After months of discussing how to improve the IAPHC, a team has volunteered to work with marketing Guru, David Kinard.

 This team is made up of a cross section of members, most of whom were in attendance at the IAPHC Mid Year meeting this past February in Las Vegas. Your Executive Officers, will be auditing the team's progress with the exception of Vice Chairman Bill Orr and CEO Keane who are participating. This group has its' work cut out for them. They will be engaging in conference calls, doing homework assignments and making reports. This won't be an easy task, but the end result will be well worth the effort put forth by these dedicated members. We should know the results of this exercise toward the latter part of May.

 One message we heard from members, is the lack of communication. Your Executive Officers are putting forth an effort to improve in this area. One effort is the establishment of an Executive Officer forum. This forum can be found in the member's only section on CraftNet and I encourage all members to use this to let us know your thoughts.

 Another effort is to communicate directly with the Deputy Governors, Club Presidents and to the District Governors. In addition to these enhancements the Executive Officers have specific assignments to communicate with individual Districts and International Committee Chairs. Hopefully the implementing of these communication changes will bring about a closer relationship within the membership. However, we need your help along these lines by keeping your addresses and telephone numbers current. All members have had the opportunity to update their information on the database.

  "Tidbits for Affiliates" is another excellent form of communication and should be made available to all members through their club bulletins. Bulletin Editors have this exciting tool to use thanks to Membership Services Director Lesley Addy.  The latest issue is totally dedicated to CraftNet, the database and the functionality of the new Members Only area.  If you have any questions please contact Lesley at director@iaphc.org.

 We are all aware of the importance of "Gallery" to our association. But, did you realize how important it is to our companies? Time after time I've seen business increase, even in this slow economy, and a greater awareness made of what our individual company produces. As a side benefit, "Gallery" is also a great way to increase membership. Talk about a win/win situation.

 Now through August will be busy months for our association, with District Conferences, Gallery, Club elections and the Los Angeles Convention all taking place in the next four months. Keep reading your emails and ask your District Governors for information on what's taking place.

Thank you for your support.