Wallcovering Installers Association Board of Directors March 9 & 10, 2015 New Orleans, LA The meeting was called to order by Cyndi Green, C.P., President, at 8:20 AM CT on Monday, March 9, 2015. Roll call was taken by Bob Banker, Secretary. Present: Cyndi Green, C.P., President Vincent LaRusso, C.P., Vice President Bob Banker, Secretary Carl Bergman, C.P., Treasurer Elsie Kapteina, C.P., Immediate Past President Jack Egan, Northeast Region Director Michelle Corl, Mid-Atlantic Region Director Michael King, South Alternate Region Director Heidi Wright-Mead, C.P., West Region Alternate Lynnie Winter, C.P., Central Region Director Greg Laux, National Associate Member Committee Co- Chair Nancy Terry, Association Executive Absent: Pam McCartney, South Region Director Donald Foreman, West Region Director Jerry Russo, National Associate Member Committee Co-Chair Michael DiGilio, Central Alternate Region Director Heidi Johnson, Northeast Alternate Region Director Jeff Ragland, Mid-Atlantic Region Alternate Director President s Report President Green opened the meeting by thanking everyone for participating. She also noted that events at Wallcoverings Association spring meeting went very well and that many manufacturers sought out our representatives to integrate them into conversations and events. Secretary s Report Minutes from the November 18, 2014 Board of Directors meeting and the February 2, 2015 special meeting were presented. A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes of the November 18, 2014 Board of Director s meeting as presented. The motion passed unanimously. A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes of the February 2, 2015 Board of Director s special meeting as presented. The motion passed unanimously. 1
Treasurer s Report Mr. Bergman presented the January 31, 2015 financials and asked for a motion to accept these statements. A motion was made and seconded to accept the financials as presented. The motion passed unanimously. It was noted that the board would like to see a pie chart of National Convention expenses and income. Action: Staff will develop a visual graphic of the National convention expenses and income. Member Services Committee Report Mr. LaRusso presented a report on-site indicating that he felt that the WIA needs to increase meetings across the country. He also noted that Region Directors and alternates need to be communicating with member and it is his preference that this is done verbally. He shared that according to his research, WIA dues are well below the average rate of $600. Ms. Winter noted that if membership was the responsibility of this committee then the focus needed to be on gaining net new members. It was confirmed that membership is the responsibility of this committee. PDCA Committee Report Report not submitted. Communications Committee Report Report was not submitted. It was discussed that nobody is contributing technical articles. Mr. Banker is working on revisions of some past articles which will be used on the website and staff is able to generate plenty of business related articles but we still need to be sourcing technical articles. It was recommended that the article from the Big Picture magazine be reprinted. It was also recommended that some of the archived articles could be reused as well. Action: Staff to contact Public Relations Committee regarding approval to run article from the Big Picture. Standing Rules/Bylaws Committee Report Fund Committee Report Nomination/Elections Committee Report Public Relations Committee Report 2
National Associate Member Committee Report Discussion was had on offering an incentive for first time tradeshow attendees. Everyone felt that this was a good idea. A motion was made and seconded to approve a reduced primary registrant fee of 50% for first time tradeshow participants as an enticement for participation. The motion passed unanimously. Awards Committee Report Region Director Reports South Region Mid-Atlantic Region The board noted that York Wallcovering had produced a YouTube video featuring WIA members from the tour that was held last fall. There was concern over this appearing to be an endorsement by the organization. Central Region It was noted that Ms. Winter had just sent out a state of the region email to central region members. This email was well written and well received and should be used as a template for the other regions. Northeast Region Mr. Egan added that he had sent the revised chapter resource guide to the Boston chapter and that they are working well with it. It is recommended that all Region Directors follow up with their chapters and send the guide as well. West Region It was noted that Mr. Foreman has not participated on/in any board activities since his election. This is a concern to many folks. Ms. Green will contact Mr. Forman as a last effort to discover the issue as he has been contacted by three different people without success. Marketing Committee Report Ms. Green shared that this team had met the day before the official board meeting and spent many hours working on their agenda items. She noted that the team effort was wonderful and that they worked very hard to keep things projects moving in a forward direction. Currently, the rooms for these people were scheduled to be paid by them individually however due to the amount of time spent working, she asked for a motion to have them paid from Member Services funds. A motion was made and seconded to approve payment of the additional hotel night for the Marketing Committee consisting of Banker, Kapteina, Egan, and Laux for this Board of Directors meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Banker reported that he had met with Visual App for an update on the current electronic marketing and search engine optimization results. Overall the visits to the website have tripled in 3
this first quarter. Marketing blasts have been sent and the open rate was terrific. Greater than 30% of the recipients acted upon these blasts which is much higher than the industry average. It was suggested that Mr. Banker write an article summarizing the success for the Installer. Action: Mr. Banker to write an article on the e-marketing of the WIA website for the Installer. A discussion ensued on how to capture information on visitors to the site. Action: Staff is to research data mining software for target marketing and focused message purposes. Website Committee Report It was noted that the group Facebook page is still showing under the NGPP name. It was also noted that comments were being shared around the page and externally that it is not necessary to join the WIA to get the benefit of information. This was concerning to the board and it is felt that the group page now needs to become a members only page. It was recommended that guests be allowed a trial period and then asked to join but then be removed if they don t join prior to the end of the trial period. The Web Committee was instructed to develop a plan for accomplishing the page shift. A motion was made and seconded to migrate any other resource from the NGPP name to WIA and move the group Facebook page to a closed member status. The motion passed unanimously. Product Testing It was noted that one request for a test hang had come in and Mr. DiBacco was working on the request. Product Reporting Mr. LaRusso passed out a sheet updating their progress. Ms. Corl shared that she had talked to an app designer about developing an app which would be used on a cell phone to take a picture and send out communication to members. The app would cost $1,500 plus there would be maintenance fees and a fee from Google to put on their store. Problem reporting would not be included in the function of this app. It was decided to table the discussion of the app until further information could be gathered. Craftsmanship Award Committee Mr. Laux shared an overview of the process of submitting and voting for the new award. It was shared that Visual App was developing a submission page which would come to the National Headquarters. Submissions would be gathered by region and then Power Points developed for each region. A Survey Monkey survey would be developed for the voting and then each region would be emailed links to their own specific submissions. After the first round of voting, staff will reformat the final four winners from each region into one power point and one survey for final selection. Funds would be necessary for the creation of the form by Visual App and the form is anticipated to cost $1,500 to $2,500. It was agreed that this was the best way to approach the contest for the first year and the money should be spent. 4
Mr. Laux also presented the option of upgrading our usage of Survey Monkey. The cost for the annual subscription is around $800. The upgrade will allow more information to be gathered and processed and could be used for multiple committees and surveys. It was decided that we should upgrade to the platinum level. The cost will be distributed among the following committee budgets: education, marketing, web and member services. Education Committee Report Mr. Egan shared that pre-convention class topics had been selected. These will include metallic material as well as designer/boutique/handmade papers. There will also be a commercial installation class included in the convention for general certification. Eunice Bokstrom will be presenting the commercial class. The pre-convention classes will be four hours long and will run concurrently in the AM and PM. These classes will be limited to 24 participants. No food or beverage will be provided. The structure is intended to be ¼ class training with ¾ hands on training. Instructors and project managers are still to be assigned and it will be in the speaker agreement that this material will be integrated into an online class and the content will be owned by the WIA. Convention Locations Mr. LaRusso presented a report on the survey of convention locations. He surmised that the location was second in priority to the education and events that were presented. It was discussed that the vendors would have a different viewpoint on location. The cost to ship materials to a location and the cost of travel to the location was a strong indicator of participation. It was decided that staff would determine cities. Ms. Winter agreed to write an informational article on the art of selecting a WIA National Convention location. Ms. Winter to work with staff on writing an article on city selection. Convention & Vendor Showcase Committee Report Ms. Kapteina was appointed to the position of committee Conductor. The board will be responsible for all aspects of the National Convention this year with Ms. Kapteina coordinating the group effort. Mr. Egan reported that Mary Egan is working on a spouse and guest program which will include recommendations for three days of tours and outings. Ms. Winter shared a list of possible marketing and promotions for the events. She will be working with Mr. Banker and Mr. DiGilio on the marketing aspect. It was decided that the first day would include three sessions entitled A View From the Other Side and would include instruction from the manufacturers of handcrafted, metallic and grasscloth products. Remaining convention sessions will be intended to have 2/3 discussion time with 1/3 for learning lab (hands on) time. Learning Labs will follow each teaching session immediately and sessions will rotate. Action: Staff will need to divide the convention attendees into three groups. They are instructed to purchase three different colors of name badges for ease of segmentation verification. 5
Learning Lab leaders will be asked to have someone videotape their lab with a camera phone and submit these videos to the WIA Headquarters for development in the online classes and marketing. Mr. King was assigned to assist in designating videographers of the labs. Action: Staff to develop a simple how to do video tip sheet. It was decided that the Craftsmanship Luncheon would be combined with the annual business meeting in lieu of a separate breakfast. Ms. Mead shared that plans for the training walls were coming together. The walls should cost approximately $200 for a T-shape and $250 for an L-shape. They will be constructed of 6 ft panels without seams. They will build 6 8 walls for the convention use. This design will become the standard for all future conventions. Mr. Russo had requested time in the convention agenda for a vendor product feature segment. This request was approved and will be integrated into the agenda. It was decided that the WIA Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 and this meeting will be preempted with a teleconference call the week prior. Action: Staff to update meeting schedule to accommodate the onsite meeting and teleconference. A motion was made and seconded at 6:30 PM CT to adjourn the Board of Director s meeting and reconvene on Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 8:00 AM CT. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting reconvened at 8:15 AM CT on March 10, 2015. This meeting began with Mr. LaRusso performing roll call. In attendance were the following: Present: Vincent LaRusso, C.P., Vice President Carl Bergman, C.P., Treasurer Jack Egan, Northeast Region Director Michelle Corl, Mid-Atlantic Region Director Michael King, South Alternate Region Director Heidi Wright-Mead, C.P., West Region Alternate Lynnie Winter, C.P., Central Region Director Greg Laux, National Associate Member Committee Co- Chair Nancy Terry, Association Executive Absent: Cyndi Green, C.P., President Bob Banker, Secretary Elsie Kapteina, C.P., Immediate Past President New Business Convention 2016 6
Discussion began on possible locations for the National Convention and Tradeshow. Staff was instructed to look at the following cities: Charleston, SC Minneapolis, MN Richmond, VA Charlotte, NC Possible cities to review for the future could be: San Antonio or Austin, TX Tulsa, OK Memphis, TN The date of the 2016 convention will need to be in September the weeks of the 12 th, 19 th or 23 rd. Home Shows Ms. Corl shared that York Wallcovering had proposed a plan to host WIA member booths at various home shows. They are proposing that they would pay for the booth space and a WIA member would staff the booth. The member would be able to self promote and York would provide demonstration product. Concern was expressed once again over appearing to endorse the manufacturer. Ms. Corl was instructed to present a formal recommendation at a future board meeting. Business Cards It was suggested that staff investigate the ability for members to have a business card template set up with an online printing service such as VistaPrint. The intent is to include the WIA logo and web address on each card. Action: Staff to investigate and report on group online business card ordering. Being no further business... A motion was made and seconded at 10:30 AM CT to adjourn the Board of Directors meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Bob Banker NGPP National Secretary Nancy Terry Association Executive 7