Affiliates Forum: What We Will Be Bringing To The I&E
Greetings from the Affiliates Committee!
In 2011, I was invited to join the NAFA Affiliates Committee after more than a decade as a NAFA Affiliate Member. And while I have always been impressed with the dedication and fleet industry expertise exhibited by NAFA community members at large, I feel that my involvement with the Affiliates Committee has given me a unique perspective of NAFA’s commitment to providing great forums for individual and industry growth. I am therefore very excited to share with you some of the recent initiatives the Affiliates Committee has been undertaking, as well as areas on which we are focusing going forward.
In light of the annual Institute & Expo (I&E) conference that will take place in Atlantic City this April, many of the Affiliate Committee’s recent meetings have been centered on ways we can help support NAFA in the development and execution of I&E to ensure the conference’s ongoing value as an important educational and networking event.
For example, much of our recent conversations have been focused on how we can better optimize the value each participant derives from the I&E conference. This includes identifying ways to make the Trade Show portion of I&E more enticing for members as well as Affiliates. From the attendee’s side, it is important that they can easily navigate the floor to better identify which booths and mini-events will feature the content most pertinent to his or her area of focus. From the Affiliate’s side, we are also looking for ways to more dynamically provide each presenter with feedback regarding what is/isn’t working based upon feedback we hear from attendees. We are confident that this effort to jointly support the attendee/Affiliate relationship will deliver tremendous value for all I&E participants and NAFA members.
We are also working to further cultivate the networking opportunities that the I&E conference can provide while remaining sensitive to the individual educational portions of the event. This can be difficult to achieve, but we feel that we have struck a great balance between the two elements in recent years. You may recall that the networking reception at the 2012 conference in St. Louis was a huge success. Members of the Affiliate Committee who planned the reception received feedback from attendees who praised its timing, saying the reception did not detract from the educational curriculum, the trade show, or anything else. We plan to continue on that success in future events.
Beyond the I&E conference, our primary ongoing goal is to increase involvement in NAFA and promote awareness and communication between Members and Affiliates. We have begun a series of conference calls, led by Mark Klein, our Affiliate Chairperson, that have helped bring the Affiliate group closer together. We also sponsored a short event at the St. Louis I&E that was aimed at fostering additional awareness and cohesion amongst our Affiliate group.
But while conferences like I&E and other organized events are terrific forums to promote NAFA’s importance, it is incumbent on individual Members and Affiliates to remain active and regularly do their part to gain momentum at the local levels. By simply offering suggestions, attending meetings, or sharing NAFA success stories with colleagues, you can contribute immensely to our ongoing success. We all have a great opportunity to serve as advocates for an organization that has been an incredibly beneficial element of the fleet industry – so let’s continue to get the word out and keep NAFA membership going strong!
This month's Affiliate Contributor is Joe McDonald, Senior Director, Account Management, Wheels, Inc.
