A few months back I had a brief lapse of sanity and considered running for an AMDA position with Steve. During that time I wrote up a small "platform" of sorts. Now that elections are in the works, I thought maybe I ought to print it.
Following are ideas for revamping the structure of AMDA.
Redesign the Voting Structure: The board should consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and 5 Industry Sector Representatives. I think the Regional Director positions should be eliminated. Ideas for Sector Reps could include Importer/Wholesaler Rep, Maintenance Rep, 3 Retail Store Reps based on number of employees insuring that the smallest and the biggest are equally represented. This would give us a odd number of voting members. There should also be non-voting seats for non-business entities that share our goals, such as prominent authors (ex. Eric Borneman, Bob Fenner), scientists (ex. Peter Rubec), government (ex. Andy Bruckner, Roger Griffis), other related organizations (ex. MASNA, Ecovitality) etc... Other positions would include Newsletter Editor and Webmaster- non voting positions.
Leadership via Tribunal Method: It would be necessary for the board to work as a team toward it’s goals. Each member of the team must have a mutual respect for the accomplishments and ideas of the other members. This is why it is important to try to establish a team prior to formal elections. To gather people together who have the same goals as the membership.
Inclusion of the Membership: Board meetings should be open for viewing by the entire membership. In addition to the minutes, the entire archive of the meeting should be accessible by the membership.
Change of Membership Requirements for the year 2003: I suggest that membership be free and open to all dealers. The membership is currently disillusioned with AMDA for good reason. AMDA has lost many members and has a poor reputation in the industry as a disorganization. To go to the members yet again and say “This year is going to be different, fork over your $50” would be a mistake. I think AMDA needs to allow everyone in, let them observe first hand what AMDA is doing for 6 months or a year. If at the end of that time they are pleased with the direction AMDA is taking, then increased membership dues ( I suggest $150 per year) would apply.
Redirection of Focus: I believe that part of AMDA’s problem in the past is that it has tried to tackle too many projects with too little workers. The focus needs to be industry reform. That is why AMDA was created in the first place. I feel it is best to start with 1 or 2 ideas, accomplish those, and then move on to something else. Steve has some good ideas of how to redirect AMDA, and I would encourage him and others to work together and come up with 2 that are viable and can have results within 6 months of implementation. Some possible suggestions are: writing articles for online and print magazines detailing out industry reform issues to “get the word out“, working on obtaining grants to fund projects, etc...
Newsletter: The single major expenditure of AMDA currently is the printing of the quarterly newsletter. As former editor, I would suggest that the newsletter be made available on line only. This would save approximately $3000 per year that could go toward more important programs.
Following are ideas for revamping the structure of AMDA.
Redesign the Voting Structure: The board should consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and 5 Industry Sector Representatives. I think the Regional Director positions should be eliminated. Ideas for Sector Reps could include Importer/Wholesaler Rep, Maintenance Rep, 3 Retail Store Reps based on number of employees insuring that the smallest and the biggest are equally represented. This would give us a odd number of voting members. There should also be non-voting seats for non-business entities that share our goals, such as prominent authors (ex. Eric Borneman, Bob Fenner), scientists (ex. Peter Rubec), government (ex. Andy Bruckner, Roger Griffis), other related organizations (ex. MASNA, Ecovitality) etc... Other positions would include Newsletter Editor and Webmaster- non voting positions.
Leadership via Tribunal Method: It would be necessary for the board to work as a team toward it’s goals. Each member of the team must have a mutual respect for the accomplishments and ideas of the other members. This is why it is important to try to establish a team prior to formal elections. To gather people together who have the same goals as the membership.
Inclusion of the Membership: Board meetings should be open for viewing by the entire membership. In addition to the minutes, the entire archive of the meeting should be accessible by the membership.
Change of Membership Requirements for the year 2003: I suggest that membership be free and open to all dealers. The membership is currently disillusioned with AMDA for good reason. AMDA has lost many members and has a poor reputation in the industry as a disorganization. To go to the members yet again and say “This year is going to be different, fork over your $50” would be a mistake. I think AMDA needs to allow everyone in, let them observe first hand what AMDA is doing for 6 months or a year. If at the end of that time they are pleased with the direction AMDA is taking, then increased membership dues ( I suggest $150 per year) would apply.
Redirection of Focus: I believe that part of AMDA’s problem in the past is that it has tried to tackle too many projects with too little workers. The focus needs to be industry reform. That is why AMDA was created in the first place. I feel it is best to start with 1 or 2 ideas, accomplish those, and then move on to something else. Steve has some good ideas of how to redirect AMDA, and I would encourage him and others to work together and come up with 2 that are viable and can have results within 6 months of implementation. Some possible suggestions are: writing articles for online and print magazines detailing out industry reform issues to “get the word out“, working on obtaining grants to fund projects, etc...
Newsletter: The single major expenditure of AMDA currently is the printing of the quarterly newsletter. As former editor, I would suggest that the newsletter be made available on line only. This would save approximately $3000 per year that could go toward more important programs.
