EventsMembership |
SWANA International Board - Mid-Year 2005 Meeting ReportJune 2005 - Boulder, Co The SWANA International Board of Directors (IB) held their mid-year meetings in Boulder June 9-11. The focus of this meeting was 1) acceptance of a $24 membership dues increase, 2) consolidation of SWANA's WasteCon with Primedia's WasteExpo, and 3) brainstorming the future of SWANA. Note that required Colorado board action is italicized and bold. FY 2006 STRATEGIC PLANNING & MEMBERSHIP DUES INCREASE:The $24 annual dues increase was approved by the IB on Saturday with only 4 dissensions. This increase supports a $4.6M dollar budget including scheduled repayment of chapter loans and $31k contribution to reserves. It holds staff steady at 25 in Silver Springs and considers impacts of decreased revenues from WasteCon exhibitors. The Strategic Management Plan (FY2006-2010) should be ready for release before WasteCon. It includes:
The SMP will include clear identification of what chapters need to do to support national efforts - the Colorado board will need to review it carefully when received. In the interim, we need to:
CONSOLIDATION OF WASTECON ft WASTEEXPO:Primedia (the owner of WasteExpo and the only party able to forge a partnership with SWANA) has had no communication with SWANA or made no offer to have any relationship -Primedia's assets, in fact (including WasteExpo), are currently for sale and the future owner(s) are unknown. The only parties who have discussed a relationship are a group of loosely organized exhibitors from both shows, and those discussions have included no specifics. Regardless of the exhibitors' lack of authority to support consolidation of any kind, SWANA has participated in a number of discussions in order to hear from their exhibitor clients and accrue enough facts to make show decisions on behalf of all their members and clients. Exhibitors both for and against consolidation spoke at the Boulder IB Meeting. SWANA board members determined in Boulder that there is no specific proposal from any party in authority to respond to at this time. As a result, we will defer consolidation with WasteExpo. The organization has, however, formed a Partnership Committee that will evaluate partnerships with other (non-Primedia) organizations for both WasteCon and other SWANA events to determine if these partnerships could increase value to members. John Skinner will be issuing a press release this week indicating the board's decision. SHORT & LONG-TERM BRAINSTORMING ON SWANA SERVICES & ORGANIZATION:The IB spent a considerable amount of time considering and prioritizing the best options for providing value to its members (while increasing revenue margin and building reserves). The Colorado recommendations were included in the discussion. Top concepts will be developed by staff by September and included:
NEED TO STRONGLY SUPPORT WASTECON 2005 IN AUSTIN (WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 26TH)Staff has asked that all chapters strive to send at least 5% of their membership to WasteCon this year. Additionally, the Texas chapter has challenged all chapters with awards going for the highest percent of membership attending (ability to earn between $500 and $2,000). Board action needed? On a similar note, Regional Council 5 (southeast US) have challenged all chapters to donate to SWANA's national scholarship committee. The scholarship fund is set up to accrue a minimum balance and make awards from interest earned - over the past several years, awards must come from SWANA's discretionary funds as minimum balance not earned. Colorado should look at adding our funds to the national pot (based on the response this year to our chapter scholarship offering) instead of having our own program. This would allow more monies to be leveraged and more substantial awards made,, national promotion, and a greater ability to draw students to SWANA. NEW SWANA POLICIES:The following policies are currently in development:
OFFICER NOMINATIONS:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Respectfully submitted June 14th, 2005 by Laurie Batchelder Adams, |
