum columns, we will update you on the progress of this initiative. The NAFA Affiliates Committee will also meet with the NAFA Chapter Affiliates chairs on April 21 at the I&E.
Another recent improvement the Affiliates Committee helped spearhead is the ability of companies, with multiple Affiliates and Regional members, to bundle their combined membership fees into a single payment. This will go into effect in 2013.
Looking to the future, the Affiliates Committee will examine the feasibility of creating a lead-generation system for exhibitors at the NAFA I&E Expo. Stay tuned for future updates.
Also, congratulations to Affiliates Committee member, Kris Bush of LeasePlan USA, who has taken on responsibility of managing the Affiliates E-Community social media network. Take a moment to check out NAFA’s E-Community, which is intended to be a collegial online environment where Members, Affiliates, and specially invited guests may discuss issues and interchange information.
The next Affiliates Committee meeting will be held June 7 at the NAFA Board of Governors meeting in Minneapolis. Our mission is to promote your interests. We want you to get the most out of your NAFA membership. Let me know if there are any issues, topics, or potential initiatives you would like the Affiliates Committee to discuss.
This month's Affiliates Contributor is Mike Antich, Editor and Associate Publisher, Bobit Business Media and Vice Chair of NAFA's Affiliates Committee.
Mike.antich@bobit.com