IDA Elects Board of Directors

The INTERNATIONAL DETAILING ASSOCIATION has elected their first board of directors. In accordance with the Association by-laws the nominating committee requested nominations from the general membership and then selected a slate of candidates for the 8 positions on the Board. Membership was advised if they wanted to add any other candidate they could do so by obtaining the signatures of 10 members of the association and submitting them to the IDA along with the nominee's name.

Since no additional names were suggested, ballots were sent to all members of the IDA to vote.

Voting closed 9/19/08 at midnight and the results are as follows:

OPERATOR DIRECTORS

Yvan Lacroix - Repare-Brise
Prentice St Clair - Detail in Progress
Antonio Rosiles - Advanced Detailing
Anthony Flammia - Gia's Mobile Detailing

MANUFACTURER/SUPPLIER DIRECTORS

Stephen Romero - US Products
Erik Jefferies - Cyclo Tool Manufacturers
Rick Goldstein - Ragg Topp
Tom Schurmann - Professional Dispensing Systems

Congratulations to these fine men and we look forward to a very prosperous year for the IDA, with this excellent Board of Directors.

The Board will get together in the next few weeks for a conference call and then the first Board Meeting will take place at the Mobile Tech & Detail Expo in Clearwater, Florida in January. At that time the Board will select officers including:

President
Operator - Vice President
Mfg/Supplier - Vice President
Treasurer

IDA - Executive Director as announced a few months ago is RL "Bud" Abraham, selected by the Formation Committee.

Based upon "views", etc, this board is not one that has any interest in what the IDA is doing.

I have observed similar results on other forums, which is not a posistive for the industry.k

Please allow me to say this as well, I am neither for or against the IDA, as both it and the other NAPADR are a plus for the detailing industry, just find it interesting that while so many "voice a strong belief in the need", end up setting back on their wallet's and their hands, when anything that may benefit the detailing industry takes place.

Grumpy

Grumpy:

Thank you for your posting indicating the lack of response on the part of detailers to the election of the first Board of Directors for the INTERNATIONAL DETAILING ASSOCIATION.

Without question, it is disappointing that more detailers do not show an interest in the association, but that is understandable as most trade associations have the same problem attracting members, even when they have been well established for many years and offer a great many member benefits.

What the IDA and it's new board must do, is prove itself to the industry and offer operators and suppliers alike benefits. If that can't be done then it is unlikely the association will continue to be a viable entity in the industry.

Thank you again for your input and positive observations.

Regards
Marnie Joseph
Secretary
IDA

Marnie,

Please excuse my ignorance as I have not done much research on the new association but is this the old PDA spun off from the ICA?

Good luck on your pursuit for unity amongst operators alike. Jim Hammill and I tried it back in 2004 when we founded the Professional Detailing Technician's Association (PDTA). At first it was great, membership doubled month after month. I believe at one time we had 145 members. Then all of a sudden board member duties and management roles were misunderstood and misconstrued. In one week we had 4 resignation letter submitted due to lack of time and committment. Jim and I found ourselves running the show on our own for a few months. It was too much committment for us on a voluntary basis, so I asked Diana Bean if she would be interested in assuming Chair and it was agreed upon.

I have yet to hear how they are now doing. Question being, do we really need 2 associations? Do we need any association?

I originally started the PDTA with Jim for access on group insurances (health, disability, business, etc.) When asked why we started it our answer was to create a market for insurance. Only 2 or 3 out of 145 gained health insurance benefit. I mean sure, it gives a boost to credibility and professionalism by being a member of an association, which should be the #1 reason. But at the end of the day, no one wants to be told how to run their business. We can only guide and provide. It's up to them to listen and implement.

Best of luck to you and the IDA. If it were up to me, a consolidation of the two associations will speak stronger than divided membership. Members need to participate and use their voice as well. They can't bitch and complain when they don't get what they want from the association, excuse my language. Some words of advice from a colleague.

Take care,

Brian
Precision Auto & Marine

Learn to detail boats! Visit www.detailtheboat.com

Dear Mr Angelucci

Thank you for your reply. I have been aware of your efforts to build an association. From what I have heard was that anyone could be a member by just emailing you and saying I want to be a member. There were no dues, but as soon as you requested the "members" pay dues your membership dropped dramatically.

Further I heard that when Jim Hammill resigned was when the association fell on hard times since he was doing most of the work on behalf of the association.

As far as the NAPDR is concerned I know that the Board of Directors would be most happy to discuss a cooperation with them, however not many in the industry have heard much from the NAPDR for the past few months.

Do you know if they are still active? Heard that they are having some difficulty in getting members to re-up.

Regards

At first, we took what was an "interest membership" from what I can remember without looking into my records was a trail based membership to get a feel of how big this was going to grow. Yes, at first we had well over 150 members but naturally, like any free trial, people withdrew come time for dues. From what I recall, we only lost 10-15% of members.

See, what you stated about Jim is one big misconception which has been floating around some forums and the expo. Jim put in some damn hard work and was our spokesman. He went to the expos, other conventions, etc. to promote us and work the booths. I worked behind the scenes with the networking, relationship building, the business aspect of it, etc. We each had our roles. And when Jim resigned, of course people will panic and start questioning the future of such an association because our face was gone. But no, we did not fall on hard times when Jim resigned. We fell on hard times before that, when some certain people (who I will not mention) started rumors, complaining, flaming on forums, and pretty much anything counter-productive towards our growth. Panic and questioning spread like wildfire, just like our stock market today. People jumping ship at the same time didn't help.

As for the NAPDR, I do believe they are still active. How many members do you now have?

Take care,

Brian
Precision Auto & Marine

Learn to detail boats! Visit www.detailtheboat.com

Brian said :
"...certain people (who I will not mention) started rumors, complaining, flaming on forums, and pretty much anything counter-productive towards our growth...."

Sounds like the tactics used against NAPDR on this forum !

Doug