Looking Forward

This edition of Welding & Gases Today is dedicated to projecting the business climate in the year ahead for GAWDA members across the country. Although we are always cautioned that “past performance is not a guarantee of future performance,” many of your projections for 2008 are based in large part on business during the past year. 2007 was a very good year for many of our members. Discussions in San Francisco during the convention included frequent references to record sales, market growth and plans for expansion. Therefore, it is not surprising that the majority of projections in this year’s Business Forecast are very optimistic about a continued strong economy and growing markets for gases and hardgoods. On this basis, most GAWDA members are “looking forward” to 2008.

2007 was also a very good year for GAWDA. By most of the measures by which you can gauge association performance, GAWDA’s “business” grew during the past year. Dues revenue was above 2006 levels, as were attendance and registration receipts at the Spring Management Conference in Phoenix and the Annual Convention in San Francisco. The number of Regional Meetings increased from 14 to 20, and attendance at each meeting was also higher. The number of educational opportunities available to GAWDA members and individual participation in the webinars, workshops, seminars and committees increased substantially over 2006. On this basis, GAWDA staff and leadership are “looking forward” to 2008.

This optimism is also being fueled by a strengthening of GAWDA’s governance structure and a renewed emphasis on planning for the future of GAWDA and the industry it serves.

During the past year, GAWDA’s Board of Directors has become more actively involved in the setting of policy and the development of programs. They have started to orientate themselves on their roles and responsibilities and are working to improve their effectiveness. The Executive Committee has started to hold monthly conference calls to make decisions on operational issues in order to keep the “business” of GAWDA moving forward between Board meetings.

Included in this issue of W&GT is a summary of the new Strategic Plan that was approved by the Board of Directors in San Francisco. The driving force behind the Plan is continued consolidation of both suppliers and distributors due to mergers and acquisitions. The Plan takes a proactive approach by calling for the development of five-year forecasts of membership numbers and the subsequent impact on revenues, expenses and the ability to continue to deliver the same level of services and benefits to the membership.

Part of this strategic analysis includes an evaluation of GAWDA’s consultants. An outside marketing firm will be examining other associations’ use and compensation of consultants and surveying GAWDA’s members to determine current utilization and perceived value of our consultants. This data and recommendations for contracting and compensation will be used by the Board to develop new consultant contracts in 2008.

The Young Executives program is not new, but the emphasis on education in addition to networking is a change from past programs. In 2008, each SMC and the Annual Convention will include networking opportunities and educational sessions. Also new for 2008 will be the Young Executives Educational Sponsorship Program that will provide funding for expanding these activities.

The most exciting development in 2008 will be the introduction during our SMCs of GAWDA University Online. Using the training platform and content developed and donated to GAWDA by Norco, as well as materials developed by the consultants and donated by our members, we will be introducing a low-cost, online training program for members’ employees. The initial program will focus on training required in the first 90 days of employment.

In addition to these new programs and improved services, the SMCs in Chicago and Miami and the Annual Convention at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas promise to give GAWDA members a year to which they can “Look Forward.”