NAHB Fall Board Meetings for Associates

Notes from NAHB Associates' Meetings at Fall Board in Milwaukee, 9/8 & 9/9/11

These notes are compiled by Joe Dumstorf and do not represent any opinions of the National Association of Home Builders.

Associate Senior Officer Position:

This has been the HOT topic for the last month.  There was a proposed bylaw amendment that would establish for the first time, an Associate in a new Senior Officer position.  This was to be a non-voting member, but none-the-less a position.  Although this idea was universally accepted, there had been some questions raised in the last 30 days. 

It was decided to table this amendment change and set it up on the agenda for IBS.  The Associate Members Committee was in agreement with this change so that it could be given a little more time to address the questions and to make sure that they had the necessary votes.  In addition, one of the main reasons for the postponement was a Roberts Rule of Order that comes into play IF there is not a quorum at a Board Meeting.  Because Fall board is notoriously the least attended board meeting and that there was some concern having a quorum, everyone decided it to be prudent to postpone the vote. 

Kevin Kelly, Third Vice Chairman made an appearance to state that he is unquestionably in favor of having the new position established.  He was very confident that it would pass at IBS.  Needless to say, Mr. Kelly received a long standing ovation!

Associates' Meeting live streamed on UStream:

Our own John Sizemore's dream of broadcasting our meetings to all of our members took a step towards successful fulfillment this past Friday when the Associates Members Committee meeting was broadcast on UStream.

Although there still needs work on clarity of the picture and just as importantly, a viable sound feed, over 145 members throughout the country viewed the broadcast and the response to the online poll was positive.  When we next broadcast at IBS, we will be using upgraded equipment so we feel good that our issues will again be improved if not eliminated.  Thank you all who participated.  It was good to see the viewer numbers climb during the show.  Hopefully we will not only broadcast the committee meeting, but also the Awards Breakfast so that more of our members will be able to see who the people are that contribute so much on a National basis.  Stay tuned (literally!). 

Register for IBS

It is so very important for you to register for IBS in September.  NAHB's goal is to get 30,000 registrant's and then they can take that number to the vendors to sell space.  Having a strong pre-registration will only help push some vendors who are on the fence, to go ahead and commit. 

One thing that was pointed out to us was that registering this month not only gets you a lot of freebees, it also locks you into the reduced rates on classes.  So if you cannot decide until later what classes you might wish to attend, if you register this month, when you do decide you will be grandfathered September rates for these classes.  No brainer dude!!!

Robin Newhouse reports on NAHB membership

1. 151,000 members at present, down from a high watermark of 256,000 however presently we have a 71% retention rate. 
2. The "Touch Program" is working.  In virtually every case where the Touch Program has been implemented, membership retention is strong.  Please if your local does not know about Touch, contact HBAK as they are implementing it in our state.

NAHB on Facebook and LinkedIn

1. The LinkedIn sights are working very, very well.  National is pleased with the response of Associates on LinkedIn and says that the effort that National has to put forth monitoring LinkedIn is worth it based on the participation.
2. The same cannot be said about Facebook.  Whereas with LinkedIn, there are over 1000 members at least watching the site, there are only 247 participating in Facebook.  National stated that although they are not planning on taking the wall down, it needs to be used more in order for their monitoring time to be justified.  Please "like" the NAHB Associates Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/NAHB-Associates/194635023883689?ref=pb&sk=wall)

NAHB on Facebook and LinkedIn

     

 Skip Howes, State Rep from Colorado discussed the position of State Reps regarding the Associate Outreach program.  Even though the reps have their own networking plan, they are not at all concerned about the Associates outreach tree being considered as a way to bypass their work.  Instead, he stated that the State Reps are thrilled that the Associates tree gets to many members who would not have the necessary information if it were not in existence.

Associates Advocacy Committee:

Monica Sommerfeldt Lewis, Chairman, reported that the Associates have done a good job signing up to Builder Link, however when there is a call to action, very few respond by forwarding on the information to their representatives.  "Sign up", but then make sure you "Send on".

In addition, Monica was very definite in stating that if your State does not reach its assigned Build-Pac goal, it WILL NOT receive funds from Build-Pac for its use.  The 2012 Club has been successful, because it is not just the $$ donated, but the number of members that our government officials monitor. 

Associates Advocacy Committee

Leadership and Recognition Chairman Dianne Beaton asked us all to continue to push for applications to be sent to National for BEAM.  We have been pushing for this for a long time, and now is our chance to put our money where our mouth is.  Get you BEAM nomination to National by September 30.

November 14 is the due date for Associate of the Year and the Bill Polley Award. 

The Leadership PowerPoint presentation is now totally available.  Please go to NAHB.org to see it.

Happy Associates Appreciation Month.